It is not every day that a physician from a small town like Ahwatukee gets to discover a new disease.  But this is just such a day and I would like to take this opportunity to announce the first reported case of Pokemon Allergy ©.

The discovery began when a young man came to our allergy clinic complaining of itching and rash of the lower legs.  The rash was not severe but the itching was quite annoying and he found himself scratching his lower legs so much that the thin skin above the shins was raw and bleeding.

My first thought was a contact allergy and so I questioned. “Have you been exposed to any new products?   Sun screens, lotions, soaps, chemicals?”

He had not.

“How about something where you work?”

He worked in an office, sitting most of the day at a desk entering data in a computer and nothing in that environment had changed recently.

“Do you have any new hobbies or participate in sports?”

Like a lot of young adults, his primary hobby (and sport for that matter) was playing computer games.  He was good at it and spent a great deal of his free time indoors on the computer. That environment had not changed either.

That’s when a chance comment about his gaming activities caught my attention.

“I have started playing a new game.  It’s called Pokemon Go.”

“Actually it’s not new.  My brothers and I used to play it all the time as kids. Back then our parents would drive us all over town to buy packs of cards that had pictures of these mythical, cartoon-like characters called Pokemon. The point was to collect all the characters, but some were rare and took a long time and a lot of work (and gas) to collect.

Now the game is played with a smart phone and the characters are virtually located all over the place –  parks, parking lots,  stores, on the side of the road; even in people’s houses. The most popular place to find them is in community parks.   I would go out to Desert Foothills Park to hunt for Pokemon at 11:00 at night and see hundreds of kids and adults walking around the park, staring at their phones like zombies.”

“Wait. You said walking around in the grass at night for hours.  Did the rash start before or after you started playing Pokemon Go?”

“About the same time.”  He said.  “Could it be related?  How?”

“Well, Bermuda grass causes a lot of allergy problems.

It is the most common grass grown in Arizona in the summer and likes to release pollen from it’s whirlybird-like pollen stalks during the cooler temperatures at night and early morning.  Although most people who are allergic to the grass will have respiratory symptoms such as sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, nasal congestion and even asthma, high levels of skin exposure  – which could occur when walking in the grass in shorts and sandals – can also cause a contact allergy with itching and rash.  I think this may be it”

It was.

The treatment for Pokemon Allergy?

Although strict Pokemon Go avoidance would no doubt bring about a rapid cure, the substantial health benefits derived from playing the game (spending time out of doors, regular exercise, face-to-face social interaction) in my opinion, make this option less desirable.   Instead, I recommended wearing shoes and long pants and showering after sessions, at least until the winter.

On a recent follow-up visit, the rash had resolved.  He was enjoying his new found life out of his room in front of a computer so much that he started running and hiking for exercise, entered triathlon races, quit his boring job, and enrolled in optometry school.  I never dreamed there would be an app for that.

Brian Millhollon, MD

 

 

It’s monsoon season in Arizona and this is what my phone screen has looked like for the past several days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is what all the fuss is about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From an allergy perspective, monsoon season is a mixed bag.

On the positive side, monsoon moisture and rain removes the dust and pollen that tends to hang in the air forever when the air is dry.  Also, the damp ground is less likely to be picked up by a dust storm, carried across the valley and dumped in your pool (and lungs).

On the negative side, monsoon storms pick up an incredible amount of dust which is carried across the valley and dumped in your pool (and lungs).

Ozone and particulates are the primary contributors to air pollution in Phoenix and both can reach unhealthy levels in the summer.  Particles of organic and inorganic mater small enough to stay suspended in the air and also small enough to travel deep into the lungs when inhaled are the visible danger when dust storms blow through the valley.  Ozone is more insidious but a serious risk for people with heart and lung disease.

This is an excerpt from the Arizona Department of Air Quality forecast for today and yesterday showing the ozone and particulate levels and a comment:

“Circling back to ozone…lack of daytime cloud cover and light winds, until outflows from the north came, gave ozone a serious boost in the afternoon hours Wednesday. Seven monitors did exceed. An Ozone High Pollution Advisory remains in effect today and will be extended through Friday” .

The air quality forecast warning suggests that “sensitive groups” (which would be most of our patients) and active children and adults (which is most everyone else) should limit time spent out of doors, particularly if your activity calls for breathing.

If you would like to learn more about air pollution and ozone in Arizona you can find it here and here.  Information about air pollution and exercise in Arizona can be found here.