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At last, another list compiled by a giant industry with an agenda for us to argue over. Today the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America unveiled its 2008 Fall Allergy Capitals list, which is sponsored by the makers of allergy medicine Zyrtec. The list ranks the 100 worst American cities to live in for people (like me) with upper respiratory allergies during the fall. Greensboro, NC tops the list, with other Southern and Midwestern cities rounding out the top ten. This is apparently because there's a ton of ragweed floating around in these places, and ragweed is the thing most people with seasonal allergies are allergic to.
But call me crazy if I have a hard time believing that Washington, D.C. is accurately placed all the way down at number 77 on this list. My totally non-scientific background and the scant, entirely anecdotal evidence I've gathered tell me otherwise. I've had the worst autumn hayfever of my life since I moved to D.C. four years ago. Some of my friends tell me they suffer from the same thing, so I must be right. Right? Right.
Oh and in case you couldn't guess, the creators of this list recommend taking Zyrtec, now available OTC! The top 25 allergy-prone cities are below the jump.
1. Greensboro, NC
2. Greenville, SC
3. Little Rock, AR
4. Raleigh-Durham, NC
5. Jackson, MS
6. Knoxville, TN
7. Grand Rapids, MI
8. Wichita, KS
9. Oklahoma City, OK
10. Madison, WI
11. Tulsa, OK
12. Chattanooga, TN
13. Birmingham, AL
14. New Orleans, LA
15. Harrisburg, PA
16. Augusta, GA
17. Louisville, KY
18. San Antonio, TX
19. Columbia, SC
20. Charlotte, NC
21. Memphis, TN
22. Des Moines, IA
23. Scranton, PA
24. St. Louis, MO
25. Bridgeport, CT
...
77. Washington, DC
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i never had allergies in my life until i moved to DC. now every spring they seem to get worse. thankfully the fall doesn't seem to affect me . . . i hope i didn't just jinx myself.
well, leaving aside the silliness of innocent little greensboro being ranked #1 worst allergy city in the entire country... i used to live in atlanta, and the only time we ever used our snow shovels there was to shovel the pollen out of the gutters. so the fact that atlanta is nowhere to be found in the top 25 makes me highly suspicious of this list.
Well actually it seems the survey is about places where it's hard to live with allergies. How many pills they're popping and number of allergists. Not surprising podunk doesn't have as many allergists.
Another thing to consider - some allergists say it takes up to 7 years to get fully used to an area after you live there.
I went to college in Greensboro, I don't have any allergies (knock on wood), but I did notice a huge amount of pollen and ragweed while I was there, and some people I knew just couldn't function in the Spring at all.
I call serious bullshit, and my nasal cavities back me up on this one.
I've lived in a lot of places with dust, trees, grass, etc. and never had allergies. When I moved here, with the propensity for multiple alien species of trees all over the damn place, I started getting snot buildup serious enough to choke a horse every single spring.
Seriously, the amount of plant sperm around here is ridiculous. Nature's bukakke is far stronger around here than this list would have you to believe.
~EEE~
only time i ever had anything resembling a long term, seasonal allergic reaction to my environment was when those damn cicadas came out in spring of 2004. i swear to god i was allergic to those beasties with their evil eyes. i was a freakin' mess for weeks, and it didn't help that i was living on a leafy street near forest glen. guess that living in a relatively treeless area of DC might have helped a little at that point.
either way, when brood X comes back, my ass is going on an extended vacation.
The real name of this list at Zyretec is called "25 cities with the greatest potential market growth"
This country born bumpkin finds city living much more tolerable than corn pollen and tree pollen. Hardwood floors and radiator heat is a big deal for me. Night & day difference. Wall to wall carpet is evil.
As for Zyrtec, I'm a fan, and I've popped every allergy med that's come along in the past 20 years. It's generic now, ceterizine hydrochloride, shop online for best deal....
For real? I've had mild allergies all my life. I've been in DC for school for a few years, and I spent the summer here for the first time this year. My allergies got so bad, my contacts would fall out of my eyes on their own accord because they were so swollen/red. And I couldn't breathe at night.
I also developed allergies to cockroaches, trees, grass, mold, and pine nuts in the time I've been here. I don't know if that's environmental or not, but it doesn't help DC's case.
Seriously, the amount of plant sperm around here is ridiculous. Nature's bukakke is far stronger around here than this list would have you to believe.
I keep telling all the neighborhood arbor fetishists that Scotts Miracle-Gro® is the Viagra of plant food, but nobody believes me. People go apes**t with that stuff around here. Hell, shove some down your pants and see if you don't attract the glances of admiring senioritas. It really puts the grind in your crop rotation. At least, that's what my log tells me.
maybe it's because i grew up in atlanta, the allergen hellhole that lilybelle so whistfully describes, but i have no problems up here. i had terrible allergies all through adolescence but have been fine since moving north 11 years ago. i'm no expert, but it seems to me that it's not about the amount of pollen/allergens but the kind of plants growing around you. i just assume i'm allergic to some of the things that grow in the south but not to the things that grow up here. there are differences, right?
dc is by far the worst place i've ever been for allergies, and spookiness is right, zyrtec may be good but the generic stuff from cvs is better because it's about a quarter the price.
There is no way in hell that DC shouldn't be in the top twenty. Aside from ragweed, the spring tree pollen season is pure misery. Add in the humidity and constant air quality warnings in the summer and anybody with allergies is going to suffer in a major way.
Zyrtec never did me any good. And I'm still bitter about the sudafed lockdown.
well frankly im not sure how accurate those stats are, considering some of those top 25s were in the lower rankings last year -