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The team interviewed more than 1,700 people in the Augsburg region of Germany about their allergies. Led by Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann, Director of the University Center for Health Sciences at the Augsburg University Hospital (UNIKA-T) and Professor of Environmental Medicine at the TUM, the 39 team has distinguished perennial and non-seasonal allergies, such as those caused by house dust mites or animal hairs, seasonal allergies caused by grbad pollen, for example, and allergies to animals. other substances such as food.
Participants in the study also answered questions about their psychological health. The focus has been on depression, generalized anxiety disorders – which affect all aspects of daily life – and acute mental stress. "Some studies focus on the psychological components of skin diseases or allergic asthma.For the first time, we are now able to show a connection with seasonal allergies," says Katharina Harter, l & # 39; principal author of the publication. About one-quarter of respondents (27.4%) reported having allergies, 7.7% reporting long-term reactions, 6.1% seasonal and 13.6% other reactions allergic.
Proven influence of psychological factors
It turned out that people with generalized anxiety disorders were also more often allergic to pollen, but not to recurring allergies. Statistically, they were actually less common in the group of people suffering from anxiety. A possible explanation for this situation could be that people with persistent allergies develop different stress management strategies that protect them from anxiety disorders.
In addition, there was a positive correlation between perennial allergies and depression or depressive episodes. However, the structure of the study did not clarify whether allergies increase susceptibility to depression or whether depression itself is a risk factor for allergies. What surprised the research team was the fact that psychological factors had little or no influence on the occurrence of food and drug allergies.
Additional survey planned
Mitigating factors that may compromise causal relationships were statistically excluded in this study. These included age, smoking / non-smoking status, bad, and family predispositions (for example, allergic asthma). However, Harter also points out the weaknesses of the study: "We have a relatively high average age of 61 years, which means that younger people are rather under-represented here." The results are also based on personal relationships rather than on official allergy diagnoses, and intend to scientifically check this point, "she confirms. According to Professor Traidl-Hoffmann, this study highlights in particular the importance of devoting enough time to patients. This is the only way to supplement clinical badessments with psychosocial aspects to support an integrated therapeutic approach, such as that practiced by the University's Environmental Medicine Clinic at UNIKA-T.
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Material provided by Technical University of Munich (TUM). Note: Content can be changed for style and length.
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