Let's Talk Allergies

How to Treat Your Allergy Symptoms Part 1

For those of us that have allergies, there are several options we have to help us deal with them. Today we are going to talk about how to treat your allergy symptoms with conventional treatments.

When we cannot adequately avoid airborne allergens, our symptoms often can be controlled with medication. Effective medications that can be prescribed by a doctor include antihistamines and topical nasal steroids either of which can be used alone or in combination.

Many over-the-counter (OTC) antihistamines and decongestants are effective and available at your local Walmart, CVS, or Walgreens. Be prepared to show your ID.

How to Treat Your Allergy Symptoms with Antihistamines

As the name indicates, an antihistamine counters the effects of histamine, which is released by the mast cells in the body’s tissues and contributes to allergy symptoms. For many years, antihistamines have proven useful in relieving sneezing and itching in the nose, throat, and eyes, and in reducing nasal swelling and drainage. Antihistamines will not help with congestion. To relieve congestion, a decongestant is needed.

Many people who take antihistamine experience some distressing side effects: drowsiness and loss of alertness and coordination. In children, such reactions can be misinterpreted as behavior problems.

During the last few years, however, antihistamines that cause fewer of these side effects have become available by prescription and over the counter. These non-sedating antihistamines are as effective as other antihistamines in preventing histamine-induced symptoms but do so without causing sleepiness.

Some of these non-sedating antihistamines, however, can have serious side effects, particularly if they are taken with certain other drugs.

It is not recommended that people with glaucoma or high blood pressure take certain antihistamines. Always let your doctor know what other medications you are taking.

How to Treat Your Allergy Symptoms with Topical Nasal Sprays

A topical nasal corticosteroid may be prescribed, especially for seasonal allergies. This medication should not be confused with anabolic steroids, which are sometimes used by athletes to enlarge muscle mass and can have serious side effects.

Topical nasal corticosteroids are anti-inflammatory drugs that stop allergic reactions. In addition to other beneficial actions, they reduce the number of mast cells in the nose and reduce mucus secretion and nasal swelling.

The combination of antihistamines and nasal steroids is a very effective way to treat allergy symptoms, especially in people with moderate or severe allergic rhinitis. Although topical nasal steroids can have side effects, they are safe when used at recommended doses. Some of the newer agents are even safer than older ones.

Up Next – Treatment Options Part 2

Till next time

Cheryl
Allergy Store – Helping customers since 1989
800 771-2246

Know the Enemy – MCS

Synthetic chemicals are all around us. They’re in the products we use, in the clothes we wear, in the food we eat, in the air we breathe, and in the water we drink. Look under your kitchen sink. How many different cleaning products are there? The prevalence of chemicals in our life is a factor in Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS).

Because chemicals are everywhere in the environment, it’s not possible to escape exposure. No wonder, then, many people have become sensitized to the chemicals around them. For most people, this doesn’t pose a serious problem. At least not yet. Other people are much more seriously affected. They may have what appears to be a minor allergy to one or more chemicals. They may refer to this as MCS.

Chemical sensitivity is not an allergic reaction because IgE is not present. Upon exposure to chemicals, some people may feel tired and suffer from mental confusion, breathing problems, sore muscles, and a weakened immune system. Such people suffer from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS).

MCS is still quite controversial. The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology consider any relationship between the patient’s symptoms and environmental exposures to chemicals speculative and point out that clear evidence of disease is lacking in many of these cases.

Up Next – What Is MCS?

Till next time

Cheryl
Allergy Store – Helping customers since 1989
800 771-2246

Mold Spores – Know the Enemy – Mold Part 2

A few questions we get fairly often are about mold spores in the air all the time and which ones are allergenic. Like pollens, mold spores are airborne allergens that are abundant, inside as well as outside, easily carried by air currents, and allergenic in their chemical makeup.

Found almost everywhere, mold spores in some areas are so numerous they often outnumber the pollens in the air.

Fortunately, however, only a few dozen different types of mold spores are significant allergens. In general, Alternaria and Cladosporium (Hormodendrum) are the molds most commonly found both indoors and outdoors throughout the United States. Aspergillus, Penicillium, Helminthosporium, Epicoccum, Fusarium, Mucor, Rhizopus, and Aureobasidium (Pullularia) are also common.

Are there mold spore-related disorders?

Fungi or microorganisms related to them may cause other health problems similar to allergic diseases. Some kinds of Aspergillus may cause several different illnesses, including both infections and allergies. These fungi may lodge in the airways or a distant part of the lung and grow until they form a compact sphere known as a “fungus ball.”

In people with lung damage or serious underlying illnesses, Aspergillus may grasp the opportunity to invade the lungs or the whole body. In some individuals, exposure to these fungi also can lead to asthma or to a lung disease resembling severe inflammatory asthma called allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis.

This latter condition, which occurs only in a minority of people with asthma, is characterized by wheezing, low-grade fever, and coughing up brown-flecked masses or mucus plugs. Skin testing, blood tests, X-rays, and examination of the sputum for fungi can help establish the diagnosis. Corticosteroid drugs are usually effective in treating this reaction; immunotherapy (allergy shots) is not helpful.

IAQ Regulations and Mold Spores

Standards or Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) for airborne concentrations of mold, or mold spores, have not been set. Currently, there are no EPA regulations or standards for airborne mold contaminants.

Up Next – Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)

Till next time

Cheryl
Allergy Store – Helping customers since 1989
800 771-2246