Allergic rhinitis

Any allergy is an immune response of the body to the effects of an allergen.

The content of the article:
Causes of allergic rhinitis
Classification of allergic rhinitis
The main symptoms of allergic rhinitis
Diagnosis of allergic rhinitis
Prevention and treatment of allergic rhinitis
Allergic rhinitis
Allergic rhinitis is the most common disease in the practice of allergists.

Many people know this disease under the name “hay fever”. Allergic rhinitis is an inflammatory process of the nasal mucosa.

Causes of allergic rhinitis
Allergic reactions, including allergic rhinitis, can occur in every person at different periods of life. According to statistics, every fifth inhabitant of our country suffers from allergic rhinitis of varying severity. It is almost impossible to protect yourself from such a disaster, since the “pathogens” of allergic rhinitis, allergens, lie in wait for us everywhere.

However, there are people who are predisposed to allergic rhinitis more than others. In the family history of each patient who turned to an allergist about allergic rhinitis, it is quite often possible to find mention of various diseases of atopic origin (bronchial asthma, urticaria, neuroderma and other allergic diseases). Thus, it is possible to assume a genetic predisposition of some patients to allergic reactions.

Allergens can be divided into several groups:

household (household dust, chalk, etc.);
epidermal (down, feather, animal hair and products of their vital activity);
insect (spiders, cockroaches, blood-sucking insects, ticks, etc.);
food (any product can theoretically be an allergen, but some have hyperallergenic properties);
medicinal (any drugs, including antihistamines (antiallergic));
pollen (pollen of weeds, cereals and other plants);
fungal (yeast and mold yeast contained in household dust);
helminthic (pinworms, ascarids, etc.);
In addition to the aforementioned allergens, the cause of the development of an allergic reaction may be various thermal effects and psychological factors (change of climatic conditions, stressful situations, depression, etc.).

Classification of allergic rhinitis
There is no final classification of allergic rhinitis, but it is customary to distinguish:

year-round allergic rhinitis;
seasonal allergic rhinitis.
Year-round allergic rhinitis occurs as a result of constant human contact with a certain allergen. Year-round allergic rhinitis can include rhinitis caused by constant contact with epidermal, insect, fungal and household allergens. For example, a person may have allergic rhinitis as a reaction to constant contact with pets (cats, dogs, hamsters, decorative birds, reptiles, etc.). Since the “irritant” is constantly in contact with the patient, allergic rhinitis is continuous.

Seasonal rhinitis is usually a reaction of the human body to irritating factors that act periodically. In most cases, the allergen is plant pollen, which is carried by the wind. In our country, most trees bloom from late April to mid-June, and grasses bloom from June to mid-September. It is during these periods that the number of patients suffering from seasonal allergic rhinitis increases.

There is another classification of allergic rhinitis, which is based on the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease. According to this classification, allergic rhinitis can be conditionally divided into:

non—infectious allergic rhinitis (provoked by household, epidermal, fungal, less often food allergens);
infectious and allergic rhinitis (the allergen is microbes, mainly streptococci and staphylococci);
mixed forms.
Allergic reactions have a different clinical course and the severity of symptoms may be:

mild severity;
moderate severity;
severe forms of allergic rhinitis.
The main symptoms of allergic rhinitis
Allergic rhinitis is an allergic reaction of an instantaneous type. That is, the first symptoms of the disease can begin in the first seconds or minutes after contact of a person’s respiratory tract with a certain allergen.

A person who has had an exacerbation of allergic rhinitis is “visible to the naked eye.” Patients often have facial puffiness, redness of the eyes, lacrimation, dark circles appear under the eyes. Due to difficulty breathing through the nose, the patient breathes through the mouth, which is also very noticeable to others. After watching such a person, you can notice that he constantly scratches the tip of his nose.

You can identify the main symptoms of allergic rhinitis:

Constant watery discharge from the nose. If allergic rhinitis has a mixed form with the addition of a bacterial infection, then the patient has periodic attacks of indomitable sneezing.
Difficult nasal breathing, which increases at night.
Severe itching of the nasal cavity.
Attacks of suffocation, especially at night.
Any allergic rhinitis, in the absence of adequate treatment, can lead to the development of quite serious complications, up to a fatal outcome.

Diagnosis of allergic rhinitis
Many patients are in no hurry to go to the doctor and self-medicate for a long time. This approach is fundamentally wrong and can cause conditions that threaten the patient’s life. Allergic rhinitis caused by different allergens has the same clinical course, but each specific clinical case requires an individual approach to the choice of treatment methods.

In order for the treatment to become effective, it is necessary, first of all, to accurately determine the cause of the disease, namely the allergen that causes an allergic reaction. Often patients believe that the etiology of the disease is reliably known to them, but they are mistaken. When poplar fluff “floats” in the air, then everyone considers it to be the cause of allergic rhinitis. Practice shows that this is not always true and allergic rhinitis occurs due to contact with other allergens. Uncontrolled prem of antihistamines and vasoconstrictive nasal sprays brings temporary relief, but in the future it can only worsen the course of the disease.

After the doctor conducts an initial examination of the patient and collects anamnesis data, the patient is prescribed a number of studies that allow him to make an updated diagnosis and determine the cause of the pathology. The collection of anamnesis is of great diagnostic importance for the seasonal nature of the course of the disease and less for its year—round course. When an allergen acts on a person constantly, it becomes very problematic to determine what exactly causes an allergic reaction. Some stimuli cause characteristic changes in the clinical picture, which allows the doctor to make assumptions about the nature of the allergen.

Research methods shown to patients with suspected allergic rhinitis
A number of laboratory research methods are used to diagnose this disease. The simplest study, but no less informative, is a general blood test. The increased content of eosinophils in the patient’s blood indicates the allergic nature of rhinitis. The neutrophil index is also of great diagnostic importance. Their increased number indicates a mixed form of rhinitis with the addition of a secondary infection.

The easiest way to determine an allergen is skin tests. The method consists in making several scratches on the patient’s skin and affecting the places of cuts with various allergens. If a person has an allergic reaction to any of the stimuli used, a certain skin reaction appears. The method is quite simple and informative.

There are a number of immunological studies on immunoglobulins, but such studies are of low availability due to their rather high cost.

A smear from the nasal cavity is also performed to determine the presence of eosinophils, which confirms the allergic etiology of rhinitis and radiography of the paranasal sinuses, which allows to exclude the occurrence of various complications.

Differential diagnosis
Differential diagnosis of allergic rhinitis with an ordinary vasomotor variant of rhinitis is required, especially during the year-round course of the disease. This need arises due to fairly similar symptoms of diseases. However, such conditions are caused by different stimuli, which means they require a different approach to the treatment of the disease.

There are cases when a patient has symptoms similar to the clinical picture of year-round rhinitis, but these symptoms are a manifestation of various infectious diseases of the upper respiratory tract.

Prevention and treatment of allergic rhinitis
Protecting yourself from the negative effects of allergens is an impossible task. If the epidermal etiology of the disease is established, then the patient will have to get rid of the very cause of the disease, namely, to say goodbye to pets.

If the cause of allergic rhinitis lies in dust micro-mites, then feather pillows and feather beds, carpets and curtains, quilts and so on should be removed from the house.

If you are allergic to pollen from plants or trees, then it makes sense to think about changing your place of residence. If this is not possible, then you can install air filters in your apartment.

Methods of treatment of allergic rhinitis are selected by the attending physician individually, depending on the severity of the disease and its form. Most often, various antihistamines and intranasal glucocorticoids are used. Other symptomatic therapy may also be prescribed.

If the treatment is ineffective, then it is possible to use the method of hyposensitization (reducing the sensitivity of the body) to a certain allergen. For this purpose, constantly increasing doses of a certain allergen extract are injected under the patient’s skin. The only disadvantage of such treatment is the duration from 3 to 5 years.

Remember — only a doctor can prescribe treatment!

Post Views: 696

Chronic exudative otitis media

Chronic tonsillitis

Chronic laryngeal stenosis

26 COMMENTS

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Most Popular

WHO: 1 billion people in the world are served by medical institutions without reliable power supply

Gastritis symptoms and what is it

Diarrhea

Rectal prolapse

Recent Comments