The air in Bad Hindelang is something special, which is internationally recognised. The World Health Organization describes the air in the Allgäu health resort as “one of the best in the world” based on regular measurements. Bad Hindelang has therefore been promoting this locational advantage for a long time; allergy sufferers in particular should be able to catch their breath in the healthy and pollen-poor environment. So it is only logical that Bad Hindelang is now becoming a real laboratory of the University of Augsburg, in which the understanding of allergies and individual prevention are to be promoted with the help of an app that is to be developed. A team led by Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann, holder of the Augsburg Chair of Environmental Medicine, wants to create a site-specific offer with regional environmental data – and thus draw conclusions about the general treatment and prevention of allergies.
“Allergies hit us like a tsunami,” says Traidl-Hoffmann. 40 percent of all Europeans suffer from it, in Germany 24 to 36 million people are affected, including every eleventh child. The situation has worsened over the past decades because, among other things, there is more pollen, more aggressive pollen and new types of pollen due to climate change – and the pollen-free season is getting shorter and shorter. The researchers are pursuing a holistic approach and want to know which environmental factors affect people and what effects food or clean air have on allergies. It has now been proven that children living on busy roads are more likely to suffer from neurodermatitis, which promotes the development of allergies. In the high alpine climate in Bad Hindelang there are fewer allergens, fewer pollen and fewer mold spores compared to places at sea level and urban areas. “We need to continue to understand places that keep us healthy,” says Traidl-Hoffmann.
“Unique and for the first time” in Germany
In the research project “Environment and allergies: A digital environment, health and information service in Bad Hindelang”, 200 subjects, tourists and locals alike, are to fill out a symptom diary. The health data is then compared with similar data from Augsburg. As far as data is concerned, says Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU), there is still a lot of catching up to do. They would have to be made accessible quickly in order to quickly draw conclusions from them. “That too is a consequence of the pandemic.” The Free State is therefore supporting the project with 200,000 euros. “That’s money well invested,” says Holetschek, also because the project is intended to promote self-management by allergy sufferers.
In order to be able to prepare for the pollen flight, allergy sufferers need to know what kind of pollen is in the air, what symptoms occur, what behavior has a positive effect on the symptoms and which medications help. Since the app is individually tailored to the location and thus to the user, it should provide allergy sufferers with particularly valuable information towards personal allergy management. “This is unique and the first time in Germany,” says Traidl-Hoffmann. The aim is to offer such an offer in other cities in the future.