Some places are not as healthy to live in as other places are. WebMD has a list of the ten worst places to live for children (and adults) who have fall allergies. This list is for 2012. There is potential that your child is especially allergic right now because he or she lives in a place that is filled with Fall allergens.
Has the past few weeks been really difficult for your child? It’s not unheard of for someone who has allergies to be miserable in the weeks that the air is filled with an allergen that he or she cannot tolerate. For the past six years, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America has created a ranking of the worst cities for people with Fall allergies. WebMD has summarized the findings.
Each city is ranked based on three key factors. The pollen and mold scores during Fall of 2011 are noted. The number of allergy medication used by people with allergies last Fall are counted. The number of board-certified allergists per 10,000 patients is calculated. It think that third criteria may be trying to see if there are more people seeking the help of an allergist this Fall as compared to last Fall.
The data is collected and analyzed. This results in a list of places to live (in the United States) that are the absolute worst places for people who suffer from Fall allergies. By default, the same data also reveals the best places for people who have Fall allergies to reside.
For 2012, the worst place to live for people who have Fall allergies is Louisville, Kentucky. It received a “worse than average” rating for its pollen counts, and for the amount of allergy medications used by each allergic person. Those who live there do have some hope, though. The city got a “better than average” rating for the number of allergy specialists in the area.
The second worst place for people with Fall allergies to live this year is Wichita, Kansas, followed by Knoxville, Tennessee. In fourth and fifth place are Jackson, Mississippi, and McAllen, Texas. The rest of the top ten worst places are: Dayton, Ohio, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Memphis Tennessee, Madison, Wisconsin, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Four of the top five best places to live for people who have Fall allergies are on the West Coast. For 2012, Sacramento, California, was considered to be the best. Portland, Oregon, placed second, and Stockton, California, placed third. In fourth place, is Daytona Beach, Florida, all the way across the country from the top three cities. The fifth place city, San Francisco, California, brings us back to the West Coast.
What allergens are causing problems in the Fall? Ragweed pollen is the biggest trigger. According to WebMD, about 40 million Americans suffer from ragweed allergies. Mold spores are another trigger at this time of year. Piles of leaves, that get rained or snowed on, become wet and start to mold and rot.
Image by Shamanic Shift on Flickr