The spring blooms may be pretty, but they are not always a welcome sight for Pennsylvanians who suffer from seasonal allergies.

Seasonal allergies affect about one in four adults and one in five children.

Physician Assistant Skye Miller at UPMC Williamsport said it happens when the immune system overreacts to things like pollen and grass, causing symptoms like sneezing and itchy, watery eyes.

She said it can be helpful to try and modify your environment to not expose yourself to tree and grass pollen and outdoor molds.

"If it's a high pollen day, try not to go outside," said Miller. "Usually a rain kind of helps calm the pollen in the air, so it might be better to go outside after the rain. Try not to leave your house windows open, your car windows open, taking a shower once you come in from outside, changing your clothes."

Also known as seasonal allergic rhinitis, allergy symptoms are the same in kids and adults.

Miller said over-the-counter nasal sprays and 24-hour antihistamines can help ease allergy symptoms.

But if those aren't working, it may be time to see a doctor or allergist to explore other options, like allergy shots.

Dr. Gregory Carnevale, the chief medical officer for UnitedHealthcare, said more than 100 million Americans experience some type of allergy.

He added that it's important to differentiate them from a common cold by their timing and frequency.

And if you know what you're allergic to, he said you can avoid being outdoors when pollen counts are the highest, or wear a mask.

"I often tell my patients to remove heavy drapery in their bedrooms, washing their linens regularly," said Carnevale, "just trying to remove some of the reservoir of pollens that sometimes stick to those surfaces."

He said people react differently to allergens and medications.

Simple steps like rinsing nostrils with saline or showering after exposure to pollen can ease symptoms, and allergy testing - done on the skin or through blood samples - may offer helpful insights.

A doctor may also recommend newer treatments if over-the-counter medications haven't helped.

Researchers from Washington and across North America have teamed up to develop a powerful new set of biological tools which could be a game changer for treating brain diseases.

Called "enhancer AAV vectors," they target genetic defects in specific cells without affecting surrounding cells, reducing side effects.

Dr. Bosiljka Tasic, director of molecular genetics at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, who worked on the project, said the goal of the research is to understand healthy brain function and then create tools to treat diseased brains.

"That usually has to happen through a focusing on specific cell types in the brain," Tasic explained. "We have to discover them, we have to find what's wrong with them, and then provide help to them."

Enhancer AAV vectors, she noted, consist of harmless viruses loaded with DNA, triggering a change in how the cell functions. Tasic pointed out the technology could be used to treat any number of brain-related diseases including ALS, Parkinson's and epilepsy.

Tasic pointed out her team now has many new enhancer AAV vectors, designed to affect hundreds of different kinds of cells, which are now available for free for other researchers to use and expand on. She added her team was just awarded another round of funding from the National Institutes of Health to continue to build tools targeting more cell types.

"What we can do now is we can access experimentally, look at the cells, poke them, ask what they do, turn them on and off, and look how that affects, for example, an organism's behavior," Tasic outlined.

AARP Washington and the Allen Institute are hosting a free virtual event called "Discovering the Science of the Aging Brain" on June 5, when experts will share more details about the research. People can sign up for the event at AARP.org/brainhealthWA.


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Starting next week, the Episcopal Health Foundation will be accepting applications for its next "Collaborating for Healthy Communities Initiative" to assist coalitions focusing on health disparities in Texas.

The 12-month program is designed to help collaboratives better serve their communities through coaching, resources and support.

Roosevelt Neely, community partnerships officer for the foundation, said the program is based on four basic pillars.

"Shared purpose, so really thinking about working together. Shared leadership, that's really saying we all have a stake in this, we all have a shared interest; and then we also focus on strategic action," Neely outlined. "It's great we all want to do something together, we all think this is important, but how do we actually make something happen?"

He pointed out the 2025-2026 cohort will focus on maternal health, food and nutrition security and diabetes prevention. The application period will run from June 13-July 13.

The Foundation works with organizations in 81 counties across Texas to address nonmedical drivers of health disparities. Neely noted in addition to focusing on the three main issues, groups selected must meet other criteria.

"You have to be a collaborative, a group that is made up of at least two organizations," Neely explained. "It needs to be a group that's working in one or more of EHF's 81 counties. And we want them to have some sort of challenge. This is supposed to be really trying to get you to conquer, to overcome whatever that challenge or challenges are."

Neely added at the end of the cohort, participants will receive $10,000 to help further their work.

"Because we're interested in seeing, in a pointed way, how EHF can support outcomes and closing disparities to health when it comes to those things," Neely emphasized. "What better way to do that than by supporting those collaboratives, across our service area, who are really interested also in those very same priorities for change?"

A nonprofit is suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for not releasing records that could show beef industry influence in the upcoming dietary guidelines.

The Center for Biological Diversity says the dietary guidelines impact public health, and more than $40 billion in government spending.

Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director with the Center, said the Trump administration promised transparency - but missed a Freedom of Information Act deadline to release the findings in the documents.

She said Tennesseans deserve to know who's shaping the nutrition advice behind school meals and food programs.

"They play a huge role in the development of menus in places like schools," said Burd. "They're extremely important in developing what, for example, millions of American children are going to be eating every single day, and so we're looking for any early indication or any information about what they might say."

The USDA says final dietary guidelines could be out as soon as this summer.

But critics warn the Health Secretary may reject expert advice, favoring a report from what he calls his new Make America Healthy Again Commission, which they say downplays risks from foods such as beef, dairy and lard - despite links to heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Burd said the MAHA report highlights major health threats to children, including exposure to harmful pesticides such as Glyphosate and Atrazine.

She noted that more than 300 million pounds of Glyphosate are used annually in the U.S. - and Atrazine is so toxic it's banned in 63 countries.

"Atrazine isn't used to grow broccoli, and spinach, and the kinds of foods that we know we should be increasing in our diets," said Burd. "Atrazine is used to grow feed corn that's used to feed animals in factory farms that are not producing, that are unbelievably unhealthy. It's used for biofuel production, and it's used to make high-fructose corn syrup."

She added that Atrazine contaminates the drinking water of 70 million Americans, and a Biden-era initiative aimed at cleaning up waterways contaminated with unsafe levels of atrazine would have only addressed about 1% of the affected sites.

"The Trump administration has, right now," said Burd, "the opportunity to take concrete steps to protect Americans from this powerful endocrine-disrupting chemical, that is more toxic than glyphosate, actually by an order of magnitude."

Burd added that Atrazine is associated with a wide range of reproductive health issues, including risks to pregnant women, fetuses, young children, and male reproductive systems - making it a chemical of major concern.