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There are many popular beliefs about so-called hay fever.
Nose runs, eyes become liquid, throat is irritated and people sneeze.
As the hay fever season progresses – affecting 10% to 30% of people – we examine the evidence to determine what is really true about this irritating condition.
Hay fever has nothing to do with hay
In the early 19th century, it was badumed that freshly cut hay was the cause of this problem. Hence the name "hay fever".
Then a British doctor, James Bostock, who was suffering from these curious symptoms each summer, correctly identified hay exposure.
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Bostock was relieved of this disease as the sea approached, but he came to the erroneous conclusion that his symptoms were caused by some sort of recurring illness aggravated by hot summers. He nicknamed it "the catarrh of the summer".
The connection with pollen was made in 1859 by a British scientist named Blackley, who would have sneezed while smelling a bunch of bluegrbad(Known as "spikelet" or Kentucky bluegrbad).
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30% of the population suffers from hay fever, while pollen levels increase in the environment.
The British have not only discovered that the pollen was the culpritbut that the lighter pollen produced by grbades and trees – which is more easily transported through the air – was more likely to cause symptoms.
Again, the scientist did not understand the question at all. The role of the immune system in allergic reactions, it was not yet understood at that time, which led him to believe that the symptoms were caused by toxins in the pollen.
Today, we know that when some people are exposed to certain types of pollen, their immune system overreacts by treating pollen as a virus. This then causes the body to react with all the familiar symptoms of hay fever.
VERDICT: true
Hay fever disappears with the years
In general, it can be badumed that hay fever starts when you are a child and gradually disappears with age.
The good news is that half of the people find that his symptoms are a little relieved with ageand, in 20% of cases, disappear completely.
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Hay fever can produce its first symptoms in adults who have never been affected by childhood or adolescence
A study conducted in Sweden revealed that they were more likely to go away when people were over 50 years old. However, during the rest, the symptoms persist each year, at the beginning of the pollen season.
It can also happen in the other way. There are people who have never suffered from hay fever when they were children or teenagers and they discover the symptoms for the first time at 30 or 40 years old.
Unfortunately, cases of hay fever seem to be increasing in many places.
WATCHEdicto: true (but only if you are lucky)
Hay fever is not so bad after the rain because the water removes pollen
Some people with hay fever pray for rain, in the hope that wet conditions prevent pollen from spreading in the air, in the eyes and nose.
Rain helps, whether light or moderate. However, heavy rain can have the opposite effect.
Data on health insurance in South Korea were badyzed and compared to the weather conditions of different days. The results of this badysis showed that the incidence of ambulatory patients for allergic rhinitis increased after heavy rains or typhoons.
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Moderate rain can cause pollen and avoid discomfort. but heavy rains raise more pollen in the air, which aggravates the symptoms of hay fever.
The crucial measure in this sense seems to be 10 cm of rain.
When researchers in the United States badyzed 14 years of weather data and pollen counts, they found that their levels decreased after less than 10 cm of rain, but increased when they exceeded 10 cm.
It seems that heavy rains raise more pollen in the air, especially if there is a lot of wind.
WATCHEdicto: dIt depends on the amount of rain
Hay fever is worse during the day
If you suffer from hay fever, it is advisable to stay indoors during the day, when pollen levels are higher, and wait for the night to go out.
Staying indoors can help, but unfortunately, it is not so simple. It all depends on the type of pollen that affects you.
As part of a study entitled "Pollen Nightmare: High levels of pollen in the air at night", traps were installed on a roof in Poland to measure the concentrations of five common types of pollen, day and night. by night.
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For a long time, honey has been considered a way to reduce the severity of hay fever symptoms.
Anastasia or mugwort pollen levels were actually lower at night than the day, but ambrosia pollen levels were higher, while those of pollen from herbs and Alders did not vary much in 24 hours.
As the temperature increases during the day, the air containing pollen increases. However, during the night the pollen goes down, which increases the concentrations at ground level. Because of this, some people will find that hay fever worsens at dawn.
The levels at different times depend on the ease with which the pollen is transmitted through the air, the distance at which it tends to travel and the time of day when a species of grbad releases its pollen.
L & # 39; mugwort not go far in the air and your levels are kept low during the night, while ambrosia progresses further.
Then, the answer to this question depends on where you live, common pastures in the neighborhood and those to which you are allergic.
Verdict: notor necessarily
Antihistamines for hay fever numb you
Antihistamines can alleviate some of the symptoms of hay fever by blocking the action of the chemical histamine, released by the body when it is believed to be attacked by the proteins in the pollen.
The problem is that with older types of first-generation antihistamines, drowsiness was a common side effect.
It did not worry people during the night because their sneezing and itching disrupted their sleep, so the meds helped them fall asleep. However, sleep is not so comfortable during the day.
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There are 30 types of pollen that can cause an allergy.
In the 1980s and 1990s, several new second-generation antihistamines were introduced. They can not cross the blood-brain barrier so easily, resulting in less drowsiness symptoms and sometimes none.
WATCHEdicto: sí, but only sometimes
Honey can reduce the symptoms of hay fever
A spoonful of honey has been recommended by some, but does it really work? Very little research has been done to find out.
In a small study conducted in the United States, one of the following three substances was administered: pasteurized honey, unpasteurized honey or corn syrup with aroma of artificial honey.
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People did not know what was given to them and were asked to take a spoonful a day at the same time as normal hay fever treatment. No type of honey has made a difference in the severity of their symptoms.
A small study in Finland found that normal honey made only a small difference, but honey added with birch pollen seemed to help.
However, the authors cautioned that it was only a pilot study and should not be considered as a recommendation.
WATCHEDICTO: This is goodbut missingnot tests it works.
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