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If your eyes are itchy, stuck and swollen, your nose is stuffy or runny, and you have a scratchy throat and headache, you can not fight a cold.
All these trees that make the state of Washington so beautiful have just dropped a large load of pollen, creating a sense of distress in people with allergies.
On Friday, the amount of pollen was 503, which corresponds to the "high" limit, according to the North American Center for Asthma and Allergy.
Saturday, when it rains, the amount of pollen should also decrease, but starting Sunday, it should rise and stay high for most of next week.
The annual discharge of pollen usually occurs shortly after the region has received its first batch of warm, dry weather, as we did earlier this month with a multitude of days with record heat.
Among the main culprits at the present time are alder, cedar, juniper and birch, according to pollen.com, which indicates that the pollen index of March 12 was at a down 2.8. The next day he jumped to 8.5 and continued to climb in the 9th and 10th, according to the website. Anything above 9.7 on the site index is considered a high reading.
For many people, pollen is more of a nuisance than anything else, but for others, like those with asthma or other respiratory problems, it can increase the chances for the health.
According to Marion Pepper, assistant professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Washington, allergic reactions occur when people's adaptive immune systems have developed a memory that causes them to quickly build up a defense.
This is fine when an infectious disease tries to invade, but not when it comes to a harmless allergen.
"This memory response leads to this massive cell activation and symptoms of allergic asthma, skin allergies, or pollen allergies," Pepper had previously told the Seattle Times. "We are all exposed to these allergens. We do not really understand why some people have a greater propensity to react than others. "
Genetics and the environment would help, she said. And misery comes in droves: "Generally, if you're allergic to one thing … you're actually allergic to many things," Pepper said.
Allergists believe that medications can provide some relief, as antihistamines block the body's response to the threat of allergen attacks. Nasal steroids block inflammation and can reduce symptoms.
Information from the Seattle Times archive is included in this report.
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