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The Perfect Storm Of Heat & Pollen

Written by Dr. Dave Hnida, CBS4 Medical EditorA quick word of caution for today (and the week ahead), and it involves a little algebra.

Heat (+ high pollens+ allergy medicine) = heat stroke.

Here's the deal. Pollen counts are sky-high, so a lot of people are snorting and sniffling. The temperatures are also tickling the mid 90s.

So you think the best thing to do is pop an allergy pill to ease a little of your misery.

Unfortunately, since this is our really first bad burst of high temps, your body hasn't acclimated to heat like you will , say, come August.

Then throw in the allergy meds, which have a little know side effect of "holding in heat" (meaning things like you sweat less, and dissipate less heat) -- and you've got a recipe for keeling over from the higher temps.

What are you going to do? I mean, it's like being in a pizza oven with a watery nose and itchy eyes!

Certainly, the best advice is plenty of fluids, air conditioning, as well as cutting back on the drugs -- but if those don't work into your life over the next week- please keep in mind this unusual side effect unique to this time of year. Be careful out there!

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