The arrival of spring is always welcome – although maybe not so much so for people who suffer from hay fever. Seasonal allergic rhinitis, as hay fever is also known, is triggered by allergy to various forms of pollen – the tiny 'seed' grains emitted by trees, grass and then weeds as spring turns to summer and then autumn. Right now, we have entered the tree pollen season and here are some of the species whose pollen may cause a problem to those with hay fever:

Willow Sycamore

Oak

Hazel

Chestnut

Birch

Ash

Cypress

Cedar

Currently, the focus is upon birch pollen which is expected to be more abundant this year because of the mild winter.  Weather conditions also mean that the birch pollen season is going to start a couple of weeks

Paediatric allergist Dr. Adam Fox explained to an audience of hay fever sufferers at this years Allergy Show that there are four approaches to managing allergic rhinitis. These are:

• Allergen avoidance
• Medication
• Desensitisation
• New and emerging therapies

Allergen Avoidance

Pollen gets everywhere so this is one allergen that’s especially hard to avoid. And 2011 is shaping up to be a bad year for pollen in many places. Aim to keep pollen out of your bedroom at the very least. ‘A lot of my patients find washing their hair when they come indoors useful,’ said Dr Fox. It’s also a good idea not to go into your bedroom in outdoor clothes - get changed into relaxing or night time clothes first. Pollen traps like Haymax may be helpful for some

Hay fever (seasonal allergic rhinitis) affects hundreds of thousands of people, according to Dr Adam Fox paediatric allergist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, London. He told an audience (mainly consisting of hay fever sufferers) at The Allergy & Gluten Free Show 2011, held in London recently, that hay fever is a relatively new disease, first described in 1819. It took nine years to accumulate sufficient hay fever cases to present a paper describing the new condition and the hay fever symptoms to a medical journal. Nowadays hay fever is so much more common, particularly in the UK, which has more cases than anywhere else in the world (followed closely by Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Canada). ‘We do not have a good answer as to why this is,’ noted Dr Fox, adding that:

• 10-25% of adults in the UK have hay fever
• Hay fever affects 10% of children aged 6-7 and 15%

One form of rhinitis is hay-fever, but it is not the only one. While asthma is an allergy affecting the lungs, hayfever is a seasonal allergy affecting the mucous membranes of the nose and eyes. The usual symptoms of hayfever include:

• Itchy nose, mouth, throat and eyes
• Frequent sneezing
• Streaming eyes

Other symptoms of hayfever include: dry throat, swollen eyelids and blocked nose, leading to lack of sense of smell. Symptoms may be only mild, or severe enough interfere with work, study of driving. Typical hayfever allergens include grass pollen and moulds. Hayfever wasn't really known until early in the 20th century but it affects between 15 to 20% of the UK population today. In the UK the main hay fever allergen is grass pollen, but in the USA it is ragweed, and in Japan, cedar pollen. The UK hay fever season is from June to August; therefore young people with hayfever may be badly affected during exam time.

Allergic rhinitis, more commonly known as hay fever, is the most common of the allergic disorders and it is also known to be a risk factor in asthma. Researchers in Sweden noted that allergic rhinitis is on the increase both in their country (where it affects 27 percent of the adult population) and elsewhere, so that they set out to explore some of the environmental factors behind the problem.

Nearly 20,000 people aged 16-79 responded to a questionnaire about allergic symptoms and their lifestyle and life history. Those who had lived on a farm during the first five years of their life had protection from hay fever during the rest of their life. What is more, hay fever was more common among those living in an urban environment - something that has been noted in other studies.

So why are farms a protective environment against allergic rhinitis? It may be exposure to animal sheds, hay lofts or consumption of unpasteurised milk protects against hey fever. Another theory is that exposure to

Today is National Nose Day (not to be confused with Red Nose Day). This date is meant to celebrate the nose as well as promote the practice of nasal irrigation for the relief of rhinitis, hay fever and other conditions affecting the nose. Nasal irrigation is a way of washing out the nose and, apparently, 17% of the UK population do this regularly. In yoga, it is called 'jala neti' and at the turn of the 20^th century, the British Medical Journal was recommending it be done by plunging the face into a basin of clean water,either cold or tepid, and taking slight sniffs, in and out, while under water. Today most nasal irrigation is done by introducing a saline (salt) solution into one nostril and let it drain out of the other nostril.

Nasal irrigation is a simple and inexpensive way of treating nasal congestion arising from hay fever, rhinitis and other allergies. It can be done with a tea pot-like device called a neti pot, a

I have been reading extensively about issues regarding hay-fever lately. Especially well written and resourceful was Dr. Andrew Weil’s article in the Huffington Post on 15th June. In the article Dr. Weil lists a number of steps that can be taken to prevent and alleviate the symptoms of hay-fever without the use of conventional treatment such as antihistamines. Dr. Weil outlines many of the points I have covered in my previous post on hay-fever, such as dust-proofing your home and filtering the air by investing in an effective HEPA air-purifier.

What I found particularly interesting, however, was Dr. Weil’s well-written account about diet and the impact that it can have on hay-fever and allergies in general. He writes that: “the vigilance of the immune system is influenced heavily by the consumption of pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory fats.” He points out that milk and milk products should be eliminated from

Since I wrote the last post on hay-fever a new study on hay-fever and its effect on students was highlighted at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology conference in London this week. The study found that students suffering from hay-fever are 40% more likely to drop a grade in their exams. This is due not only to the distraction of itchy eyes and nose during exams but also to sleep depravation brought on by hay-fever during the night. Four in ten patients with hay-fever say that the condition affects their sleep and, if anti-histamines are taken, students are 70% more likely to drop a grade because of drowsiness brought on by drugs. The study looked at 1,834 students, aged between 15 and 17, who were taking GCSEs in Maths, English or Science and was presented at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology conference in London. Prof Stephen Durham, of the Royal Brompton Hospital, Chelsea, told the conference: