Feb 18, 2008, 2:08 GMT
Wiesbaden/Bochum - Hay fever sufferers are getting hit even earlier. Pollen was already in Germany's air this January, and February is shaping up to be much worse.
Runny noses and burning eyes are not to be sneezed at, warned Professor Ludger Klimek, director of the Allergy Centre in Wiesbaden.
'Hay fever causes mucous membranes to inflame, and every inflammation does damage,' he said.
Early flowering trees such as birches, alders, hazels and beeches start to release pollen in January or February. 'Then grass pollens fly in June, July and August,' noted Gerhard Schultze-Werninghaus, vice president of the Bochum-based German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology (DGAKI).
A third of all Germans are allergic to pollen. 'Their immune systems are too strong, and resist foreign bodies that are actually harmless,' Schultze-Werninghaus said. The symptoms are sneezing, runny noses and burning eyes.
Histamine, a hormone produced by the body, is behind the inflammations. 'Antihistamines can be taken to suppress its effects,' Schultze-Werninghaus advised. While some earlier antihistamines tended to make people very drowsy, he said, 'there are newer products now that don't tire you out so much.'
Also available are sprays and drops, both with and without cortisone, that have an anti-inflammatory effect on mucous membranes. 'Nasal rinses with sea-salt solutions can help, too,' Klimek noted. Schultze-Werninghaus said that simply rinsing your eyes with clear water washed out pollen and alleviated irritation.
Germany's public health insurance companies do not cover the cost of antihistamines, however. 'Sprays and immune therapies are normally covered,' Klimek said.
Immune therapies aim at desensitising the body to the substance inducing the allergic reaction. During treatment, the immune system learns to react appropriately - and not too strongly - to pollen. Similar to an inoculation, the body is gradually confronted with more and more of the symptom-producing agent.
'The regulating cells become increasingly stable, and the immune system learns that a defence reaction isn't necessary,' Klimek explained.
Desensitising treatments used to take several months. 'The substances are more purified now. Three to four days of treatment, with a week between sessions, can suffice nowadays,' Klimek said. The success rate exceeds 80 per cent.
For people with confidence in homeopathic remedies, Herbert Ilsenstein, a non-medical practitioner from Bremen, recommended over- the-counter Aralia racemosa. Acupuncture can also ease hay fever symptoms.
Simply adjusting your behaviour is helpful. 'Wearing sunglasses can protect your eyes from pollen,' Ilsenstein pointed out. Since pollen is inhaled most deeply during athletic activities, 'they should be reserved for the evening or morning,' Klimek advised.
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