Spring Health Report: Allergy Patterns

I am owned by a horse with allergies.

Harley started coughing last winter at the end of his thirteenth year.  After ruling out illness and infection, my vet recommended allergy testing.  His blood work came back with a long list of offending allergens and a short list of things to avoid (like apples, sorry Harley).  My horse's number #1 persistent allergy symptom is coughing.  Thankfully, he does not suffer from itching, irritated eyes, sneezing, hives, or whatever else allergies can plague us with.  As an allergy-sufferer myself, I can attest that my horse is lucky to have a short list of symptoms, however, any knowledgeable horse owner or riding enthusiast will tell you that a horse coughing is a big problem.  There is also the fact that there is no cure for allergies.  My vet tells me to think of "escalation" when I think of allergies.  Symptoms tend to worsen over time so speedy intervention is key to keeping an allergic horse comfortable.

Allergies are frustrating, because the onset of symptoms can be unpredictable, but I am well aware of the things that trigger my allergies.  When I was growing up in northern New Jersey, I had terrible seasonal allergies.  I was also allergic to dust and my two beloved cats.  I had to wear a dust mask to clean stalls or dust furniture in my bedroom or I would become a raging-sneeze machine with watering eyes and an insatiable need for tissues.  I worked on a 400-acre produce farm with hundreds of acres of sweet corn.  My allergies exploded on the days when the corn was pollinating, making it almost impossible for me to survive a work day.  When your work environment harbors offending plant-reproductive cells in the very air you are breathing, working in an open-air facility is not a good thing.  Did I mention that all of these symptoms arose while on a daily pharmaceutical for allergies?  When you have strong allergies, nothing can prevent a serious allergy attack.  Benadryl remains the only medicine that can truly halt an allergic reaction for me, but it also puts me to sleep.  Once I had to warm up Harry, the Haflinger stallion, at a horse show while in a Bendryl stupor.  I had made the mistake earlier of visiting the beautiful and immaculate show barn on the grounds.  As clean as it was, the histamine still flowed freely in veins.  I was not a happy camper.

By college, I discovered that my allergies were not limited to pollen and cat hair.  A steady diet of cafeteria food supplemented by much tastier fast food, culminated in full-body hives.  That was horrifying.  I have since discovered that sulfite preservatives were most likely the cause and I now avoid them like the plague.  Oddly my husband suffers from the same sensitivity, so we scour food labels together looking for any additive including the word or suffix "sulfite" or sulfur dioxide, which is what your body produces by metabolizing sulfite (Since sulfites are not proteins, my reaction is not a true allergy, but I describe it this way, because the suffering is the same!  Chemistry Note: "Sulfate" and "sulfite" are not the same polyatomic ions.)

Potentially Interesting Allergy Fact #1:
Sulfites are found naturally on all types of grapes and in pretty much every wine, although you can find a couple labels in liquor stores which claim not to have sulfites.  My body shows some warning signs when I have ingested sulfites (in lieu of hives) and this occurs if I eat raisins or fresh, washed grapes.  So, no more grapes for me (and I rarely drink wine).  Too bad.  Grapes and raisins are some of nature's candies.

Potentially Interesting Allergy Fact #2:
There is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog (or cat, if those exist).  This is a hugely false assertion made by those who breed and sell poodles, Bichons, and the like.  So-called hypoallergenic dogs have hair that grows like human hair and must be groomed and trimmed regularly.  The hair sheds very little and what does shed, has to be brushed free of the rest of the dog's coat.  This might be enough to prevent an allergic response in those with mild symptoms, but strongly allergic individuals will not be so lucky.  Those of us who are allergic to animals are usually (there are always exceptions in biology) responding to the skin cells of the animal.  The hypoallergenic dog will still shed skin cells even if he or she is not leaving much hair on your floor or furniture.  The dog's saliva is also full of epidermal (skin) cells.  I get (often immediate) raised hives on my skin from a friendly lick from a dog.  As another example, my eyes itch and water and sometimes I sneeze from my in-laws' Bichon and this is just from being at their house.  I rarely touch the dog.  Before I realized that the hypoallergenic dog claim was really false, I tried to be helpful and trim their dog's coat.  I had to leave the poor guy half-trimmed, because I literally could not continue to groom him.  My allergies were that bad.

Despite my apparent allergic sensitivity to dogs, I tolerated my cats for nearly fifteen years.  Living with them dampened my allergic response and I loved them enough to ignore the constant, underlying symptoms they created.  Even as a child, I refused to give them away.  Thankfully, I am not allergic to my birds or Harley.  I really appreciate not being allergic to my own home and horse.

I wish there was a magic pill for allergies.

Speaking of Harley, this post was supposed to be about him.  The difference between me and Harley is that I could tell quite easily what was contributing to my allergic reactions, especially after repeated episodes.  If I avoided or minimized my exposure, I was mostly okay.  Since moving to southern New Jersey (far less variety of trees down here and no pet cats any longer), I do not need prescription allergy medication and I do not even take over-the-counter meds unless I have a hive attack.  Oh right, and I was never allergy-tested.  Harley, on the other hand, was allergy-tested, but it is extremely difficult to tell what will trigger his coughing.  He is mostly allergic to tree pollen, but his symptoms are not limited to high pollen or dry days.  Sometimes he coughs outside, sometimes in the barn.  There have been times when I thought the gasoline or diesel fuel vapors from an idling vehicle made him cough and other times when he did not respond to them.  I thought the same thing about a pungent hoof dressing that was being used on another horse (coughing fit).  I keep him away from all of those things just in case.  Sometimes he barely coughs for an entire ride, other times he has persistent fits and we have to cut it short.  I have watched him eat hay many times and this does not seem to make him cough (so we do not wet it down), but yesterday I let him graze a bit on succulent, new grass and he had a coughing fit.  Was it the dry leaves he pushed aside with his muzzle?  I have been searching and record-keeping for patterns, but they are so difficult to nail down.

Until now.  I think I finally have a reaction timeline.  Harley needed to go on medicine (in addition to his regular immunotherapy shots) in September, January, and now this week, in April.  Those are about four-month intervals and approximately in line with seasonal climate change and the growth that ensues.  I know that fall and spring are high pollen and mold times, but the January one still makes me scratch my head.  He had coughing trouble right after the New Year.  It was very cold.  He also had a day of coughing here and there when we had a warm spell and then it would go away when the thermostat dropped.  Isn't that weird?  I thought his airway was sensitive to the cold.  Could it be the change in temperature that bothers him?

I rode him lightly from February until the end of March with minimal symptoms.  In fact, he seemed to be coughing less and less as we approached the end of March.  And then quite suddenly on Monday, he was having multiple coughing fits and I had to start a round of medicine to get his coughing under control.  The temperature was 60 degrees and we had absolutely beautiful weather, but the pollen was high.  Grooming sent him into coughing fits on Monday and Tuesday.  I certainly hope my horse is not allergic to himself.  I am only half-joking.

What do September, January, and April all have in common that could make a sensitized airway upset?

Post Hurricane Sandy Report and Science

The feeling of being shell-shocked has not worn off, but my family, home, and animals are all okay.  Harley weathered the storm in the barn with his buddies.  The "unofficial" disaster plan was in place, which includes filling all spare containers with water, tying identification tags in the horses' manes, and securing all lose items on the farm such as barrels and cones.  Harley had his allergy medicine with instructions for emergency use, should the dust of the barn cause him problems.  I also thoroughly watered the walls and bedding of his stall as a preventative measure.  Thankfully, he was completely fine and already happily turned out by the time that I saw him on Tuesday.

As for our situation at home, we lost power before 2 pm on Monday.  This was before the hurricane even reached land, but we had been experiencing steady rain and some wind since late Sunday.  We were ready with our generator, flashlights, camping stove, and head lamps, which turned out to be very convenient.  Climbing the stairs to and from the second floor felt like spelunking, but it was worth it to have my hands free.  After losing power for 90 hours this summer, we still felt all too practiced, but thankfully we did not have to wait as long for the power to come back on.  School and my husband's work were cancelled Monday and Tuesday.  I received a call that school was closed again on Wednesday due to numerous power outages and flooding in some areas.  Power was restored to our home around 10 pm last night.

The worst part about the storm was the wind.  It did not rain nearly as much as expected, but the wind was very strong.  I can see why the builder installed "hurricane straps" on the frame of our house.  We did not sustain any damage, but the house was creaking in a rather unnerving manner early Monday evening and late Monday night into early Tuesday morning.  The eye must have passed over us between those two times, because the rain had all but stopped and the wind was minimal.  We set up the camping stove and made dinner around 6 pm Monday night.  Hurricane Sandy was one humongous storm with a huge eye, because that eerie calmness lasted for a couple hours.  We even went for a walk and counted how many people were running generators in our neighborhood.  It felt like the Derecho all over again, a powerful storm which downed many, many trees on June 30th.  Thankfully, the forest in our area was largely thinned due to that event, so there were not many trees down this time.  That must be why the power came back much more quickly, however, there is serious flooding and storm surge damage less than ten miles from where I live.  The clean-up for those areas has barely begun.

I am sure that whatever residual stress is dissipating for me and my husband is nothing compared to the stunned feeling that residents of the New Jersey barrier islands, northeastern coast, and New York City are experiencing.  I live very close to the barrier islands, but thankfully not on them.  Just to give you an idea, a twenty minute trip down the expressway is all that is required to arrive in Atlantic City.  Ocean City is not much farther and I used to work in Stone Harbor, which is at the end of the Garden State Parkway.  The Parkway actually has street lights when you drive that far south.  It took me forty-five minutes to drive to work.  I taught school groups about the ecology of the marsh and barrier islands.  The beach was literally my classroom.  Much to the children's delight, it was not uncommon to see dolphins jumping in the water on the horizon or an osprey or two soaring over the waves in search of fish.

The natural barrier islands protect New Jersey's salt marshes and coastline from the daily tidal cycle.  This past week, those islands protected many of us from Hurricane Sandy and a tsunami-like storm surge complicated by unfortunate timing of the spring tides, a super high tide created by the combined gravitational force of the Earth, moon, and sun.  Spring tides occur twice a month during the new moon and the full moon.  Normally, the larger high tide is held and absorbed slowly by the coastal salt marshes, which prevent the mainland from regular flooding.

There is and has been an on-going battle in New Jersey between land developers and conservationists regarding the preservation of the salt marshlands and barrier island dunes for longer than I have been around to learn about them.  Please allow me to generalize, so that I may explain the situation to you.  The importance of the salt marsh as a flood plain, not to mention the unique brackish water ecosystem which overlaps with the marine ecosystem, is used as fodder to argue that large sections of salt marsh should be preserved.  Land developers, in general, favor filling in and developing sections of marshland for profit, as coastline has many marketable features.  A similar battle occurs at the beach, which is on the barrier islands.  Obviously the existence of the boardwalks and shore towns, for which New Jersey is famous, indicate that not populating the barrier islands is out of the question, but, believe it or not, dune restoration is considered a debatable agenda item.  Ecologists and conservationists warn that the dunes must be preserved and restored with the systematic planting of dune grass, which helps to anchor the delicate dunes, in order to protect the rest of the barrier island.  Some owners of lucrative beachfront property complain that dune restoration projects decrease property values by blocking the ocean view and cite that conservationists are mainly concerned with the preservation of bird species like the piping plover.  Also, flat, sandy beach is accessible to tourists.  Lumpy, rolling dunes are not useable land, although I believe most beach-goers enjoy the dunes as acceptable landscape.

Personally, I think the dunes and marshes are beautiful.  I do not even mind the "earthy" smell of the salt-marsh and, of course, I understand and appreciate the importance of protecting the organisms that live there.  Despite this, I know rationally that we cannot save everything.  After all, I live in a house that was built on what used to be pine barrens, another native habitat in New Jersey whose use must be settled through litigation.  I even worked on a research project in college, with the intent of describing timber rattlesnake populations, so that their habitat might be preserved.  Just imagine how difficult it must be to convince developers and citizens that land should be preserved to protect a snake species, let along a rattlesnake species.  I respect the important role of this reclusive predator and I support its conservation efforts, and, yet, now I live on developed pine barrens.

I try to see both sides, to some extent, but I am admittedly "ecologically-biased".

That being said, there was a mad dash effort with bulldozers to further build up existing dunes when Hurricane Sandy's threat looked realistic.  I know that dunes are not going to survive or completely prevent the destruction that ensured along New Jersey's barrier islands from a catastrophic weather event.  A long-term approach is required.  This is the motivation behind the preservation of salt marshes and dunes, not to inhibit profit or assets.  Maybe the effects of this hurricane will change a few perspectives, just as they have changed the landscape.  There are no easy or simple solutions, but there is one certainly.  Mother Nature is not to be trifled with.

I wish all those well who are recovering in the storm's aftermath.

I took all of the following photos earlier this year.

The beach of Atlantic City, New Jersey in August 2012

A small section of Atlantic City's boardwalk, beach, and casinos (August 2012)

 

Dune sustaining grasses behind the Atlantic City boardwalk (August 2012)

The quiet boardwalk and grassy dunes of Ocean City, New Jersey in April 2012

 

The view from the end of the Ocean City boardwalk (April 2012): The regular spacing of the sparse grasses here suggests that a dune grass restoration project is in effect along these minimal dunes.  Some of the local high schools and colleges participate with their environmental and oceanography students.  Ocean City beach, like much of New Jersey's coastline, is decreasing in size due to erosion.