Suffering from Seasonal Allergies? Here ’ s What Experts Say Works Best

Millions of Americans spend weeks each year sneezing and sniffling due to allergies to seasonal triggers such as tree, grass, or ragweed pollen. And for the subset of people who are allergic to year-round household irritants like dust mites, mold, and cockroaches, any season can turn into allergy season. Allergy symptoms happen when your immune system interprets what should be a relatively benign substance as a threat. The severity of symptoms and the difficulty of treating them can vary depending on your genes, how many substances you’re allergic to, and your level of exposure, says Dr. H. James Wedner, an allergy and immunology specialist at Washington University in St. Louis. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] For many people with mild symptoms, the misery of seasonal or environmental allergies can be tamed by over-the-counter medications—but for others, all the pills and nasal sprays in the world don’t seem to make a difference. Some allergy sufferers genuinely don’t respond to treatment, and researchers are still studying why that is, Wedner says. But others may be able to find relief with the right remedy. “I feel like we normalize allergies” to the point that people think they have to live with them, says Dr. Caroline Sokol, principal investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases. But “we have tools in our belt to actually help people.” Here’s what h...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate medicine Source Type: news