Compared with non-fertilized grassland areas, nitrogen-fertilized fields produce 6 times more pollen, and that pollen has greater potential to activate human basophils, say Belgian researchers. (Image: krstrbrt/Shutterstock)
Nitrogen fertilizers, widely used in agriculture, not only boost the quantity of pollen produced by grasses, they also raise the allergenicity of the pollen. That’s bad news for allergy sufferers.
Researchers at Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium, compared pollen
production from fertilizer-treated versus untreated Belgian grasslands and found
a six-fold increase in pollen loads from the fertilized grasses.
Moreover, when they tested pollen for its ability to activate basophils from seasonal allergic rhinitis patients, they found a 5-fold increase associated with the nitrogen-fertilized pollen. Pollen specific IgE titers showed a 1.3-fold elevation of in response to the pollen from fertilized fields.
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A few decades ago, acupuncture was not a modality one expected US military healthcare to embrace. For most non-Asian Americans, it was more the stuff of myth than a reality of medical practice. Colonel Richard Charles Niemtzow, MD, PhD, MPH, did much to change that. Over his long and admirable career, he worked tirelessly to […]
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Corey Schuler, PhD, FNP, CNS has dedicated his career to advancing the science and clinical art of integrative medicine. He currently serves as director of medical affairs for Allergy Research Group. He is a family nurse practitioner and practices holistic primary care at Synergy Family Physicians in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
