Why hay fever is getting worse

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http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/health/health/article2368084.ece

Why hay fever is getting worse

By KATE WIGHTON

Published: Today

THE sniffle season has begun – and record numbers of us are suffering.

Allergy experts said this week that the hay fever season has started early

and is creeping forward each year.

And to make matters worse, more Brits than ever are developing severe hay

fever as pollen counts rise.

Consultant Dr Pamela Ewan, from Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, said:

“In my whole career I’ve never seen as many people with severe hay fever as

I’m seeing now.

“Most people think of hay fever as a bit of sniffling and sneezing in the

summer, but we and other allergy clinics are seeing a marked increase in

severity.

“Some people simply can’t function during the pollen season.”

Boffins believe the problem may be linked to global warming.

Birch trees — which trigger allergies in a quarter of sufferers — are

already blossoming due to the unseasonably warm and sunny weather. Usually,

this doesn’t happen until the third week of April.

Dr Ewan says: “The change in weather patterns may be shifting the season.

“A warm or early spring brings the trees out early, and they release pollen.

“And whereas the traditional grass pollen season was June to July, this is

also moving forward.”

Climate change was identified as a factor behind rising pollen counts by the

UN’s Intergovernmental Report on Climate Change in 2001.

Sweats

Hay fever affects one in five Britons and is caused by airborne pollen

irritating the nose, sinuses, throat and eyes.

Symptoms include itchy and streaming eyes, a blocked or runny nose and

tickly throat.

Some people also develop headaches, sweats and even face pain.

The majority of hay fever sufferers are allergic to grass and flower pollen,

but doctors are seeing an increase in the number of people allergic to the

pollen released by trees. There has also been a rise in the number of people

unlucky enough to be allergic to both.

Treatments range from antihistamines to nasal sprays — see What You Can Do

on the right.

Severe sufferers can have desensitisation treatment. This involves shutting

off the immune reaction to pollen, by slowly exposing it to small amounts of

the substance.

One such new development is a daily pollen tablet called Grazax, which is

dissolved under the tongue.

Patients must start taking it at least three months before the pollen season

However, while treatments are offered on the NHS through specialist allergy

clinics, availability is limited.

Dr Ewan: “We have excellent treatments for hay fever but it’s not getting to

very many patients because of the huge lack of NHS allergy services in this

country.

“They are underfunded and patchy.”

Case study: Acupuncture cured me

AMANDA CLARK was often left unable to see because her hay fever was so

severe.

The 42-year-old mum of three says: “My eyes would swell up like golf balls

and sometimes completely close. It was unbearable.”

Working as a receptionist at a health club, she regularly wore dark glasses

to hide her swollen eyes and customers would often assume she’d been crying.

She adds: “I was very embarrassed. It didn’t look great to have a health spa

receptionist permanently squinting, sniffing and sneezing.”

was diagnosed with hay fever at the age of three while on holiday in

Spain and came to dread spring and summer. She is allergic to both tree and

grass pollen so suffers from March through to August.

She says: “I tried everything but my body would become immune to a treatment

after two years, so I’d have to switch.”

She reached the end of her tether during a holiday to Italy last year.

“I was streaming all the way around Rome. I came back and a friend suggested

acupuncture. I had tried everything else so had nothing to lose.

“It was amazing. My symptoms reduced and I had to take less medication.” A

study last month published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found

acupuncture was a beneficial treatment for hay fever, when used in

conjunction with drugs.

Doctors are unsure how it works, or if the benefits are above those of a

placebo.

‘ It was amazing. My symptoms reduced and I had to take less medication. ’

In ’s first half-hour session, her therapist put needles in her ears,

nose, belly, ankles and knees.

“It didn’t hurt. It felt like someone was lightly flicking my leg,” she says

She had six more sessions and then experienced her first sniffle-free summer

Plus, she was able to enjoy the season in all its glory, without the need

for shades.

Although the treatment costs £30 a session, it works out cheaper than buying

hay fever medication.

, from Bromley, Kent, adds: “It’s fantastic. I wish I had found

acupuncture earlier.”