ANDRZEJ KRAUZEIf it’s seven o’clock on an August morning, I can pretty much guarantee you this is what’s going on at my house: I open my eyes, look out my bedroom windows at a lush summer landscape, and commence a sneezing fit of biblical proportions. My red eyes puff up, my nose runs, and the house shakes with every 40-sneeze episode, each lasting a few minutes, repeated for about an hour.
It’s a common complaint physicians hear from patients suffering from allergic rhinitis: upon waking, uncontrollable sneezing launches victims into the start of their day, blurry-eyed and itchy-nosed. Studies have confirmed the existence of the phenomenon, says Michael Smolensky, a chronobiologist at the University of Texas at Austin. “Allergic rhinitis starts to exacerbate during the nighttime sleep span,” he explains. “If you are not awoken at night, you find the most extreme complaints upon arising.”
Part of an allergic reaction has to do with the rhythmicity of allergen exposure, says Smolensky. Pollen levels, for instance, will peak at certain times of the day, and we are more likely to encounter outdoor allergens during the day when we’re active. But scientists are also now showing that our ...
