Q & A: Can You Get Allergies After Moving to a New City?

Q. People say that about five years after moving to Austin, Tex., you start to get your "Austin allergies." Is that possible?

A. It is possible for some people to acquire new allergies, said Dr. William Reisacher, assistant professor of otolaryngology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and three to five years of exposure may be enough to trigger them.

But there are many other reasons a person may feel better or worse after moving from one city to another, especially a distant city, Dr. Reisacher said.

For example, some people are more sensitive to dry climates, he said, while for others, humid areas can make their noses feel horrible. The air in urban areas may have more irritants, like dust and mold from older buildings, than that in rural settings.

For people who can develop allergies, meaning that their immune systems react when exposed to something in the air, moving may not spell relief, Dr. Reisacher warned. It is common for an allergic person who moves to a different climate to experience an improvement in symptoms.

"However, after being in that environment for about three to five years, the body's immune system may begin to recognize the new mix of airborne particles as foreign invaders, and symptoms will resume," he said.

"Also, you can't escape pollen just by living in the big city, because it travels for hundreds of miles on the wind," Dr. Reisacher said.

C. CLAIBORNE RAY

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