Nothing to sneeze at

(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-11 09:10

Winter is almost over in the Northern Hemisphere and hay fever sufferers are already beginning to sneeze and sniffle. Although most sufferers try to deal with the symptoms themselves, that can have potentially dangerous consequences.

"At least a third of all patients who have an allergy that they don't treat properly will suffer from allergic asthma in the short or long term," says Thomas Fuchs, a representative of the Association of German Allergists.

Starting a course of immunotherapy as early as possible is the best way of avoiding complications.

"In the best-case scenario, you begin immunotherapy a maximum of five years after the symptoms of a pollen allergy appear," says Professor Karl-Christian Bergmann from the Allergy Center at Berlin's Charite University Clinic.

The earlier immunotherapy begins, the fewer the allergies that are present and the less developed they are, thereby improving the chances of a successful therapy.

Immunotherapy begins when the body is exposed to a very low concentration of the allergen. The dosage is then slowly increased over a long period of time. As the concentration is increased, the body's immune system becomes less sensitive to the allergen.

Previous 1 2 Next Page