This winter is allergy friendly

As much as I hate winter with its freezing temperatures and icy weather, I know it serves a purpose. Here in the Midwest we're experiencing a much warmer than average winter season, and it seems to be happening in other parts of the U.S. as well. Besides being hard on farmland, warm weather this time of year has had other interesting effects -- like doctor's offices getting flooded with patients suffering from seasonal allergy symptoms, in January!

This winter's strange weather patterns have caused a flush of mold spores and other allergens, and many patients making appointments thinking they have a common cold are finding out they really just have allergies. Doctors warn that things may only get worse if the weather stays on the same track -- the official allergy season may start earlier than normal if wildflowers get a head start and trees bud early.

Ugh.