Hay fever has become the most common form of allergy in Germany. There are several factors that impact this pollen allergy. For example, the amount of pollen in the air, the duration of the pollen season in general and also climate change, which has caused the flowering season to begin about three weeks earlier. The problem with this: About 90 percent of people with allergies in the EU are not treated at all or are not treated sufficiently. Tablets and nasal spray combat the symptoms but not the causes. The pollen allergy can therefore get even worse, like additionally having allergic asthma. “Allergies are the last remaining very widespread disease that we haven’t really managed to get under control yet,” explains Professor Torsten Zuberbier, among other things, in an interview with the science editors of Quarks. The result is a very informative video on the subject of pollen allergies: What pollutants and heavy rain have to do with pollen production, what “thunderstorm asthma” is, whether and how allergies can be prevented, and the very plausible conclusion by the Quarks editorial team can be seen on YouTube.
This video is only available in German.