Why do people have seasonal allergies? - Eleanor Nelsen

Ah, spring. Grass growing, flowers blooming, trees budding. For those with allergies, though, this explosion of new life probably inspires more dread than joy. So what’s behind this annual onslaught of mucus? Eleanor Nelsen explains what happens when your immune system goes rogue.

Lesson by Eleanor Nelson, animation by TED-Ed.

[TEDEd]

Hi, I'm the animator who made this lesson. I used real leaves, flowers, and seeds to make the animation - AMA!

If you have any questions for me post them here, and I'll answer as many as I can starting at 2 pm (Eastern). Please "like" this comment so it stays at the top too!

[jarboy]

Unfortunately for me my allergies are active in the fall, winter, and the summer, so J pretty much have year-round allergies.

[demetriarule]

Try getting allergies EVERYTIME the season change. WTF am I allergic to in winter? Snow.

[NoriMori]

1:52 - Love the kid who runs by, power-sniffing that flower as if it's some intense drug.

[sherrysicle]

This was beautifully animated/made omg

[potatoOo]

1. I developed allergies in my late teens.
2. No one in my family nor extended family has allergies.
3. We have a cottage on the countryside, surrounded by fields and forrests where I spend every weekend, summer and holidays. All my relatives live in the countryside. Some have farms and I spent a lot of my childhood there playing with dirt, calves, chickens, cats and dogs. I live in a small city with plenty of greenery around.
4. I used to love apples and peaches and cherries of course, ate plenty of it and yet I developed cross allergies (birch).

Slim chances to develop allergies, but here I am! I feel like a chosen one.

[victorpopov]

The interesting thing is that when i lived in a hot summer country, i did not have any health problems. When i moved to a more cold country i developed hay fever for summer, chronic allergy syndrom for almost all fruits and many other health problems. The salt of the beach and direct sunlight, plus different vegetation and maybe more sea food diet, really made my immune system happy.

[omni]

My allergies developed last year, before that, during allergy season, the worst I'd get was a congested nose and that's it, but now, EVERY season change, I'd get a runny nose, congestion, swollen and watery eyes, and weakness. Last year, I got sinusitis which caused me to take off school for three day, ruining my grades.

[NinjaEule]

Had allergies to pollen, dust and cat hairs when i was a child. The cat hair allergie was so extrem even a couple of hair left on clothing of cat owners could trigger it. But thanks to immuntherapy i lost all of them before i turned 16.

[samvoicereads]

At 2:55, my aunt always said that we'd die not of germs but of excessive hygiene. I guess this kind of supports that statement.

[ABombs]

I had seasonal allergies in the UK.
Then I lived in Korea and it disappeared for 2 straight years.
Then I moved to Vietnam and my allergies were constant, year round hell.
Then I went to China and my allergies were about 8 months of the year.

Repeat visits to UK and Korea show the same results in those places - absolute freedom in Korea, and a little but not so bad in the UK summer.

[youdonwannaknowme]

What I really want to know is why do people develop allergies in their adulthood, when their childhood and relatives were free of allergies all along? That's exactly what's been going on with me the past year or two! 0_0

[khakihades]

Spring allergies are the worst one time I was sneezing and I couldn't stop and when I did my friend said why don't you take your allergy medicine I looked at him and said *what do you think I've been doing* this entire time and told him to *get out* and I threw a lotion bottle at him

[AlexTheMary]

When I first moved from California to South Carolina, my allergies were so bad that I did go into anaphylaxis several times. I wasn't even aware that I had allergies to pollen until I moved here!

I chose to go the route of exposing myself to pollens so that my body could build an immunity to it, and thank God it did! I also chose to build up an immunity to cat dander as well! Never been happier!

[jcreates]

I have allergic rhinitis and every single waking morning, the moment my body feels that I am already awake, my nose starts to itch and I'll just sneeze to the allergy's desire.

Today I just found out that even my immune system is always anxious and paranoid about a lot of things just like the person it protects.

[giovanir]

This was pretty awesome and informative! My allergies ALWAYS act up when the weather changes drastically. Currently it was 90 degrees and the next day it went down to 71. My nasal allergies just came in at full force with the eye itching. Just an annoying way to live 😪

[willmpet]

I appreciate the understanding that allergic reactions to pets are related to their dander. So many have the idea that it is their fur (or hair) causes the problems! I had a goldendoodle and many thought they were not a problem because they did not shed their hair much, while exposure to their dander could still cause a great many problems for those around them. I think that the idea that they didn't shed much was really more of a marketing/sales idea. However, it became a basic understanding within the culture that the hair/fur was the problem!

[darrenanimatic]

Pollen: *enters a allergic person*
Immune system: wait, that's illegal
Immune systems: WE SHALL ATTACK THE INVADER
Pollen OH NO NO N-
*DUST CLOUD FIGHT!*

[xXNekou]

I am 22 years old and only last spring I did get allergy for the first time in my life. What the hell?!

[velvetyroses]

Great timing. Literally had my rhinitis act up today. Sneezing fit during my major exams. My triggers? Dust and cold. Still sneezing.