Drug firms capitalize on battle against hay fever

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15 Comments

pointofview at 10:11 AM JST - 13th March

Gimmicks!
Altria at 10:19 AM JST - 13th March

Kowa Co of Nagoya has come up with a ‘‘Sanjigen’’ (third dimension) mask to keep makeup from coming off.

Don't worry, you can still wear your cutest makeup for the guys. Never mind that huge freakin' mask covering half your face, making it look like you're infected with the bubonic plague.
gogogo at 11:21 AM JST - 13th March

The focus is always on big business never on the consumer, realisticly Japanese buy anything shiny, with a "talento" using it and on TV enough
medievaltimes at 11:39 AM JST - 13th March

I thought the problem was all the cedar trees. Is it really flowers and grass???
Himajin at 03:12 PM JST - 13th March

There are a number of allergens that cause problems, cedar just is the most prevalent. There's another allergy season in the fall.
dennis0bauer at 03:19 PM JST - 13th March

i heard a waterpipe with weed helps :p
medievaltimes at 03:24 PM JST - 13th March

There are a number of allergens that cause problems, cedar just is the most prevalent. There's another allergy season in the fall.

Thanks for the info.

I heard something about the government planted all those cedar trees about 15 or 20 years ago as part of a public works project. Anybody know if that's the case?

If it's true. Wouldn't it make sense to create another public works project to replace those cedars with something a little more friendly to the human nose? Hey! It would even create more jobs!
Disillusioned at 04:54 PM JST - 13th March

Yep, the cedar trees are a major part of the problem, but the major health ailments come from the dust plumes from the Gobi desert. That is full of delightful ingredients like, carcinogens, pesticides, mercury and cadmium. Just delightful stuff! Do you really think a mask is gonna make a brass razoo of difference to the toxicity of this stuff? stop kidding yourselves. It's not hay fever. It is a toxic reaction.
Himajin at 07:36 PM JST - 13th March

MT, those trees were planted post-war, a good many of them. They were supposed to be Japan's next world market, they were going to sell the timber for home building. I forget why it didn't work out.

Disillusioned, there is definitely loads of cedar pollen in the air from now until Golden Week. The kousa becoming toxic has only gotten worse in the last 4 years or so. Two years ago I got sick as a dog from the kousa, I'd never had an allergy before that. Most people I see with masks in my neighborhood were already suffering from pollen before the kousa started drifting in. It isn't in full swing yet, I'm not washing my car every other day yet :-)
timeon at 09:15 PM JST - 13th March

"it includes fluoride, a compound that repels oil and water,"

fluoride is an ion, not a compound. and it dissolves in water, rather than repelling it. I assume they meant perfluorinated compounds, which indeed are very hydrophobic and do repel some oils too
Wottock_Hunt at 10:54 PM JST - 13th March

I believe our inspirational Tokyo Governor, Ishihara, embarked on an election-winning "Let's fight-o Kafun" campaign a couple of years ago. Another masterful success.
Sarge at 11:43 PM JST - 13th March

The kafun must be thick today in downtown Tokyo. I did a quick count on my way to work this morning - at least one in 15 people were wearing masks.
Lowly at 01:22 AM JST - 14th March

sugi/ cedar and hinoki/ cypress are the two main ones. cedar is now and cypress in april? and other grass, flowers and the gobi desert kousa comes in the spring. didn't know it was toxic. after ww2 there were no trees on any mountain anywhere in Japan, pretty much, due to fuel foraging etc during wartime. as mentioned after war everything everywhere was planted with rows of cedar/ cypress for the timber industry. a lot is harvested. allergies have gradually increased since. I forget, they start flowering, or start flowering more after X years of growth, meaning now or the last few yrs becoming a peak, and also something about the way the artificial forests or human-planted trees making far more pollen than regular wild ones, so the hayfever has increased.

There are various plans to cut and re-plant something else all over the place but it is a lot of work as you can imagine, being the whole country, also official jpn is still on the edge of the fray ie mostly local town and prefecture level plans. Also you can't just cut down a whole forest and plant a new one you have to cut bit by bit and let stuff grow. so it will take awhile.
shouganaika at 10:12 AM JST - 14th March

I believe our inspirational Tokyo Governor, Ishihara, embarked on an election-winning "Let's fight-o Kafun" campaign a couple of years ago. Another masterful success.

I remeber it well, his 'guts' pose did look rather half-hearted though, it should have been a warning to all. if the fist isnt clenched tightly enough to show white knuckles or held in a position lower than the jawline then I reckon they are faking it.
craigsgirl at 03:48 AM JST - 15th March

This face Mask has "fluoride, a compound that repels oil and water, to fashion the inner side of the mask to prevent lipstick and foundation from sticking to it." Yes, I get it, like non-stick cookware!

Why not just start taking large doses of probiotics the month before allergy season? Last year after reading an article about the immune system, my husband agreed to take probiotic capsules daily because he was working outside clearing land. His allergy season came, he put some of his usual Similsan Allergy eye drops in for eye comfort, http://www.similasanusa.com/products-allergy-eye-relief.cfm but no big allergic reaction through the entire season of his grass allergy. This is the first time in 50 years for him! 80% of our immune system is in our gut. Probiotics help colonize the gut with the good bacteria, lower the bad bacteria load and help our immune system out.