Shop shelves take in Christmas decorations earlier and earlier with each passing year. This is much to the chagrin of those who are allergic to the plant poinsettia. – This year it started as early as October, says Lillian Jakobsen. She lives in Mo i Rana and has been allergic to the Christmas plant for as long as she can remember. – It settles in the lungs and triggers severe asthma attacks. When I’ve been to the shop I can stay in bed for three days. This year’s first meeting with the poinsettia was at a local shopping centre. Although she did not pass the shop with the flowers, her face and lungs began to sting, and Jakobsen lost her voice. – It was like being exposed to a gas attack. Feeling excluded from society Now she has completely stopped going to the shop during the period the flower is sold, and is dependent on others to take care of the shopping for her. But it is not only in the shops that Jakobsen encounters problems with the poinsettia. Because the flowers that are sold in the shop are naturally decorated in thousands of Norwegian homes. MYTH: It does not help to cut off the yellow flower of the poinsettia. Photo: Randi Wilsgård – I have to call around and ask people what Christmas flowers they have before I can visit, says Jakobsen. She says that it is not enough to hide the plant before the visit either. – I have been visiting and experienced that I have become very ill because someone hid the flower in the washroom before I got there. – I have actually started to just stay at home this season. And I feel really shut out. Impossible to avoid Secretary General of LHL Asthma and Allergy, Helle Grøttum, thinks it is sad to hear about Jakobsen’s situation. – Poinsettia is one of those flowers that many people react to because it emits a gas that can irritate the respiratory tract. Nevertheless, Grøttum believes that allergy sufferers must also protect themselves and find a strategy for living with their own allergy. – We will never introduce a ban on poinsettias and then you have to learn to find a way to avoid it. INDOOR CLIMATE: It is important to have a good indoor climate all year round, but especially in winter when we spend a lot of time inside. Photo: LHL Asthma and allergies – People who are very allergic can tell you in advance before going to a party that they are allergic. One must give the environment the opportunity to facilitate. It’s much better for everyone. Julestjernen A survey carried out by YouGov on behalf of the Allergy Guide shows that Christmas flowers are the biggest cause of Christmas allergies. – Poinsettias are cheap, and they are sold everywhere; at nurseries, grocery stores, they stand at the entrance to the store, and are very difficult to avoid if you first react to it. Poinsettia contains mucous membrane and skin irritants that can cause very unpleasant reactions, especially for allergy sufferers. – We can use allergy-friendly alternatives such as Christmas cactus and bonfire, or artificial flowers. “Christmas allergy” concerns many And it is not just the poinsettia that can cause allergic reactions at Christmas. According to a survey carried out for Allergiguiden, which is run by the pharmaceutical company Viatris, almost one million Norwegians have problems with Christmas allergies. This includes things like Christmas baubles, hollyhocks, lilies, tulips, poinsettias, and not least Christmas trees. But also nuts, candles and other things with a strong aroma. INDOOR CLIMATE: It is important to have a good indoor climate all year round, but especially in winter when we spend a lot of time inside. Photo: Kristin Rivrud / news – There are many things about Christmas that you can react to. It is a time of year where we are inside a lot, and we enjoy many different things, which many are allergic to, says general secretary Grøttum. She says that it is not possible to know how many people are allergic to the poinsettia itself, but that once you are hypersensitive to something, it is rare that you do not react to several things. – Every year we get several inquiries that say they are bothered by the gas from Christmas stars. So it is a pure problem, and it applies to a good number of Norwegians. If you first have a problem with smells and perfume, of which there is a lot at Christmas, then there are often several things that can irritate the mucous membranes. Grøttum’s tips for an allergy-friendly Christmas Nut allergy and almonds in the porridge? Use beans Replace nuts with prunes, dates or raisins Buy roses, tulips and Christmas cactus instead of poinsettias Use a mask Replace precious fir with plastic wood And you? Do not overdo the perfume use. Two-part shopping center Knut Skatland is center manager at Amfi Mo in Rana, where Jakobsen often goes. – We have a two-part center with two buildings and a pedestrian street in the middle. As befits a shopping centre, there is a flower shop in one building. – In the second building, we have decided that there should be nothing that could affect people’s allergies. Everything in the exhibition and the like is allergy-friendly, says the center manager. Skatland says that several feedbacks from customers led to this solution a few years ago. – We try to comply with the wishes of those with allergies to keep one side allergy-friendly. – Not a big problem, says Kiwi news has also been in contact with the grocery chain Kiwi, who say Christmas flowers are highly valued by their customers. In the past four years, the chain has only received two inquiries about allergies to Christmas flowers, says Kiwi’s communications adviser, Nora Mile Helgesen. – At KIWI, we have over 4 million customers a week, and our impression is therefore that this is not a major problem, says Helgesen.
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The poinsettia flower gives people allergy problems before Christmas – news Nordland
