Students beware; new data suggests high pollen counts may lower your test scores. If you have ever had hay fever, it affects your sleep, your eyes, it causes fatigue and affective your attentiveness. According to the NY Times, many of the medications for allergies can cause drowsiness and some, like non drowsy Sudafed will keep you up at night affecting your sleep as well. More natural remedies such as nettle and Isoquercitrin from Integrative Therapeutics are more natural ways to reduce the affects of allergies without the typical drowsiness. The lack of sleep and the cognitive effects can be of concern for grade school and college students. This was recently confirmed by a study of 700,000 students in Norway that showed a direct connection to high pollen count allergies and lowered test scores. Reducing the effect of allergies using natural nutaceuticals vs. pharmaceuticals makes sense because a lack of sleep may compound the effect of pollen counts on most students. To find out more, check out the recent article in the NY Times here As Pollen Counts Rise, Test Scores Fall Austin Frakt MAY 22, 2017 This is the time of year my kids and I have seasonal allergic rhinitis, better known as hay fever. I’d always thought it was merely a nuisance, but it turns out it also degrades cognitive performance, at least a little. Hay fever affects at least 10 percent of the population, and a higher percentage of children. The most obvious signs of allergic response include sneezing, itching and a runny nose. These can disrupt sleep, leading to fatigue, and the allergy can cause neurocognitive deficits we may not notice in ourselves or in our children. Medications used to treat the allergy can also induce sleepiness in some people. Read more