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Guidelines Call For Better Treatment Of Allergies

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Aug 18, 2008 5:44 pm US/Eastern

Guidelines Call For Better Treatment Of Allergies

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Seventeen-year-old Chelsea Thomas is about to begin her first year at Johnson and Wales College, but she wants to leave behind her itchy, watery eyes, runny nose, and the kind of sneezing that leaves you limp.

"All that stuff is around in the air, and my windows have been open so some of it's getting in," she says.

She is being "skin tested" to discover exactly what is triggering her symptoms. Dr. David Skoner, an allergist-immunologist at Allegheny General Hospital recommends skin testing for those who think that "have sinus infections or a cold all the time and it's coinciding with these (allergy) seasons, it's probably best to get tested."

Allergy Rhinitis, the fancy name for hay fever, affects 20-percent of adults and 40-percent of children in this country causing millions of days of missed work or school. Airborne pollen is the culprit. The most common irritants in our area are molds and ragweed.

This year there's a bumper crop and the Fall allergy season which usually begins about now actually started two weeks ago. Dr. Skoner says,"I looked back and the count's really skyrocketed this year around the first of August, probably related to environmental conditions and humidity."

New national guidelines call for better diagnosis and treatment of allergies. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology says that you should see an allergist if your symptoms are prolonged; you have complications including middle ear or sinus infections or nanal polyps. Also if you have asthma or chronic sinusitis or your hay fever interferes with your quality of life.

There are lots of over-the-counter allergy medications that can curtail those itchy eyes and decongestants to relieve stuffy noses. Prescription drugs like Singulair and nasal steroid sprays along with newer intra-nasal antihistamine sprays are very effective.

There are other medications of the horizon, not yet approved by the FDA, such as taking allergan extracts that are now given as shots and actually putting them under the tongue.


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