Allergic rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis is an inflammation of the lining of the nose that occurs as the immune response due to hypersensitivity to various environmental factors, which are called allergens. Allergens can be various compounds from food, hygiene products, clothing, animal excrement (especially cat`s hair), but most often they are house dust, dust mites and mold spores. In fact, everything around us may represent allergens. The most common is allergy to pollen, which is also called pollen allergy, and in recent years there are more and more skin reactions to the sun, which also represents a form of allergy.

Types of allergic rhinitis

• Allergic rhinitis may occur only occasionally, after contact with allergens from food or animal hair.
• Allergic rhinitis that always occurs at a certain time of the year, as a result of reactions to the pollen of trees, grasses or weeds, is called seasonal rhinitis.
• If allergic rhinitis occurs throughout the year, it is called non-seasonal, and it is most likely caused by house dust and dust mites.

Allergic rhinitis or common cold?

Allergic rhinitis is very similar to rhinitis that occurs as a result of the common cold, but there are also differences according to which doctors diagnose the cause of rhinitis.

• the symptom of allergic rhinitis is occasional, watery discharge from the nose, often accompanied by sneezing and itching of the nose, eyes and throat, as well as watery eyes.
• In cold, the nasal discharge is usually thick and colored, rarely accompanied by itching, and there are also other symptoms: fever, sore throat, cough.
• The disease is diagnosed as chronic when symptoms last more than four days, or more than four weeks and when they are moderate to high in intensity, which are manifested by difficulty falling asleep and difficulties in performing daily activities, which can cause problems at the workplace or at school.

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Allergic rhinitis, particularly if it occurs in children, and if it is more severe in form, may later be related to the occurrence of asthma, which is a severe form of allergy of the entire respiratory system. Sometimes, in special cases, an allergic reaction can be very turbulent and can cause the swelling of respiratory pathways or reaction of the whole body, which is called anaphylactic shock. Fortunately, these reactions are very rare, and those are, for example, reactions to bee-sting or some medication.

Establishing the diagnosis

Diagnosis is made by physical and laboratory examination which reveal increased values of total and specific antibodies in the blood: immunoglobulin E (IgE). Allergy test conducted on the skin and so-called inhalation challenge test can detect the cause of allergies.

The treatment of allergic rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis is treated with medicines that suppress allergic reactions.

• For the treatment of mild forms of allergies medicines from the group of oral H1-antihistamines are used, which are particularly effective against allergic rhinitis and mild forms of skin allergies.

New antihistamines are well tolerated and do not cause drowsiness as some older medicines. Some of them can be bought without a prescription, especially when the person has already been diagnosed with allergic rhinitis.

• In severe forms of allergies, medicines from the group of oral corticosteroids are used. They are very effective, but can have serious side effects and are used only in an emergency, when other medicines do not work or do not have sufficient effect.
• Inhaled corticosteroids are used for treatment of severe forms of allergic rhinitis and asthma. They, in contrast to oral corticosteroids, do not have side effects, because they are used at very low doses and locally in the respiratory tract, they are not absorbed into blood.
• For the treatment of certain allergies immunological therapy can be applied. It is called desensitization, intentional exposure of the body to very small amounts of allergens, which reduces the allergic response or reaction to an allergen.

How can we help ourselves?

Allergic rhinitis is not serious and difficult disease, but it significantly affects the quality of life and can cause a number of other problems: fatigue, irritability, difficulty in social relationships. You can help yourself by avoiding allergens.

• In case of pollen allergy one should follow "allergic prognosis", in the case of high concentration of pollen our advice is to reduce going out (morning, evening), close the windows, and ventilate the room in the afternoon. Face masks do not help, because they become wet, so that pollen particles stick to them.
• In case of allergies to dust mites or house dust one should remove carpets and other "collectors" of dust, reduce the humidity in the rooms where you are staying, use antiallergenic bedding, and maintain it with special detergents and dry it quickly. There are very powerful vacuums with special filters that prevent the return of allergens into the air.
• In case of allergy to animal hair, unfortunately, one should avoid being near animals. It is believed that the allergens are actually in their saliva, which is especially retained on the hair.
• In case of allergy to mold one should reduce the humidity in the rooms where you are staying, remove indoor plants, thoroughly clean the bathroom and other damp rooms.
• In case of food allergies one should check the content of food that is eaten, and also the declaration of the product, since larger amounts of preservatives and colors also cause allergic reactions.