The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-03-23
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HAsKN. Director.
Washington, ID. Q.
WOMEN SEEK SNEEZELESS
SINNERS


fever victims of this city are taking
time blythe forelock this season. A
| hay fever prevention clinic has been
! opened at the Women's Welfare asso-
citation, and working women who reg
ularly sneeze thru a part of the year
are looking forward 10 a sneezeless
summer.
The time to tackle hay fever, ac-
cording to the specialist in charge of
the clinic, is before the appointed time
/ for sneezing arrives. Some sneezers
/ are at their worst in August and Sep
| TENDER when pollen from ragweeG
and other late blooming plants is be-
ing blown about aon the wind. Other
/ hay feverites are attacked early and
/ arc well again by July One patient
at the clinic begins to sneeze about
| the first of May, probably because OF
l the pollen from early grasses II is
the aim of the clinic doctor to i'm
munize the patient now before the
deadly pollens begin to do their work.
The doctor at the clinic sits at a
white table with boxes filled with
rows and rows of small bottles before
him. He listens carefully to the ms
tory of a case, and notes what time OF
the year the patient begins sneezlns
and if there are any clues as to the
exact cause. Then he chooses from
his collection of bottles some eighteen
filled with pollens and other 1rr1tants
which might lBnL Oh LllS case
First selected for the test are the
usual weed pollens that are distrib-
uted at the time of the year when the
patient is affected. Grass and tree
pollens. the doctor explains, are most
often responsible for hay fever at
tacks in the spring.
In the late summer and fall rag
weed is the worst offender. More
ckSes of hay fever are due to ragWeed
than to any other plant. The pollen
se fzf7r a nd
a wind travelling 20 miles an hour viii
carry the grains miles Thus the
pollen is brought into city streets from
vacant lots, weed grown back yards
and even from the suburbs.
GoIdenrod Myth Exploded.
Goldenrod is not included in the
selected assortment OF irrltants
GoIdenrod pollen is heavy and is not
carried by the wind Both golden
rod and roses are regarded by scien-
lists as negligible factors in produc-
ing hay fever, in spite of the popular
theory that makes these two flowers
prime causes of hay fever attacks
Unless a patient comes in close con-
tact with these plants, the pollen of
which is disseminated by insects, the
clinic doctor does not try the pollen
as a possible cause of the disease
Along with a dozen weed and grass !
polIens the doctor next lays out walls |
containing other possible causes of |
hay fever The labels on these are
surprising. We are accustomed to |
calling all sorts of seasonal asthmetic
and sneezing attacks by the term hay |
fever, whether ragweed or timothy or |
some other plant is the exciting cause. |
But it is strange to think of hay foyer /
as being due to cat hairs, fur, chicken 1
dander. Yet these are the labels on
some of the bottles chosen for the l
test.
1t is only in a comparatively few in
stances that hay fever is traced to
these unusual irritants. The feathers
in a pillow case have been known to
cause attacks. Grains of orris in face
or tooth power, or even the organic
matter of a fur neckpiece may, II in
hailed by a highly sensitive nose, be
the exciting agent of a hay fever case
The doctor arranges his bottles.
The patient bares one arm to the ell
bow. The nurse cleanses it with al
cohol. and the test begins.
Eighteen drops of an alkaline solu-
ton are placed along the arm, and
then with a steriIized needle the doc
tor quickly makes light scratch, not
deep enough to draw blood, where
of one selected irritant is then added
to each of the Is drops. and the pa
tient settles down for 20 minutes to
wait for the skin to react.
Action on the Skin.
At the end of that time the arm
cialist. Some of the extracts have en-
tered their scratches without any dis
turbinS effect. Other pollens have set
the skin to itching in protest. and pink
scratches. These are the agents to
which the patient is sensitive This
ends act one of the drama so far as
that patient is concerned.
The next time she visits the clinic,
the doctor proceeds to make more
rows of scratches and to apply to them
different strength solutions OF the pol
len or other matter which seems TO
be the worst irritant. On his card tell
ing the history of the case he care
fully draws the outline of the little
Telts which are produced by the dis
-urbing extracts. At each visit the
patient has fewer of the welts as she
becomes accustomed to stronger soIu-
ions
The reaction may be understood
better by comparing it to the way in
which "dore" gradually fails to take
effect unless larger and larger doses
n no way like dope, but the process
IF immunization is similar. Begin |
ling with one part of pollen to 10000 |
parts of diluent, eventually the doc
or works UP to injections of one part
# pollen to only 100 parts of diluent.
II the patient fails to react to this
strong a dose of pollen it is presumed
hat she is no longer sensitive to that I
particular agent of hay fever.
If her nasal membrane is especially 9
sensitive il may be that other INFESTED )
lgents will still attack it and she may {
Iuffer from hay fever in spite of inn
to one kind of pollen, but
he chances are good that the patient l
will escape. or at most she will have
! light attack.
Successes and Failures.
The clinic doctor says that accord Z
ng to the experience OF men work
ng in this field % to so per cent of :
he cases given preventive treatment I
re cured. Ten per cent are not bene- I
tied the first year. The rest are bene- I
tied so to 3 per cent Z
fS not % ciIzr ~trrad 1 :