Andrew Moore asked:


Allergies are quite common today with practically everyone suffering from some form of allergy or the other. It is the overreaction of the immune system to antigens like bee stings, some food, insect stings or pollen that triggers an allergy. There are different types of allergic reactions that manifest itself in different ways in the body.

Allergies are generally mild with mild symptoms that go within a few days of getting rid of the trigger of the allergen. Occasionally, there are cases of people suffering from anaphylaxis which is a life threatening condition where there is difficulty in breathing and loss in consciousness.

One type of allergic reaction is seasonal allergic rhinitis, or hay fever. This is an allergic response to pollen and other microscopic substances that exist at certain times of the year. There are also conditions where allergic rhinitis works out to be perennial, or year round.

One of the types of allergic reactions is allergy to insect stings, which is very common. Some people however will not be aware of their allergy to insect stings until they are stung by an insect. More often than not, it is the second sting that triggers an allergy reaction while the first sting produces only a normal sting reaction. However if you have an allergy to insect stings, the severity of the reaction varies from person to person.

Allergy to latex is another of the types of allergic reactions where the person is allergic to substances made of natural latex. One of the main sources of this allergic reaction is rubber gloves while sometimes, latex that is used in other products like condoms and medical devices can trigger a reaction.

Mold allergy is an allergy that does not have a defined season as mold and fungi grow in all weather and thrive both indoors and outdoors. However some forms of outdoor mold tend to thrive in higher concentrations from spring to late fall. There are some people who suffer from allergy to cosmetics. With cosmetic allergy, you experience skin irritation because of some ingredients in the cosmetics like fragrances and preservatives. The two types of allergic reactions here are irritant contact dermatitis and allergic contact dermatitis.

Some people are allergic to pets; where it is not the pet’s feathers or fur that triggers a reaction. It is the invisible flakes of animal skin called dander that triggers sneezing, watery eyes and stuffy noses in some people. When you suffer from food allergies, it means that some food likes peanuts and jalapeños trigger an allergic reaction.

Symptoms here are like symptoms for different types of allergic reactions like hives, swelling of the throat and tongue, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea and a drop in blood pressure.

People suffering from allergic must know how to get first aid if it happens to them. Friend and family will be helpful if they know what it is. You will not know when it will be helpful.

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


Millions of Americans suffer from one respiratory disorder or the other, which can impact their lives in serious ways. A respiratory disorder can be acute or chronic. Acute disorders can be easily treated and last for a short time. On the other hand, chronic disorders are not only difficult to treat but can also leave a person disabled for life.

What is Allergic Bronchitis?

Allergic bronchitis is a type of respiratory disorder. It is commonly referred to as allergic asthma. The immune system of a person suffering from allergic bronchitis is highly sensitve and so hyperactive that it attacks even hamless foriegn substance that enter the body. To put it in other words, the immune system labels a harmless entrant into the body as “dangerous” and produces antibodies to fight against it.

In allergic bronchitis, irritants and allergens inflame the bronchi and lower parts of the respiratory system. The condition lasts as long as the person is exposed to the allergens. In addition, allergic bronchitis is closely associated with asthma and respiratory allergy and can lead to conditions such as hay fever and allergic rhinitis.

In most cases, allergic bronchitis causes mild to moderate suffering. However, it is important to realize that allergic bronchitis can become very dangerous and even cause death. This is because some people are extremely sensitive to allergens. This extreme sensitivity can lead to suffocation caused due to the blocking of airways by inflamed tissues. People in this condition are in great danger. They need immediate hospitalization and medical care.

You know you are a victim of allergic bronchitis when you suffer from breathlessness, runny nose, red or swollen eyes, hyperventilation, tight chest, tickling in throat, persistent sneezing or coughing, headache, nausea, and so on. As soon as you recognise these symptoms, seek the help of a medical practitioner.

Treatment of Allergic Bronchitis

The importance of consulting a physician as soon you notice symptoms of allergic bronchitis cannot be overstressed. The doctor will conduct the required steps to find out which type of allergen is responsible for your particular problem. The test involves injecting an allergen directly under the skin and observing the way your body reacts to it.

Your doctor might even ask you to see an allergist. Allergists perform a series of tests in order to understand the nature of your allergy to a particular allergen. In addition, allergists can also teach you how to prevent the relapse of allergic bronchitis.

Treating mild or moderate allergic bronchitis is fairly simple. You need plenty of knowledge about the disorder, and you also need to know the particular type of allergen responsible for your problem. Once you know, it is easy to just avoid the allergens responsible for your problem. The medical treatment for this condition is anti-histamine medication.

Prevention of Allergic Bronchitis

It is easy to manage and even prevent allergic bronchitis. As mentioned previously, the easiest way is to determine the particular allergen causing your problem and just stay away from it. In addition to this, it pays to know a few things such as the following.

The summer season can aggravate this condition simply because during the summer, there are plenty of allergens in the air.

Remember to bathe your pets regularly and free their fur from any allergens. A lot of allergens are frequently found in the fur of animals.

Take special care of yourself if you are suffering from allergic bronchitis. As already said, the condition can get dangerous.

Keep some anit-histamine medication with you while travelling. You never know the type of allergens you might come across in an unfamiliar location. Having some anti-histamine with you will help you easily control any allergic reaction that might come up.

Be assured that it is possible to live a full, happy, and productive life even with allergic bronchitis. It is very important to keep yourself informed about your condition, ways of treating it, and way of preventing it. Be in touch with your allergist and your doctor. They are the best people to give you all the information you require about allergic bronchitis and to teach you how to live with the problem effectively.

Neelima Reddy asked:


Itchiness, watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, and redness are some of the common symptoms that majority of the people experiences as allergy symptoms.

The most effective way to fight against particular allergen is immunotherapy or allergy shot, but some people will get frightened to get allergy shot.

Allergy shots hold a little amount of substance that fights against the particular allergen. For example, if the person is allergic to pollen, a small amount of substance called pollen will be added to the shot.

A small amount will be given so that the body will get used to fight against the allergen and if the body comes in contact with that substance next time, body will be familiar with that.

Who are not eligible to take allergy shot?

Allergy shots are not safe for everyone. Although most of the people experienced positive results from these shots, they are not suitable for all. People who are suffering from asthma, heart attack, and respiratory problems, pregnant women, and children under age of five are not recommended to receive allergy shot.

Alternatively, certain individuals are experiencing some side effects such as:

• Feelings of shock when the shot is initially injected

• Lightheadedness

• Nausea

So, for these reasons, the patient should stay in the doctor’s office for at least fifteen to twenty minutes after receiving the shot.

Benefits of allergy shots:

• Allergy shots improve allergic rhinitis, hay fever, bee sting allergies, drug allergies, and eye allergies.

• In some cases, allergy shots improve asthma symptoms also. The most common reaction to allergy shot is swelling at the place where the shot is given.

The success of this immunotherapy varies from person to person depending on the severity of the person’s allergy and the number of substances the person is allergic to.

In addition to the traditional allergy shots, there are new approaches to immunotherapy procedures to treat allergies.

Oral immunotherapy works similar to the allergy shot. In this method, increasing doses of allergen will be given to slowly build up the patient’s tolerance. The only difference with oral immunotherapy from allergy shot is with oral immunotherapy extract of allergen is used as drops. In this method, generally the drops are placed under the tongue and then swallowed.

Intranasal immunotherapy method involves intranasal administration of grass and house dust mite allergen extracts, which reduces the nasal symptoms such as “nasal allergy”.

The side effect with intranasal immunotherapy is nasal irritation. When compared to the traditional allergy shots, intranasal immunotherapy has no long lasting benefits.

Rush immunotherapy involves quick build up to the maintenance dose of extract. In this method of treatment, during early phase increasing doses of allergen will be given every few hours rather than a few days. Since there is a great risk involved with this rush immunotherapy, this should be done in hospital under close supervision.

Some people will experience severe reaction to the allergy shot, which is called “anaphylaxis”. In case of bad reaction with this shot, physicians will do appropriate treatment to stop this reaction.

Since allergy shots are not good for everyone, talking to the physician before taking this shot is more advisable. Visit Allergy Symptoms

Alexander Chong asked:


A patient once had asked to a doctor about what did he need to do to take good care of his nose. The doctor simply and straightforwardly replied to the patient that what was more important was what not to do to your nose. Bad habits such as nose-picking, sniffing, rubbing, blowing the noses hard or stuffing things such as tissue and handkerchiefs up to the nostril can do a lot of harm to your nose. Generally, nose will take good care by itself. Physiologically, when we breathe in air in our lung, nose will warm, clean and humidify it. When we breathe out the air from our lung, it will cool and remove the water from the air. Besides using for breathing, nose is also the organ of smell and allows us to speech with a quality voice. Anatomically, a layer of skin covers the external part of the nose. Appearance of the nose is maintained by a complex network of bone and cartilage. Its function and shape may be altered if its complex network of bone and cartilage has been damaged by either trauma or infection.

Internal part of the nose contains respiratory mucous membranes, paranasal sinuses, nasolacrimal duct and nasopharynx. Besides all these sinuses, internal part of the nose also contains gland that secreting mucous. Tiny-hair-like-cilia continuously pushes the secreted mucous backwards into the back of our nose and throat, in order that, mucus does not flow out from our nostrils. Septum is the partition in the middle part of the internal nose. It is a cartilage, which can be easily fractured. Some people septum has deviated after born and some deviation may due to the unperceived injury during childhood. This will cause blockage on one side of the nose. However, this deviation can be corrected by an operation.

Contents of mucus are merely a mixture of water, ions, glycoproteins and immunoglobulins. Mucus can be said as part of the nasal defense system and it keeps the nose clean and free from bacteria, fungus and viruses. At the roof of the nose, there is olfactory mucosa, which is responsible for our sense of smell. Located at the side and top of the nasal cavity are the air sacs paranasal sinuses. There are total four pairs of paranasal sinuses and given name as maxillary, ethmoid, frontal and sphenoid sinuses. This is where the mucous has been produced and being drained out through the openings called ostium. Infection that causes obstruction to this mucous outflow can lead to sinusitis. Conditions that directly and indirectly affect the nose are common colds, allergic rhinitis, sinusitis and nasal polyps.

Common cold is a very common disease that everybody can suffer at one time or another. It is caused by an infection of self-limiting viral. The symptoms are production of excessive clear mucous (runny nose), sneezing and nasal congestion. Seriousness of this disease is depending to how strong our immune system and also how vigorous the viruses that attack us. If we have a strong immune system, this disease will not exacerbate to sinusitis, asthma and Otitis Media with Effusion (OME). People with weak immune system will suffer a lot more. This is because it not only causes runny nose but also causes inflammation in the nasal passages and sore throat. If this disease does not treat within a few days for the one who does not have a strong immune system, it can exacerbate to sinusitis, asthma and Otitis Media with Effusion (OME). This disease can easily spread through body to body close contact especially hand to hand contact, sneezing mucous and saliva droplets. To recover from this disease, infected person only needs to keep warm, rest and take a lot of warm water. According to most of the resources, there is no cure for common cold. However, doctor usually prescribes antibiotic, anti-fever drug and anti-cough syrup to the patience. Most of the medical doctor will also include a few supplements such as vitamin C, zinc and Echinacea. Prescribed antibiotic by the doctor is not for treating the common cold virus. This is because antibiotic is not capable to kill virus. However, it can kill bacteria that take advantage during the infection of cold viruses.

Allergic rhinitis is also known as sensitive nose. Symptoms of this disease are continuous sneezing, nasal congestion and runny nose. The symptoms emerge only when one has been exposed to certain allergens such as house dust-mite, pollen, fungi, cigarette smoke, animal dandruff, furs and other irritating volatile chemicals. Sufferer can take anti-histamine tablets to relieve from this disease. Histamine is the main chemical that causes sensitive feeling in the nasal cavity. Nasal sprays contains corticosteroid hormone, which helps reduce our body immune system sensitivity to the foreign antigen, also can help to relieve the sensitive feeling in the nasal cavity. Corticosteroid is one of hormone that has been secreted from our adrenalin gland. Besides all these, immunotherapy is also one of the ways that can be used to treat this disease. These symptoms also can be alleviated by having regular exercise

Sinusitis is caused by the infection of the bacteria and fungi to the paranasal sinuses. This happens when bacteria and fungi entering these cavities. Occurrence of sinusitis is due to inflammation, nasal polyps and other nasal anatomical abnormalities that obstruct the mucosal outflow. Patient with sinusitis usually feels pain or pressure at the forehead or face. It is quite common that yellowish and greenish mucous will be discharged from your nostril especially in the morning. One with sinusitis, sense of smell will reduce or not that sharp compared to healthy nose. Sinusitis is due to the bacteria and fungi infection, so, antibiotics can help. However, prolonged and frequent sufferers may need to go through operation to clean up the nasal sinuses.

Nasal polyps are a grape-like swellings found in nasal cavity. They tend to block the air to flow through the nasal passage when breathing. Usually, it will cause production of excessive mucous. Sometimes, it will obstruct the ostium of the paranasal sinuses and cause the nasal mucous cannot be flowed out easily from the paranasal sinuses. This will give rise to sinusitis. Nasal sprays can control nasal polyps. Some nasal sprays can make the nasal polyps shrank temporarily. However, prolonged use will cause the nasal polyps rebound and become bigger. But if the nasal polyps are big and multiple and cause obstruction in the nasal cavity, operation is required to remove them. Unfortunately, they are a recurring disease.

Mihail Fortomas asked:


Allergic rhinitis, more commonly known as “hay fever,” happens when you breathe in something you are allergic to. The inside of your nose becomes inflamed or swollen.

When this happens, the body’s immune system overreacts to specific particles such as plant pollens, molds, dust mites, animal hair, industrial chemicals, tobacco smoke, foods, medicines, and even insect venom.

Allergic rhinitis affects 40 million people in the United States and is an extremely common condition, affecting approximately 20% of the population. While allergic rhinitis is not a life-threatening condition, complications can occur and the condition can impair one’s quality of life leading to a number of indirect costs. Recently, the total direct and indirect cost of allergic rhinitis was estimated at around $5 billion annually.

What are the symptoms of allergic rhinitis?

Signs of allergic rhinitis are similar to signs of a common cold. But, unlike symptoms for the common cold, allergic rhinitis can last for more than 8-10 days. Symptoms include: -stuffy or runny nose -sneezing -itchy or watery nose -itchy or watery eyes -coughing (caused by clear mucus running down the back of the throat) -feeling of a ‘permanent cold’ that never goes away -headaches and earache -constant sore throats and postnasal drip -sleep disturbances and snoring -loss of taste and smell -poor concentration

Children who have allergic rhinitis might have dark circles under their eyes known as Allergic shiners” (related to nasal congestion). They may also use either the palm or the back of their hand to push their nose up as they try to stop the itching (called the “allergic salute”).

What causes allergic rhinitis?

Like our previous discussion, allergic rhinitis is caused by substances that trigger allergies, called allergens. These allergens are found both indoors and outdoors. When allergic rhinitis is caused by common outdoor allergens, like mold or trees, grass and weed pollens, it is often referred to as seasonal allergies, or “hay fever.”

Allergic rhinitis may also be triggered by allergens found in your house like animal dander (tiny skin flakes and saliva), indoor mold, and cockroach or house dust mite droppings.

If you experience symptoms during spring, you may be allergic to tree pollens which we will discuss in detail further on.

To know for certain what causes your symptoms, an allergist or immunologist can perform skin tests to determine what you are allergic to.

What are my choices or treatment?

Over-the-counter antihistamines and nose sprays can help at first, but they can have a number of unpleasant side effects. These antihistamines can make you feel tired and drowsy while nasal sprays can make your stuffiness worse.

Doctor-prescribed nose sprays and antihistamines are different types of medication and are very helpful for controlling long-term symptoms. Some are safe for young children and all are safe for adults.

Consultation with an allergist will determine the medicine and treatment that is right for you.

Can I do anything to avoid getting allergic rhinitis? As prevention is worth a pound of cure, there are some things you can do in your house that might make your symptoms better if not avoid them altogether:

For those who have rhinitis, it may be best not to have pets. But if it cannot be helped, make sure to wash your pet (especially if hairy and furry) once a week. Keeping them out of the bedroom and off the furniture will help as well.

Put pillows and mattresses in sealed plastic covers that keep out dust mites, and wash sheets in hot water weekly. Washing machines at the local Laundromat will have hot enough water to kill the dust mites.

Keep windows closed. If possible, get an air conditioner and run a dehumidifier, so that there will not be so many pollens and molds getting in the house.

What are allergy shots?

For some patients, allergy shots, also known as immunotherapy, are very helpful, and safe. Allergy shots help how your body handles allergens by injecting into your body small amounts of the substances causing your allergy. Over the period of the therapy, your body will learn to accept the allergen without overreacting to it (which is the reason for the allergic reactions).

Your doctor may talk to you about allergy shots if your allergy symptoms are very bad and if they happen for most of the year. You can also consider this if you are constantly around the allergens (such as pollens and dust mites) and if in spite medicines, you are still symptomatic.