Allergies – Treatment of Allergies with Effective Remedies

What are these conditions?

Allergies are reactions to airborne (inhaled) allergens – substance, that can produce hypersensitivity reactions such as a runny nose and eye inflammation. Some allergies, such as hay fever, are seasonal Others occur year-round (perennial allergies).

Allergies affect over 20 million Americans. They’re most prevalent in young children and adolescents but occur in people of all ages.

What causes them?

Hay fever is a hypersensitivity response brought about by antibodies, called immunoglobulin E. In most cases, hay fever is induced by wind­borne pollens: in the spring, by tree pollens; in the summer, by grass pollens; and in the fall, by weed pollens. Occasionally, allergy to fungal spores induces hay fever.

In year-round allergies, the allergens provoke responses year ­round. Major year-round allergens and irritants include dust mites. feather pillows, mold, cigarette smoke, upholstery, and animal danders. A seasonal pollen allergy may worsen the symptoms of year­round allergies.

What are their symptoms?

In seasonal allergies, the main signs and symptoms are sneezing spells, a runny nose with profuse watery discharge, nasal congestion. and itching of the nose and eyes. The person usually has swollen nasal passages, reddened eyes with swollen eyelids, excessive tearing, and headache or sinus pain. Some allergy sufferers also complain of an itchy throat and a general ill feeling called malaise.

Year-round allergies usually cause only a runny nose and nasal congestion. But they can cause chronic nasal blockage, which then blocks the auditory tube that extends from the middle ear to the throat (called the eustachian tube). Blocked eustachian tubes are especially common in children with year-round allergies.

In both seasonal and year-round allergies, “allergic shiners” (dark circles) may appear under the eyes. The severity of signs and symptoms may vary from season to season and from year to year.

How are they diagnosed?

\With allergies, the person’s sputum and nasal discharge usually contain large amounts of a type of white blood cell active in hypersensitivity responses called eosinophils. Blood tests show normal or elevated immunoglobulin E antibody levels.

For a firm diagnosis, the doctor takes a personal and family history of allergies and considers physical exam findings. To pinpoint the responsible allergens, he or she may order skin testing and assess the person’s responses to environmental stimuli.

To rule out a common cold, which mimics an allergy, the doctor checks for typical cold symptoms, such as fever, sore throat, beet-red nasal mucous membranes, and nasal discharge without eosinophils. In a child, the doctor checks for a foreign body in the nose, such as a bean or a button, which can cause allergy-like symptoms.

How are they treated?

Treatment aims to control allergy symptoms by eliminating environmental allergens, if possible, and by drug therapy and a special treatment called immunotherapy.

Drug therapy

Antihistamines may be given, although these commonly cause sedation, dry mouth, nausea, dizziness, blurred vision, and nervousness. Newer antihistamines, such as Seldane, have fewer side effects and are less likely to cause sedation. However, an overdose of these drugs may cause irregular heartbeats.

Some people get relief from inhaled intranasal steroids, which reduce inflammation without causing the systemic side effects of antihistamines. The most commonly used intranasal corticosteroids are Nasalide, Beconase, and Vancenase. Unfortunately, during acute allergy attacks, these drugs rarely give relief. Nasal decongestants and oral antihistamines may be needed instead.

Immunotherapy

For long-term allergy management, the doctor may recommend immunotherapy. In this treatment, the person receives increasingly large doses of the offending allergens to gradually develop immunity. The doses are administered before or during allergy season or year ­round

What can a person with allergies do?

• If the doctor has prescribed intranasal corticosteroids, use them regularly, as directed, for optimal effectiveness.

• If you’re taking Nasalcrom, be aware that although this drug can help prevent allergies, it may take up to 4 weeks to work. Also, you must take it regularly during allergy season.

• Call the doctor if you have a delayed reaction to immunotherapy .

• To reduce your exposure to airborne allergens, sleep with the windows closed, and use air conditioning to filter allergens.

• If you have severe and resistant allergies, you may have to consider drastic lifestyle changes, such as moving to a pollen-free area, either seasonally or year-round.

In some people between the ages of 20 and 40, the optic nerve in one eye becomes inflamed. The inflammation causes a gradual or sudden blurring of vision in the eye. In severe cases, the blurring progresses within a few days to temporary blindness. Often the eye is painful when you move it. If, in addition to the symptoms described, your fingers tingle or you have difficulty in urinating, this may mean that the condition is a symptom of multiple sclerosis .If your physician suspects you have multiple sclerosis, he or she may send you to a hospital for special tests or to another physician for a consultation, or second opinion. The treatment for optic neuritis is steroid medication, which hastens the spontaneous recovery that usually takes place. The problem may recur, however, in either eye. If it does recur, the disease usually does not respond to treatment, and it may cause progressive loss of vision.

Chronic granulocytic leukemia begins in the same way as acute myelogenous leukemia . A malignant, or life-threatening, change occurs in bone marrow cells that pro­duce granulocytes, a type of white blood cell. As a result, the number of granulocytes in your blood rises excessively, often to between 20 and 40 times the normal level. When the disease is not treated, the multiplication of granulocytes may limit the production of red blood cells, so you may also become anemic. In addition, the accumulation of leukemic cells may cause enlargement of both your spleen and your liver.

What are the symptoms?

If you have chronic granulocytic leukemia, you feel generally ill, have little appetite, and lose weight. You may have a fever and sweat at night. In addition, your enlarged spleen may cause a sense of fullness in the left upper portion of the abdomen. You may also have symptoms of anemia .

What are the risks?

If chronic granulocytic leukemia is not treated, it is likely to be fatal within weeks or months. The disease usually responds very well to initial treatment, which gives most patients at least two to three more years of fairly normal life. Eventually, the disease begins to resemble acute leukemia, and it no longer responds to treatment.

What should be done?

If you have any of the symptoms described, you should see your physician, who will probably examine you and arrange for blood tests. The blood tests will either rule out the disease, or indicate the need to take further blood tests. To establish a clear diagnosis, there may also be a bone marrow biopsy, in which a small sample of marrow is removed to be examined.

What is the treatment?

Most people who have the disease can be treated as out-patients. The basic treatment is tablets of anticancer drugs that usually restore bone marrow production to normal and clear up the symptoms. Some people need to continue to take the medication regularly, while others require it only intermittently. Your physician will watch your condition, and take blood tests every two to four weeks. This is important because the dose of medication often needs to be adjusted, and too much of the drug decreases your blood count to dangerous levels.

After some time, treatment with drugs will no longer control the disease. The average length of time before this occurs is three years, but it can be much shorter or much longer. Eventually the leukemia becomes much worse and you will probably be admitted to a hospital. At this stage of the disease, stronger anticancer drugs may help you for a short time, but often it is only a matter of weeks before the disease proves fatal.

Obsessive gambling is an addiction, not a compulsion. Gambling gives pleasure to the gambler, whereas a need for pleasure is usually not an important element in most compulsive activities. Obsessive gamblers are people who cannot resist the pleasurable excitement of a card game, the craps table, betting on horse races or other kinds of sports events, and similar games of chance. Unlike many people who enjoy an occasional fling, addicts no longer play primarily in order to win. Their gambling is an addiction because they cannot resist the constant repetition of periods of exciting tension that gambling provides, whether or not they are likely to gain anything from taking the risk. As a result, many obsessive gamblers gamble so recklessly that they gamble away all their own and their families’ resources.This addiction is more common than is generally recognized. It may affect more than a million people in the United States, and some estimates are as high as three mulion. It seems to affect about five times as many men as women.

What should be done?

If you have an obsessive gambler in your family, try to get him or her to seek help from a physician or Gamblers Anonymous. If your addicted relative refuses to get help. you should consult your physician for advice.