“There is something in the air,” says Ida Tiliander, who takes a walk at Djurgården in Stockholm with her boyfriend. And she is right in that. It is Al and Hassel that has already started to grow. A mild winter in combination with a changed climate has provided an unusually early start for the pollen season, at least in the southern parts of the country.
About three million Swedes suffer from some form of pollen allergy, according to the Asthma and Allergy Association. And as the pollen season gets longer, it also means a longer period of trouble.
“This is actually caused by climate change,” says the Asthma and Allergy Association chairman Mikaela Odemyr, she says and continues.
– Previously, they may have said that Al and Hassel started in southern Sweden sometime in February, but now we are at the end of January, and it has become a kind of shift.
For those who are allergic to just Al and Hassel, the mild weather in southern Sweden has meant that the symptoms have begun to come.
“Known by that very much”
– I have felt that very much, because when I woke up this morning, my eyes were very swollen, and then my nose itchy very much. So I thought, this has to be pollen, says Ida Tiliander.
– For me it is always so early in the year, when you think it should be the least, as there is still something in the air, she says.
Should be medicated before symptoms occur
The Asthma and Allergy Association recommends that those who feel allergic disorders should go to doctors to know what kinds of pollen you are allergic to, so that you can start medication before the symptoms break out.
– It is a good advice to follow, to start medication before you feel the allergy. But then you have to know what you are allergic to, says Mikaela Odemyr.
Standing in the care queue for pollen aid
Alexandra Ridderstedt, who comes walking along the Djurgårdskanalen, is not allergic, but on the other hand her husband and her daughter, so she knows exactly how limiting and difficult a pollen allergy can be in everyday life. And she is a little upset that it seems so difficult to get time with an allergist, a specialized doctor.
– We are queuing for help with medication, she says.
– It is a disaster if more and more people are suffering from allergies, and at the same time you cannot get help. Just as you adapt other college education, you should direct education to the doctors, so more people can get help. Because if you have not met a real allergist, you do not know how much it actually affects everyday life.