• Question: Why do only some people suffer from hayfever and some don't??

    Asked by emma101 to Damien, Suzi, Tim on 23 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Tim Fosker

      Tim Fosker answered on 23 Jun 2011:

      Hi @emma101

      Suzi answered a question on hayfever brilliantly (see link below). However, I’m not sure why some people are allergic to pollen and others aren’t. I guess we need to know generally why some people are allergic to things and others aren’t to the same thing. One of the other scientists may know…

      /brainj11-zone/2011/06/why-do-we-get-hayfever-i-know-its-the-pollen-but-what-causes-it-and-why-do-we-mostly-get-it-in-the-summer

    • Photo: Suzi Gage

      Suzi Gage answered on 23 Jun 2011:

      Hi @emma101
      Thanks for the question!

      I don’t know why some people get it and some don’t, but I imagine it’s the same as for most illnesses, it’s just because we’re all slightly different, and a combination of our genes and our environment can affect whether we get ill or not. I don’t know whether there’s a genetic component to hayfever but I imagine there would be some kind of gene influence.

      You should never base scientific reasoning on one observation, but my Dad has hayfever, and so do I, which is why I assume it runs in families.

      Can you think of a good way to find out whether hayfever runs in families? Something like I’m a Scientist would be a good source of people. If we got everyone to say whether they have it, and how many (if any) of their parents have it, we could attempt to answer the question.

      What do you think?

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