Giant Ragweed - One Source of Ragweed Pollen

Common Asthma Allergens & Allergy Triggers

Ragweed pollen triggers asthma symptoms. In the late summer and early fall, some 36 million Americans, which is about 10 to 20% of the population, begin to suffer from seasonal allergy symptoms that can also aggravate asthma symptoms.

Ragweed is a weed that grows freely almost everywhere in the United States. It is most common, though, in rural areas of the eastern and Midwestern states, where the soil is bare of other vegetation, such as vacant lots and along roadways and river banks. Each plant survives only one season but puts out as many as 1 billion grains of pollen in that time.

Of people who are allergic to plant pollen, fully three-quarters — or 75 percent — are allergic to ragweed pollen. If you have ragweed allergy, there's not a lot you can do to cure your condition. There are, however, steps you can take to reduce the frequency and severity of your symptoms.

NOTE: People who have ragweed allergy are also at a higher risk for a condition known as oral allergy syndrome (OAS). Some people call this "pollen-food allergy."