Showing posts with label Hay Fever. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hay Fever. Show all posts

Hay Fever

Hay Fever, form of seasonal rhinitis caused by allergy to pollens. Its symptoms are intense seizures of sneezing; inflammation of nose and eye membranes; and wheezing. Hay fever occurs annually at the same season. It is a reaction to inhalation of airborne pollens to which an individual is sensitive. Persons with a family history of hay fever may inherit a tendency to react, not to specific allergens, but to those to which they are exposed.

A doctor may determine the sensitizing agent or agents by scratching the skin of the patient and applying various pollens. The pollens to which the patient is allergic will produce a wheal-and-flare reaction. Because hay fever involves an antigen-antibody reaction in which histamine in the body is released and irritates blood vessels and glands, some anti-histaminic agents may furnish relief. Long-term therapy involves a series of injections of pollen extracts before the pollen season begins; repeated annually, these relieve 75 percent of cases.

Treatment: Antihistamine such as Astemizole and Fexofenadine; Steroids such as Beclomethasone Dipropionate and Triamcinolone

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