"Were you sick with allergies yesterday?

As reported here in the Los Angeles Times, Gallup released a poll "while you were sleeping" that showed that 85% of Americans were not sick yesterday with allergies. What might make this poll most interesting is "perhaps, because it has nothing to do with politics."

So 15% of you were sick yesterday, and only 17% were sick last September. That's a percentage about the same as the approval numbers for Congress.

Gallup has been keeping track of who is sick with allergies since 2008, and have specifically been asking, "Were you sick with allergies yesterday?"

The report specifically notes that these results are self reported, and not based on medical diagnosis. So the results could actually be higher or lower, or mistaken for cold or flu symptoms.

To learn how to differentiate between cold, flu and allergy symptoms, click here.

Despite my personal opinion I wrote about here, this fall allergy season (2010) compares statistically with 2008, and is slightly worse than 2009 (see graph).

Overall, the report shows that even during the winter months 1 in 10 Americans are sick with allergies. This shows that allergies may have a significant effect on many of our lives, and is an important "diagnosis" to be funded, researched, and hopefully cured.

Yet despite advancements in allergy treatment and wisdom, there still isn't very much that can be done for many allergy sufferers, including myself. The best way to treat allergies is by avoidance of triggers, yet this is easier said than done as I wrote here.

Do you have allergies? How are your allergies this time of year? What time of year are your allergies worse? Discuss.