About allergies
Timely information on possible impact of air allergens on physical condition is very important for persons suffering from pollen allergy. The forecast of symptoms is a new service for the public provided by aerobiology scientists.
Allergic rhinitis caused by pollen is a frequent disease. Symptoms of allergic rhinitis include nose, but can spread and affect eyes, ears, sinuses and lungs. The most common symptoms are nasal itching, runny nose and sneezing. Sensitive individuals name nasal congestion as the most frequent symptom, although some tend to indicate these sensations as a runny nose or excessive sneezing. In addition to nose symptoms, inhalation of airborne allergens may result in manifestation of signs of eye conjunctivitis, such as itchy eyes, watery eyes, etc. Persons can also complain about ear symptoms. Prolonged allergic rhinitis can disturb the respiratory function: sick persons snore, breath with their mouth open, have increased sinus pressure, and an itchy throat may turn into involuntary constant upper palate pressure.Persons with allergic rhinitis must know that subsequent contacts with the allergen lead to increasingly severe reactions, signs continue longer, and long-term residual effects occur. For more information on symptoms, ask your doctor.
Itching
Redness
Scratchy sensation
Tearing
Itching
Running
Sneezing
Nasal congestion
Wheezing in the chest
Cough
Respiration disorders
Asthma
Allergies prevention
Protect yourself
A huge set of aeroallergens – pollen of various plants and mushroom spores – is waiting for us outside. Pollen-sensitive persons encounter such problems as nasal congestion, sneezing, or itchy eyes. There are several ways to control the strength of impact. This depends not only on the measures taken in living premises but also on the person’s lifestyle, habits or intensity of being outdoors. One can avoid the unpleasant contact with plant pollen allergens when there is a lot of pollen in the air by limiting outdoor activities. Another none the less reliable way is to wear a protective mask that withholds part of allergens and prevents them from getting into the respiratory tract.
Protect your living place
There are various possibilities to protect your home from pollen too. In most cases, the protection is installed in vents or windows to allow ventilation of premises during flowering and this way reduce the amount of other allergens or improve air quality at home. For example, vents with pollen protection have special changeable filters that withhold airborne pollen and allow fresh air into the building. Modern vents can be chosen and ordered with a filtration system that withholds both pollen and outdoor dust. You can also choose windows with anti-allergic air vents. This type of air vents is produced using the anti-allergy screen, certified by the European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF), which withholds pollen and helps to protect home from unwanted allergens from outside. Screens certified by this foundation (efficiency from 90%) can be mounted in windows too.
Pollen diary
Another important preventive measure is the Pollen Diary. It was created by scientists to help persons who are sensitive to pollen allergens of various plants to monitor their physical condition. The diary is handy because one’s allergy symptoms can be linked to the amount of airborne pollen on any desired day. By filling in the Pollen Diary, you will receive both information about the amount of pollen and the personalized forecast of allergy symptoms. The Pollen Diary can be also useful while travelling across Europe to find out the impact of pollen on health in the country in which you are staying at that time. The benefit is evident as continuous monitoring of one’s physical condition enables you to adjust your daily or even weekly plans and this way avoid unpleasant sensations.
Allergies treatment
An allergic rhinitis treatment is carried out by an allergist who has a long-term treatment practice. Consequently it is necessary to consult with a doctor-specialist for the diagnosis and treatment.
Treatment of allergic rhinitis is always individually tailored to the severity of a particular patient’s disease and a combination of symptoms. The following general principles of treatment and prevention of allergic respiratory diseases are distinguished: patient training, allergen removal, medication, allergen-specific immunotherapy (Bousquet et al., 2001).
Nowadays, treatment of allergic rhinitis consists of short-acting or long-acting medications eliminating or alleviating symptoms. Such treatment is always recommended alongside regulation of the patient’s environmental conditions; i.e., elimination of allergy-causing allergen. Pharmacological treatment possibilities depend on the symptoms of allergic rhinitis and include (among others) antihistamines, glucocorticoids and anti-leukotrienes.
Histamine is considered to be one of the most important mediators of immune response, and, therefore, pharmaceutical treatment is mostly orientated to suppression of the effect of histamine. Antihistamines, mostly over-the-counter drugs, are the most widely used drugs for treatment of allergic rhinitis. Treatment with antihistamines usually starts with oral medications. Often, such treatment is initiated by the patient himself, since many of these medicines are available without prescriptions. Due to the relatively rapid onset of action, antihistamines may be used on an as-needed basis. This type of medication can also be prescribed as nasal sprays, but they are less acceptable to patients due to bitter taste (Lee, Pickard, 2007). The effect of preparations on symptoms, especially nasal congestion, is nevertheless small (Benninger, 2010, etc.).
Antihistamines can be combined with oral decongestants: then the inhalation of the air flow through the nose significantly improves (Corren et al., 1998; Nathan et al., 2006). Practice shows that treatment with antihistamines is not always effective providing proper help to the patient, and then you may need to choose other medicines (corticosteroids, etc.) or treatments.
Glucocorticoids are the most effective pharmacological therapy for seasonal allergic rhinitis, but their overall efficiency is moderate (Bende et al., 2002; Benninger et al., 2010). Although the clinical effect is formed during 24 hours, in case of perennial rhinitis the maximum effect may not be achieved even in a few weeks (Bende et al., 2002). So far, there is insufficient data on the efficiency and superiority of various nasal glucocorticoids when compared to antihistamines in the treatment of persistent allergic rhinitis (Benninger et al., 2010). Nasal glucocorticoids reduce eye allergy symptoms as efficiently as oral antihistamines.
The effect of leukotriene receptor antagonists on the symptoms of allergic rhinitis is similar or slightly less than that of oral antihistamines. Besides, some random sampling studies have shown that leukotriene receptor antagonists supplemented with antihistamines result in greater effect. On the other hand, no significant benefit of combining leukotriene receptor antagonists with nasal glucocorticoids has been identified (Rodrigo, Yañez, 2006; Carr et al., 2012).
The goal of allergen immunotherapy is to restore normal reaction of the body to the allergen. Allergen-specific immunotherapy can be explained in a simplified way by the principle of vaccination. Patients to whom allergen-specific immunotherapy is prescribed get the gradually increasing dose of the identified irritant – allergen. This way the organism becomes accustomed to a particular allergen, and the immune system stops producing specific antibodies. Following this treatment, the organism begins to tolerate the allergen, the symptoms of an allergic disease reduce, and the risk of developing asthma is stopped (Zuberbier et al., 2010).
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Šiauliai Academy, Vilnius University
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