Is allergic rhinitis caused by haze?
In the past few years, there have been a lot of concerns about the haze throughout the country. The concern of rhinitis patients is whether there is a relationship between haze and rhinitis? The author believes that there is, but it may be direct, or indirect.
1, first to see, haze is what?
The abbreviation for particulate matter is PM, and currently our Meteorological Office monitors PM 2.5, which is the “aerodynamic equivalent” of pollutant particles less than or equal to 2.5 microns in diameter.
Aerodynamic equivalent, in general, is floating in the air dirty little things.
2. Let’s see what allergic rhinitis is all about.
Allergic rhinitis is the most common form of rhinitis, and the main symptoms include runny nose, sneezing, itchy nose, and nasal congestion. Although, except for individual cases with severe asthma and severe allergies, rhinitis does not kill, but, rhinitis can be worse than death when it is committed ……
The patient and the allergen contact – that is, people who are allergic to a certain allergen will have an attack when they encounter that allergen, and there will be an “onset” process, and the course of the disease will be long or short.
3. Why do you say that allergic rhinitis and haze may or may not be related?
Let’s take a look at the causes of allergic rhinitis.
(1) Hereditary factors are inevitable. Many patients have a family that is prone to sneezing and runny nose, which is hereditary airway hyperresponsiveness.
(2) There must also be “external causes”, that is, things that stimulate the occurrence of allergies (we call them allergens), commonly pollen, dust, animal fur, etc.
(3) There are also non-specific stimuli such as atmospheric pollution and smoking.
If the patient’s disease is allergic rhinitis, the particles in the haze can combine with certain allergens to form a lysate, making it easier for the allergen to enter the body and trigger an allergic rhinitis attack, or as a non-specific stimulus to invade and destroy the mucosal barrier, thus triggering an allergic rhinitis attack.
How do doctors deal with allergic rhinitis?
Diagnosis of allergic rhinitis, in addition to the symptoms mentioned above, there is also the diagnosis of specialized allergens, etc., which is more complicated and needs to be done in a hospital. Of course, the medical history provided by the patient is very important. Allergen diagnosis based on a detailed medical history is more targeted and accurate, and it greatly reduces the time and saves the cost of diagnosis.
For treatment, the World Health Organization recommends the best treatment plan for allergic diseases – the four-in-one comprehensive treatment.
1. Correct diagnosis and allergen avoidance
The best way is to avoid allergen contact. For example, if you are allergic to dust mites, you need to open the windows frequently and dry your bedding regularly; if you are allergic to animal fur, you should stay away from cats and dogs; if you are allergic to pollen, remember to go out as little as possible during the pollen period and wear a mask when necessary.
2.Appropriate symptomatic treatment
Oral antihistamines are the first choice of oral anti-allergy drugs, here is a friendly reminder: please use the second generation of antihistamines, otherwise you will be sleepy. In addition, according to the condition of the local use of nasal drops, preferred nasal glucocorticoids, multi-target control of nasal inflammation; it is worth mentioning that vasoconstrictors, that is, ephedrine, etc., can strongly contract blood vessels to achieve the purpose of relieving nasal congestion symptoms. The effect of this stuff is very rapid, but commonly used will have symptoms rebound, drug rhinitis and other more problems, so do not use more than 7 days in a row. In addition for certain structural abnormalities, surgery is also necessary.
3.Allergen-specific immunotherapy (desensitization therapy)
The more thorough only desensitization therapy is to make the body gradually less sensitive to these allergens by continuously injecting gradually increasing amounts of allergen agents into the body after a clear diagnosis of allergens. Economically speaking, it is also cost-effective, as the body gradually develops immune tolerance after receiving desensitization therapy, and it is expected to reduce the use of control drugs or even stop taking them. However, this therapy can take up to 2-3 years and requires patience and perseverance to treat the existing symptoms and to stop the process of increasing number of allergens, more and more affected organs and heavier and heavier symptoms of allergic diseases to achieve the purpose of long-term prevention and treatment.
4.Good patient education
Good patient education helps patients’ awareness of allergy and improve compliance, which is conducive to better treatment and prevention of allergy progress.