Gottlieb allergist starts official allergy count for the Midwest on April 1
MELROSE PARK, Ill. – For allergy sufferers, April Fools’ Day means something better than a good laugh. It’s the start of the daily Gottlieb Allergy Count.
At 5:00 a.m. Friday, Dr. Joseph Leija, an allergist at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, will climb to the rooftop of the Gottlieb Professional Building in Melrose Park where he maintains a special pollen-catching machine. As he has for the last decade, Dr. Leija will carry samples down to his office, place them under the microscope and determine that day’s official allergy count for the Midwest. He will do this every business day through October, the end of the pollen-reporting season.
The offical count is available through the Gottlieb Allergy Hotline (1-866-4-POLLEN [English] and 1-866-ALERGIA [Spanish]) and at the Gottlieb Web site, www.GottliebHospital.org. And you can follow us on Twitter under GottliebAllergy, in English, and AlergiaGottlieb, in Spanish. “It has been a very wet winter so there will be many respiratory irritants resulting in coughing and inflamed nasal passages caused by mold spores,” said Dr. Leija, whom is certified by the National Allergy Bureau to take and broadcast the official Midwest count.
“Chicago air quality is very poor due to pollution, weather conditions and plant life, and statistically we have more people than the average who suffer from symptoms such as scratchy, runny noses and watery eyes,” Dr. Leija said.
The count for tree, grass, weed, mold, pollen and ragweed allows allergy sufferers to better control their symptoms. They can decide if they must take medication that day or just roll up the windows while driving. Chicagoland media broadcast and publish the count prepared by Dr. Leija, a regional expert in allergies.
Dr. Leija and the National Allergy Bureau recommend the following preventive measures for those with allergies:
Minimize outdoor activity when pollen counts are high. Peak pollen times are usually between 7 and 10 a.m.
Shut windows in your house on days when pollen counts are high. Use your air conditioner for temperature control instead.
When gardening or mowing the lawn, wear a filter mask.
Wash your hair at night before sleeping to remove excessive pollen and potential allergens that could cause irritation.
For more information or to make an appointment with an allergist, call Gottlieb Memorial Hospital at (708) 450-DOCS, or Loyola University Medical Center at (888) LUHS-888.
Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is a member of Trinity Health. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, LUHS is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 569-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-licensed-bed community hospital, the Professional Office Building housing 150 private practice clinics, the Adult Day Care, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness, Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center at Melrose Park.