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Show Summertime can bring blues for hay fever suffers Each year the warm weather of spring brings with it green grass, beautiful flowers, shady trees and, to over 17 million Americans, a special kind of misery. These people all suffer from hay fever an affliction with the wrong name since most victims are not allergic to hay and do not have a fever. "What these people have is a seasonal allergy to pollen normally associated with trees in the spring, grasses in the summer and weeds in the fall," says Dr. Lorimer T. Christensen, LDS Hospital allergist. The symptons of this condition include sneezing, itching it-ching nose and nasal congestion often accompanied by itching, tearing and redness of the eyes. Hay fever is caused when a person develops an allergic response to tiny, airborne matter such as pollen, animal dander, mold spores or dusts. The tendency to develop hay fever is inherited and can surface at any point in the victim's life. Thereafter once coming into contact with this particular substance, the - victim's body creates a special antibody an-tibody which, rather than protecting the body from a foreign substance or infection, actually causes the hay fever's symptoms to appear. "It's as if Mother Nature has gone one step too far," sayd Dr. Christensen. Although the pollens responsible for most hay fever attacks are abundant from spring through late autumn, most people can take certain steps to protect themselves. First they can reduce their exposure to the offending agent by remaining indoors on windy days, avoiding long car rides with the windows rolled down, keeping bedroom windows closed during the night and not drying clothes outside. "Avoidance is the very cornerstone of .controlling an allergy," says Dr. Christensen. "Yet no one wants to stay indoors from April through October simply because he has hay fever." So if avoidance is neither possible nor totally effective, the next step is buying a non-prescription hay fever medication available in most drug stores. The most effective allergy medications are those containing only antihistamines and decongestants. "You should avoid buying those medications containing aspirin, extra drying agents and pain killer since these drugs contribute nothing to symptom control and can cause other problems," Dr. Christensen notes. If these medications fail to relieve the uncomfortable symptoms, the next step is to get a prescription for a stronger antihistamine and decongestant. "The person should not ask for nor receive a 'hay fever shot' since this is simply an injection containing a large dose of a slow-release cortisone . derivative," he says. "We are seeing more and more patients suffering serious side effects from these 'allergy' shots." These complications include growth retardation in children, worsening of peptic ulcer disease, hypertension, diabetes, depression, menstrual irregularities, glaucoma and weight gain. If the hay fever victim cannot physically tolerate or simply doesn't wish to take the prescribed medicine for a long period of time, he may then be referred to an allergist. "These patients are usually individuals who don't want hay fever at all rather than those who can already treat the symptoms symp-toms effectively," says Dr. Christensen. This physician carefully examines and studies the patient while sophisticated skin tests are performed to determine the exact offending agents. Once the allergy is pinpointed a desensitization program can be set up whereby the patient will be given a series of injections designed to safely diminsh his allergy response. These injections are normally given twice weekly for four to six months. The frequency is then reduced to one a week and later to once every two to four weeks. "This program takes about three years to complete with the average patient not seeing any visible signs of improvement for six to nine months," "explains Dr: Christensen. "But these patients aren't looking for immediate results. They want the 90 percent chance of preventing their symptoms completely." |
