hay fever - Positive Health Center

Most people are looking forward to the first warm sunny days and the first green on the trees in the spring. But even then, the first pollen flies and that means for every fifth citizen: hay fever season! 10 to 20 percent of the population are plagued by sneezing attacks, runny or stuffy noses, and itchy and watery eyes. Allergic diseases are well on the way to becoming one of the major common diseases. As a hay fever (pollen allergy, seasonal allergic rhinitis) medical professionals refer to a hypersensitivity of the immune system to proteins of various plant pollen. This affects almost one in five in the Pakistan United States of America and other countries. A stuffy, runny and itchy nose and red, itchy eyes are the main symptoms of hay fever. The complaints can be alleviated with the best hay fever medication. In addition, it can be attempted to use the specific immunotherapy to directly control the hay fever overshooting the immune system. Read all the important information about hay fever here.

Hay fever

Overview

Hay Fever
Description	Examinations and diagnosis
Symptoms	Treatment
Causes and risk factors	Disease course and prognosis

Hay fever: description

Every fifth person in Pakistan United States of America and other countries suffers from hay fever. It is the most common allergy. As with all allergies, the immune system of the body reacts hayfever overly harmless substances - in this case not on hay, as the name suggests, but on proteins of pollen in the air (such as grass and tree pollen).

This is why hay fever is also referred to as pollen allergy, pollinosis or seasonal allergic rhinitis (= seasonal allergic rhinitis, allergic rhinitis). Seasonally, because the different pollen, which can trigger hay fever, are not available all year round, but only during the flowering period of the respective plants in the air. Thus, hay fever symptoms occur only in certain months of the year.

If the symptoms occur year-round, it is probably not hay fever, but a different form of allergy, such as house dust mites.

Pollen

When which pollen fly, you can look in a Pollenflugkalender. You will find such a pollen calendar in the article Pollenflug.

Hay fever is not a common disease

People without hay fever often can not imagine how stressful the symptoms of a pollen allergy actually are: The constantly itchy, watery eyes and the violent sneezing attacks with runny nose severely limit the quality of life of those affected. In addition, hay fever often causes allergic asthma after a few years. Doctors also refer to this as a change of level, as the complaints from the upper respiratory tract spread deeper into the respiratory tract (lungs and bronchi).

Hay Fever: Symptoms

Everything important to the typical signs of hay fever read in the article hay fever symptoms.

Hay Fever: Causes and Risk Factors

Dysregulation of the immune system

As with all allergies, the allergic reaction to hay fever (pollen allergy) is caused by an overreaction of the immune system. The immune system is an extremely complicated system of different cells and proteins. Its task is to fight pathogens that have invaded the body. In hay fever, however, the harmless proteins of pollen are mistakenly classified as dangerous and fought like a pathogen.

The result is an inflammatory reaction, which is triggered among others by the inflammatory messenger's histamine and leukotrienes. These inflammatory messengers are released by so-called mast cells when the pollen proteins are detected by defense cells. Since the pollen proteins enter the body via the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and throat, the local defense reaction of the body is revealed - the typical symptoms of hay fever such as sneezing and itching, runny or stuffy nose and watery tears develop Eyes. Frequently people with hay fever also have allergies to certain foods. One speaks then of a cross allergy.

How does the dysregulation of the immune system develop?

The processes involved in the development of pollen allergy have been well studied. What causes a hay fever but ultimately, there are only guesses. Certain risk factors probably contribute to the development of hay fever with great certainty:

Inheritance: Some people are more prone to allergic reactions than others. This is also called "atopy". People with “hay fever” often suffer from neurodermatitis (atopic dermatitis), asthma or other allergies (animal hair allergies, insect sting allergies, etc.). The allergic reaction is inheritable. This does not mean that every child of allergic parents becomes an allergic person, but the risk is increased, as the following comparison shows:

• If no family member is allergic, children have an allergy risk of about 5 to 15 percent.
• If a parent or sibling is allergic, the risk is about 25 to 30 percent.
• If both parents are allergic, the child also develops an allergy with a probability of about 40 to 60 percent.
• If both parents have the same allergy, the child's risk of allergy is around 60 to 80 percent.

Hygiene hypothesis: Possibly plays in the emergence of an allergy (hay fever, etc.) also a role in how strong the immune system is required during childhood. The so-called hygiene hypothesis assumes that the immune system is under-challenged by very pronounced hygiene in childhood and that at some point it is also acting against harmless substances. For example, children who grow up with siblings or attend day nursery suffer less frequently from allergies, as observations show. Even children who grow up in a rural environment (for example on a farm) have a lower risk of allergies. The contact with many other people (other children) or with "dirt" (farm) could be a "training" for the immune system, while too strong hygiene defies the immune system and thus promotes the development of allergy.

Tobacco Smoke: Substances in the ambient air that irritate the respiratory tract can contribute to the development of allergy (hay fever, etc.) and asthma. For example, children who grow up with smoking parents have a greatly increased risk of developing asthma, hay fever, or other allergies later on. But even smoking during pregnancy is dangerous for the child, as the ingredients of tobacco smoke can lead to numerous malformations and developmental disorders (for example, in the lungs). An expectant mother should therefore never smoke during pregnancy. Later, smoking should generally not take place in the presence of the child.

Many people are suffering from hay fever

Around 20 percent of people in the Pakistan United States of America and other countries are already struggling with hay fever (pollen allergy). Experts of allergological societies in Pakistan United States of America and other countries suspect that this number will increase even further: every second could be sensitized in 2050 at least against a type of pollen.

Researchers from the Center for Allergy and the Environment (ZAUM) of the Technical University in Munich see an important reason for the increasing incidence of hay fever in climate change: The rising temperatures worldwide significantly increase the pollen season of many plants. The higher carbon dioxide (CO2) content in the air also stimulates the plants to release more pollen than before. In addition, the warmer temperatures facilitate "alien" plants, such as ragweed (Ambrosia) from the USA, to spread in Pakistan United State of America and other countries: Ambrosia releases mid-August to mid-September highly allergenic pollen, the main cause of allergies in the US (such as hayfever) are.

Air pollution by particulate matter or ozone pollution also causes pollen proteins to cause even more violent reactions. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz assume that birch pollen, for example, is two to three times more aggressive due to a chemical reaction with ozone (O3).

Hay Fever: Examinations and Diagnosis

The right contact for suspected hay fever (pollinosis) is a doctor with the additional name "allergology". These are usually dermatologists, ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctors, pulmonary specialists, internists or pediatricians who have completed additional training as an allergist.

At the first visit, the doctor will first ask about the complaints and the previous medical history (anamnesis interview). Usually, he can already estimate from the description of the complaints whether it is hay fever. Possible questions of the doctor could be for example:

• Are you already aware of other allergies?
• Do you have eczema or asthma?
• Do your parents or siblings have allergic diseases like asthma, hay fever or atopic dermatitis?
• When exactly do the complaints occur? (At which time of the day, in which months of the year?)
• Where do the complaints occur? (Outdoors or only in the house?)
• Where do you live? (For example, in the country or directly on a busy street?)
• Are you taking any medicines?

Which pollens trigger hay fever?

Whether it is hay fever, can be determined relatively reliably by the anamnesis interview alone. On the other hand, finding the triggering allergen is sometimes very difficult and is like a detective's work. The first step is a look at the pollen calendar. There, the times are listed, in which the different plants usually release their pollen: Who, for example, in January typical hay fever symptoms has responded probably hypersensitive to the pollen of alder and/or hazel.

Further investigations

Various diagnostic tests are available to identify those pollen species or species of pollen that someone is allergic to. The tests include skin test, provocation test and, if necessary, a blood test for antibodies against pollen proteins. Three days before a skin test and provocation test, no medication should be taken that suppress allergic reactions (for example, cortisone or antihistamines). Otherwise, the test result will be falsified.

Cancer symptoms

Prick test: The doctor or helper pricks in several places with a fine needle lightly into the skin and drips various allergenic solutions (such as with proteins of birch pollen, hazel pollen, etc.) on these small wounds. After a certain period of time, he examines the reaction of the skin and can see which allergens have caused an allergic reaction (such as redness of the skin).

Provocation test: The suspicious substance is applied under medical supervision in the nose, on the bronchial or conjunctival mucosa. If the reaction is positive, the mucous membranes swell and complaints occur. This test can lead to further, sometimes severe, allergic reactions (including anaphylactic shock), and the patient should then be monitored for at least half an hour.

Blood test for antibodies: The "RAST" test can be used to investigate whether antibodies (specific immunoglobulins IgE) to pollen are present in the blood. The more such antibodies to the pollen protein circulate in the blood, the stronger the allergic reaction.

Hay fever in children

Hay fever can also occur in babies and toddlers. Usually, they do without a skin test and provocation test, since both are unpleasant for the children and they usually defend themselves vehemently against it.

Hay fever in pregnancy

Even with “hay fever” during pregnancy should be waived because of the potential allergic overreaction (anaphylactic reaction) on a prick test and a provocation test.

Hay fever: treatment

How hay fever is treated, read in the article Hay Fever Therapy.

Hay Fever: Prevent

The safest way to prevent hay fever symptoms is - in addition to specific immunotherapy - to avoid pollen. But that's not easy, because they can float for many miles through the air. However, the following tips can help:

Travel: If you have the opportunity, you should travel to the pollen season of "his" plants in areas where the plants in question are not or are no longer blooming. Or you drive in regions where these plants do not occur at all, such as in the high mountains at altitudes above 2000 meters, in coastal areas or on islands. There is generally low pollen poverty.

Ventilate only at certain times: In the country, the pollen concentration is greatest between four and six o'clock in the morning, which is why people with hay fever should only air in the evening between 19 and 24 o'clock. Conversely, it is in the city: There the pollen concentration in the morning is the lowest between six and eight o'clock, which is why the city should be aired in the morning.

Attach the pollen grid to the window: A pollen grid looks similar to an insect net. It not only keeps away flies and mosquitoes but above all prevents the penetration of pollen into the living space. Especially for hay fever patients who like to sleep with the windows open, a pollen screen on the bedroom window is recommended.

Keeping the bedroom free of pollen: Anyone who puts off his street clothes in front of the bedroom and washes his hair before going to bed prevents pollen from spreading in the bedroom. Freshly laundered laundry (such as sheets) should not dry out in the open air, as otherwise, pollen may adhere to it.

Free-living space from pollen: If you hang a wet towel in the apartment, the pollen will stick to it. In addition, you should vacuum in the pollen season as possible daily to remove the pollen on carpets and in the furniture. Hay fever patients should leave the sucking to someone else and not be present at the same time. Alternatively, you can get a special fine dust mask from the hardware store (so-called FFP3 fine dust mask). It keeps pollen effectively away from the airways and is especially recommended for dusting because it causes the pollen to be whirled up.