When it comes to seasonal allergies, Sacramento suffers.

The City of Trees might as well be called the City of Pollen, because our beloved Sacramento has just been ranked #22 out of the worst cities in America for allergies according to ratings from pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.  That’s no surprise for any of us who have lived in Sactown for long and enjoyed the spring ritual of feeling like you’ve been pepper sprayed directly in the eyes, nose, and throat.  What’s scary is that experts say allergy season allergy season is starting earlier, lasting longer, and getting more intense all over the country due to environmental, air quality, and even health factors.  But there is hope for allergy sufferers in Sacramento who don’t have to feel like zombies from April to August any more.  We’ll walk you through the ABC's of allergies, over-the-counter and prescription remedies, natural cures, and general tips on how to beat them.

 Allergy ABC's:

Allergies affect up to 80 million people in the U.S. every year, or about 25% of the population.  We usually call these seasonal allergies, which include indoor/outdoor allergies, hay fever, and allergic rhinitis.  Most allergies develop in early childhood but for some, they appear later in life due to environmental factors.  They can range from annoying to downright debilitating, and can lead to more serious health concerns like asthma in some cases. 

The most common allergies are:

Tree, grass, weed pollen

Hay fever

Mold spores

Dust mite and cockroach allergens

Cat, dog, and rodent dander

Allergies can be slightly different based on region because of local flora, and in Sacramento we’re susceptible to pollen from mulberry, oak, and ash trees as well as grasses.  Poor air quality also contributes to allergies in Sacramento because it’s a valley where air sits.  According to American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, pollen from Sacramento can spread up to 400 miles away!  So how do we combat seasonal allergies?

Allergies never actually go away but you want to keep the symptoms from flaring up.  They’ve been described as a fire that you want to keep smoldering, not exploding into a big blaze.  So using the right combination of treatments and preventive measures will help you keep that fire to only a smolder.

Over the Counter Allergy Medications:

There are several kinds: Topical nasal sprays, inhaled corticosteroids, antihistamines and oral antihistamines and decongestants

For mild season allergies, most people use over the counter (OTC) nasal sprays and inhalants and oral antihistamines to manage symptoms.  They are not addictive, but can lose their effect after a couple months so consider switching brands every once and a while.  If you’re going to be taking them regularly, it’s important to look for a brand that says “nonsedating,” on the box so they won’t make you sleepy all day.  Or take them after dinner so most of the sedation will occur at night when you’re sleeping, anyway.

Try no to take OTC decongestants to treat allergies.  It may help with the stuffiness and runny nose immediately, but they’re designed to treat colds, not allergy symptoms, and it could be dangerous or counterproductive to take them longer than 7 days.  Ask your pharmacist about side effects.

Prescribed allergy medications:

About 50% of allergy sufferers can treat their symptoms with over the counter meds, while the other half need something stronger and prescribed.  For some people, allergies get so bad they go to an allergist, who can do skin tests to see exactly what you’re most allergic to, and help treat it.  The allergist or doctor can then treat you with allergy shots, exposing the body to small doses of allergens so you can build up a tolerance.  This series of shots usually needs to be started in January or done regularly. 

There are Antihistamines, Leukotriene modifiers that block the action of inflammatory chemicals that are released when your body is exposed to allergens, Intranasal antihistamines that work better than oral, Antihistamine eye drops to reduce redness, swelling, itchiness and wateriness.

There are popular natural remedies: 

A Neti pot helps you rinse out your nasal cavities with a saline solution.  It flushes out the irritants, microbes, and mucus out of your sinuses but doesn’t completely eliminate the problem.  Mix warm water with sea salt or use the solution sold with your Neti pot.

Probiotics are used to treat nasal and sinus symptoms.  A study published in the International Archives of Allergy and Immunology reports that specific strains were effective in combating allergies in supplement form:  Lactobacilli casei, Lactobacillus paracasei, L. acidophilus, and Bifidobacterium longum.

Drinking a lot of water is great, but most city or bottled water is extremely acidic and acids compound allergy problems.  So try to drink 8-10 glasses a day of alkaline water, which you can buy or convert via special additives or filters.  Staying hydrated helps improves allergies for 38% of participants in one recent study. 

Green tea is rich in an antioxidant phytonutrient called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) that blocks histamine and immunoglobulin E (IgE) chemicals linked to uncomfortable allergy-symptoms. 

Sugar is extremely acidic and triggers mucus formation, so cutting back on the white stuff should help stop the sneezing.  By eliminating or minimizing sugar intake for even 30 days (and no artificial sweeteners, either,) you’ll feel your allergies get better.

Cut down on your dairy intake.  Up to 70% of the population can’t tolerate dairy well because they’re missing the enzyme lactase, so drinking milk and ingesting dairy makes your immune system work harder, responding worse to pollen

Other tips to control allergies:

When working outside or going through old books, boxes, or dusty basements or attics, wear a protective allergy mask.  You can buy disposable cheap surgical masks or a longer lasting respirator with a high efficiency particular (HEPA) filter. 

Check the daily pollen counts on the morning news, websites, or even new social media apps, and try not to work or play outdoors on days when it’s high.

Wait until 2 or 3 pm to go outside.  Pollen is released from grass in the morning and rises with the heat as the day goes on, so by early afternoon it should be high enough that you won’t be overly exposed.

Rainy days are great for washing away pollens and allergens, so go out to work or play after the rain.

To control symptoms and avoid flare-ups, take allergy medications before you head outdoors, not after.

On bad pollen days, keep car windows shut and set the ventilation to recirculate.

Don’t use humidifiers or vaporizers inside the house.  It won’t help your allergies because increased humidity can lead to more mold and dust mites.

About 1/3 of allergens end up indoors, so install a high efficiency furnace filter, a HEPA air filter, and HEPA filter on your vacuum.  Change them every spring and early summer.

Washing your sheets at least once a week in 140-degree water will kill dust mites.

You probably can’t wash your pillow as easily, but you can freeze it for 12 hours every few weeks, which will also kill those harmful dust mites.

Start early with prevention – your symptoms might not get really bad until April, but by starting in January or February you’ll help prevent the conditions that create bad allergies.  By the time the weather heats up and trees start budding, your body will be conditioned to respond and you’ll be able to keep that fire to a smolder instead of flaring up.

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Do you have any other tips or remedies to help control allergies?  Let us know and we’ll share them!

Royce White is the most important player in the NBA when it comes to this...

Royce White, forward for the Sacramento Kings, has scored exactly 0.0 points per game in his NBA career, and yet when it comes to one key issue, he could be the league’s most important player.  White finally logged his first minute on the hardwood last week in a blowout loss to the Spurs, registering no stat line.  It was a profound personal victory, finally taking the court 631 days after first being drafted in 2012 by the Houston Rockets #16 overall.  In basketball terms, it was an inconsequential blip on an utter failure of a career (Rockets GM Daryl Morey called him “The worst first round draft pick ever,”) but it’s impact to professional sports and even society is tremendous because of Royce White’s public and contentious battle with mental illness.

When he was a sprouting 10-year old baller, White suffered the first signs of serious anxiety, and during his 2-year stint in college he was diagnosed as generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and acute panic attacks.  One of his main anxiety triggers is a fear of flying, complicating the proposition of playing professional basketball because of its arduous travel demands - about 98 flights per year, not including playoffs. 

For the most part, he was able to mask his mental health issues during college, to suffer through 20 plane rides for the college basketball season, but there were issues of stolen laptops and shoplifting (though we don’t know if that was due to the illness or just being another knucklehead kid, like many of us are.)  He played one season at the University of Minnesota before departing voluntarily, then enrolled at Iowa State after sitting out the requisite 2 semesters.  At ISU he demonstrated his undeniable basketball talents and physical prowess, averaging 13.4 points and 9.3 rebounds, earning national recognition and multiple awards.

The Rockets drafted the 6’8” rebounding machine with an eye on his production, despite concerns about his erratic past and short college career (which almost every NBA draftee has these days.)  But White never made training camp, embroiled in a battle of miscommunications with the Rockets front office over the details of his condition.  White wanted a medical point person to be assigned to him to ease the burden of his illness, and asked the Rockets if he could purchase a specially designed bus to help him travel between cities so he wouldn’t have to fly.  It never worked out and he was instead sent down to Houston’s D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, where he averaged 11.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 16 games last season.

He was traded to Philadelphia in the off season and publically criticized the Rockets, the league, and David Stern, then acting commissioner, saying they didn’t want to deal with the problem of mental illness so they hoped he just “went away.”  White’s basis for requesting special measures to help deal with his condition fell under the Americans With Disabilities Act, a Federal law which requires employers to provide “reasonable accommodations,” to employees with physical or mental impairments.   The ADA is infrequently applied to cases of mental illness, so psychiatrists and medical professionals lauded his insistence on dialogue as emboldening to other pro athletes that suffered in silence.  And if it’s socially acceptable for your favorite basketball or baseball player to admit they have a medical issue and deal with it in a healthy, proactive manner, then certainly why can’t fans, young people, and the general population?  I

In fact, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability from ages 14-55, and according to the National Institute of Mental Health, 26.2 percent of American adults meet criteria for a diagnosable mental disorder each year.  Of those, about 18 percent have an anxiety disorder.  That’s 1 in 4 people who may need help or could be treated for a better quality of life.  For every suicide we read about, for every kid who turns to drugs to sate their internal demons, for every school shooting that shatters our perception of normalcy, there’s a mental health issue begging to be treated.

Philadelphia cut him before the season and he didn’t play until the Kings took a chance on him.  Out of playoff contention and nothing to lose by gambling on a talented, but enigmatic young player they could get for almost nothing, they signed him to two 10-day contracts.  He first played for their D-League (Developmental League) affiliate, the Reno Bighorns.  The Kings liked what they saw so they signed him for the rest of the season. 

“This whole process between Royce and the Sacramento Kings is about him as a basketball player,” coach Mike Malone told the Sacramento Bee. “He did everything that we asked him to do up in Reno. He’s been tremendous while he’s been in Sacramento. No problems at all. No worries from our standpoint as a coaching staff. We’re going to expect him to do what everybody else is expected to do. Show up on time, work hard, pay attention, be disciplined and buy in to what we’re trying to do. He appears to be ready, willing and able to do that.”

So far - a few practices and one minute of one NBA game in - it’s been a healthy marriage.

“Had a great time at my first full practice with the Sacramento Kings,” White tweeted. “Great guys! I’m excited and appreciative to be working here.”

White insists his main focus is still on playing basketball for the love of the game but he’s still been an outspoken advocate for mental health awareness and treatment - his mere presence on the court, or a team’s roster, forces that organization, and the NBA, to deal with it. 

“If I was an NBA player now without the protocols and safety measures,” he said, “I would be risking my health, risking my life. What comes along with mental health if left untreated? Alcohol abuse, marijuana abuse, suicidal behavior, homicidal behavior, those are things I’m not willing to risk to play basketball, to have money, to have fame. That’s it.”

White holds no grudges or points blame at the Houston Rockets for the alleged mishandling of his condition, but it’s apparent they weren't ready for it.  How could they be?  The league has hundreds of pages of documents and memos, policies and procedures, how to handle a player with a broken leg, back spasms, or even who gets arrested for drunk driving, but very little in place to diagnose or facilitate treatment for players with mental health issues.  

The personal, nebulous, and often unseen nature of mental health problems make them difficult to properly diagnose and treat, but there’s also a stigma in our society that’s counterproductive.  This is especially true for men, and magnified ad infinitum for professional athletes who are supposed to be big, tough wrecking balls devoid of emotions - reserved for the weak and soft.  In a game where your perception as a team player and a “gamer” versus a malcontent can earn – or lose – you millions of dollars on your next contract, 7-foot centers and 300 lbs. lineman rarely want to admit they even have emotions, yet along mental health issues.  However, “Suck it up,” or “Rub some dirt on it and get back in the game,” are not mantras that work to placate disorders of the mind.

Yet pro athletes are under unimaginable pressure and suffer from a sense of isolation because of their stature, sometimes from a young age.  Often, their fear of abandonment, anxiety, self esteem issues or inability to deal with anger or loss translates to a better young athlete, as their only channel is to play sports.  Their only reprieve from personal hell is sometimes the heaven of practice, when the mind is ‘shut off’ and physical instincts take over. 

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, a now-retired NBA player who had great success with Denver, Vancouver, and even these Sacramento Kings over a 11 year career, suffered from Tourette’s syndrome, which isn’t a mental health condition but a neurological illness, but is often accompanies by OCD-like tics and tendencies.  As a poor child in Louisiana (Chris Jackson then, before changing his name years later,) the basketball court was as his only outlet of relief.  Out there, the repetition and perfection OCD demanded were rewarded.  He recalls shooting baskets and not physically being able to leave the court until he swished 20 shots in a row, or hit 100 free throws in a row.  If he even hit rim on one of them he’d have to start from scratch – not a choice, but an irrational compulsion.  The end result was a hell of a basketball player but a human being left in torment, serially under-treated for his condition.

So, too we see NFL players suffering the effects of mental illness, especially depression, often after it’s too late.  Alcohol abuse, addiction to paint killers, bipolar disorders, domestic abuse, suicides, and the ever-concerning evidence of concussions causing brain injuries is a massive elephant in the pro football room.

Tony Dorsett’s tragic case of post concussion syndrome has been highly publicized, and Terry Bradshaw, the enigmatic Pittsburgh quarterback and now TV analyst, suffers from severe depression and memory loss from his playing days.  His teammate, Mike Webster, died of complications from CTE, a degenerative condition previously associated with boxers that cursed him with a painful existence of severe depression and bipolar disorder.  Just this season, the Miami Dolphin’s Jonathan Martin exposed a scandal of physical intimidation, extortion, and harassment before leaving the team with emotional distress.  Richie Incognito, by all accounts his tormenter, now acknowledges he’s got serious mental health issues and is seeking treatment.

Go down the long list of NFL arrests and infractions and a disturbing number have undiagnosed or untreated mental health problems as their root – from Jovan Blecher, who shot his girlfriend and then himself last offseason, to Ricky William’s well-chronicled battle with social anxiety disorder, to Junior Seau, the bright and shining superstar with the San Diego Chargers who took his own life less than a year after his career ended.  His suicide shocked the NFL world and sparked an open dialogue about the emotional and mental problems player’s face.

Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who suffers from social anxiety disorder, summed it up in a heartfelt op-ed piece for the Chicago Sun-Times, stating that he believes treatment would have saved Seau’s life. 

"There are many people out there who are suffering and have nowhere to turn for help,” wrote Marshall, “or are afraid because of the stigmas placed on mental health.”

A recent study by the University of Texas found that the acute and physical manifestation of symptoms of mental illness were much more likely in football players as they got older because of concussions, each a minor brain injury by definition.  The NFL has been accused of sweeping the medical data about concussions, brain injuries and mental illness under the rug, and last August agreed to pay more than $765 million to settle concussion-related suits by about 4,500 former players, though they admitted no wrong. 

Whether it’s from hits to the head, childhood trauma, or the pressure cooker of emotional demands on a young athlete, disorders of depression, anxiety, bipolar, and OCD behavior are exponentially higher in professional sports – yet still rarely acknowledged or treated openly.  The NBA has plenty of its own documented cases - GIlbert Arenas, once a superstar for the Washington Bullets, fell from basketball grace due to crippling depression.  Paul Stiemsma, a little-used 26-year old center with the Celtics and now the Timberwolves, has suffered from medically diagnosed depression since his college playing days and publically advocates for mental health. 

But there’s no greater testament to the call for mental health awareness in the NBA than it’s patron saint, Jerry West, himself.  The man whose silhouette adorns the NBA logo is on record as suffering from severe depression his whole life.  He grew up in a terribly abusive household and his relentless pursuit of perfection on the court was just an offshoot of mental illness issues engrained by the trauma.  He went public with his lifelong battle and the dark places it’s taken him, despite his family’s reservations.

Very soon, Royce White will score a point in the NBA.  And then, a lot of points. He’ll grab more than a few rebounds and hopefully become a major contributor for the Sacramento Kings, maybe even by the time your read this article.  Of course we hope he’s remembered for his impact as a basketball player, not defined by the medical issues he’s living.  But for now, at exactly 0.0 points per game - persona-non-grata in the NBA record books - he stands at perhaps the prefect point for us to recognize his mission of awareness and treatment of mental health, in the league and in our society.  To those tens of millions of Americans who suffer in silence, who seek a candle of relief not just from the darkness of their illness but from the stigma it beholds, Royce White remains the most important player in the game.  For that, let us stand up and applaud. 

Sacramento’s got a new king of Kings in Shaquille O’Neal.

This week a startling announcement came out of the NBA, documenting that Shaquille O’Neal has bought into the Sacramento Kings.  O’Neal, hall of fame center for the Magic and Lakers and Heat, racking up championship rings, sound bytes, and monster dunks along the way, became a minority owner, injecting instant credibility and cool points into the most beleaguered franchise in the league.  The pairing of an ex-King nemesis and the Sacramento “Queens,” as he often called them, is so ironic it’s perfect.  His name added to the marquee, even as an owner, will add stability to the franchise similar to Magic Johnson’s involvement with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  

As the Kings look to build a new arena under new ownership to Vivek Ranadive and 24 Hour Fitness mogul Mark Mastrov – and look to stay put in Sacramento – the fact that the king of marketing himself is onboard she bring advertisers, sponsors, and investors in droves.  Tickets sales will explode and national media coverage will reignite.  On the court, his presence will make it a viable option for free agents and bring a championship aura of accountability.  Just as important, O’Neal’s first order of business is to take off his owner suit and lace up his kicks for an appointment with DeMarcus Cousins on the practice court, his prize employee who desperately needs some tutelage – and maturity lessons – from a big brother figure who he’ll actually listen to. 

Things are looking up for the Kings like no time since their own playoff success a decade ago.  It’s nice to see there’s still plenty of room on the Kings band wagon, even for a 7-foot tall former Laker.  

Sacramento crime and neighborhood safety by the numbers.

We like to feel safe.  It’s one of humankind's most primal urges, especially if we are raising a family or making a big investment by purchasing a home.  But how can we really tell if a neighborhood is safe?  We can talk to our neighbors, or pay attention to the headlines in the newspaper, but is that really the kind of empirical evidence you need to find out how safe our community really is? 

At Blue Water Credit, we live, work, and raise our families in the same communities that you do.  We understand that for all of us to feel safe in greater Sacramento, it takes not only the effort of the police force and sheriffs department, but the vigilance and caring of every individual.  To be of assistance, we’ve compiled some accurate data on crime, safety reports, and resources for you to do your due diligence as a considered citizen. 

First off, let's look at a report that sets a crime index for each city in the country from 1-100.  Sacramento received only a 9, meaning it is safer than only 9% of the cities in the U.S.

In terms of violent crime, the national median is 3.9 instances per 1,000.  California is at 4.11 and Sacramento comes in at 7.18, meaning you have a 1 in 139 chance of becoming a victim of violent crime in Sacramento.

With property crime, the national median is 29.1, California 25.84, and Sacramento at 43.21, giving you a 1 in 23 chance you'll be the victim of a property crime in Sacramento.

What about the density of crime per square mile?  The national median is 39.6, California 85, and Sacramento a whopping 238 crimes per square mile!

Of course all these numbers need to be placed in context of if things are getting better or worse.  We see that crime has risen 83.22% since 1990, but declined 13.92 % in the last 5 years.  However in the last 12 months, a concerning number.  

To look at the appreciation rates of crime over a one year period (from May 2012 to May 2013) in Sacramento, we see that Motor Vehicle Theft, Larceny, Aggravated Assault, and Rape have gone down, while Homicide, Robbery, and Burglary have increased.  

Another study puts Sacramento's violent crime rates at 4.33 per 1,000 for assault, 2.48 for robbery, and .029 for rape, while the national average is 2.41, 1.14, and .27 per 1,000, respectively.

The same report on property crimes states that in Sacramento, motor vehicle thefts are at 9.22 per 1,000, theft 25.09, and burglary 8.90, while the national averages are 2.3, 19.77, and 7.02, respectively

Here's another quick snapshot of violent and property crime that compares Sacramento, Sacramento County, and California statistics.

But what about our individual neighborhoods?   There are some detailed crime mapping services available online, like SpotCrime.com and CrimeReports.com  They utilize Google Maps cross referenced with crime reports to deliver maps neighborhood safety and crime hotspots.  This is one that shows the clusters of crime in the city.

Here is a more detailed crime mapping report per instance, courtesy of the SacPD.com/crime/beats.com, and you can also go to Sacbee.com.crimemapper.com to research your individual neighborhoods.

In summary?  It looks like we have some work to do in order to keep our city safer.  Certainly awareness is the first step, and then getting involved with neighborhood watch groups, communication with the local police and politicians, common sense initiatives (like not leaving valuables in plain sight in your car,) becoming friendly with your neighbors, and coming together as a community.

Look for part 2 of this article coming soon, where we break down the safest neighborhoods in Sacramento.

Please contact Blue Water Credit if you'd like more information or need some help.