Things You Need To Know About Hay Fever
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Posted On :
Apr-15-2015
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Article Word Count :
635
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Hay fever is a common health issue that affects majority of the people with weak, underdeveloped or oversensitive immune system. It affects nearly 30% of the population, worldwide. Since it is one of the most common medical conditions, one should know important things about hay fever.
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Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, is a chronic disease that can lead to longstanding sinus and nasal problems. It is an allergic reaction between an exaggerated immune system and airborne allergens. Children, young adults and elders are vulnerable to hay fever due to weak and hypersensitive immune system. Typically, the most common airborne allergen is a plant pollen that is often seen in spring season.
However, other allergens responsible for hay fever are mold, dust, pet dander, environmental pollution and sudden climatic changes. Predominantly, pollens are the main culprits though. A pollen is a small, oval, powdery grain released by the flowering plants during spring, which are then carried by dust, wind and insects. This pollen is then carried in the air, which is often accumulated in a person’s nose, eyes, skin and lungs.
What happens in hay fever?
When an allergen comes in contact with exaggerated immunity (through nose), the airways or nasal passages get inflamed and irritated. The main pathology behind inflammation and irritation is the secretion of histamine. The upper respiratory tract gets inflamed and irritated, which produces allergic symptoms, such as:
• Frequent sneezing
• Runny nose
• Stuffy nose
• Nasal congestion
• Itching of nose
• Post-nasal drip
• Thin watery mucus from nasal passages
• Red/Itchy eyes
• Headache
• Mild fever
• Sore throat
• Temporary loss of smell and taste
Not all people suffer from the above-mentioned symptoms, as different people may experience different symptoms. The diagnosis of hay fever is commonly done after analyzing and evaluating the signs and symptoms. However, for proper and final diagnosis, allergic test is required. Positive allergy tests are needed to confirm the diagnosis of hay fever.
Management of hay fever –
The management of allergic rhinitis can be done with the help of any of these three ways – prevention, oral medications and/or immunotherapy. Majority of the people use any of these approaches to overcome hay fever symptoms.
Prevention
The best and effective way to avoid allergic symptoms is prevention. Essentially, there is no need of going to the doctor, is costless, and there are no side effects as such. Moreover, prevention will assure you the curative effect. The one who is susceptible to allergies should try to stay indoors as much as possible during spring. That means one should not come in contact with the environmental pollutants. However, some may find it really difficulty to do so, nevertheless, they can use a protective mask to prevent the invasion of pollen and viruses.
Medications
Once allergic rhinitis sets in, then it becomes essential to use oral medications in order to manage allergic symptoms. There are various medications available to manage allergic rhinitis, few of them are:
• Loratadine (Claritin)
• Desloratadine (Clarinex)
• Fexofenadine (Allegra)
• Cetirizine (Zyrtec)
• Levocetirizine
The aforementioned medications are few antihistamine drugs that help one overcome allergic symptoms. For severe nasal congestion, one can use medicated nasal sprays that releases the blockage and enhances easy breathing. It is highly essential to use conventional medications after seeking a medical advice, for proper dosage and directions, and to avert unwanted drug reactions.
Immunotherapy
In serious cases, where prevention is out of control and medications do not work, one may require to undergo immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is a medical intervention, in which a series of injectable allergic shots are given to reduce the symptoms of hay fever. However, in few countries allergic shots are given sublingually. In many cases, immunotherapy works great by curing the allergy.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Things You Need To Know About Hay Fever_316570.aspx
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Author Resource :
This article is written by Bolton Xanthias, a health consultant working for MedStoreRx. Its an online pharmacy website which deals in medications like Generic Singulair, Generic Allegra, Generic Bactrim etc. and other generic medicines.
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Keywords :
hay fever treatment,
Category :
Health and Fitness
:
Medicine
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