In allergy sufferers, for unknown reasons, the immune system "blots" harmless flower pollen, food particles and other substances that are normally health-neutral with dangerous germs or parasites. It mobilizes immune cells to strenuous and chronic struggle with the apparent but mass influxing "aggressor" - an allergen. The result of this fight are symptoms that cause serious damage to health.
Allergies are plagued by more and more people among us: here a friend suffers from hay fever, the child of a friend has asthma, in turn our child gets hives every time he eats the adored strawberries, and for a few months intensely itching her lips after eating an apple.
CIVILIZATIONAL DISEASE?
Unfortunately, this is not an accidental observation - for reasons unknown until now, the incidence of allergy-related diseases is increasing all over the world, especially fast in the industrialized countries (however, there is no simple correlation between pollution and environmental chemistry, and the incidence of allergies).
Many allergies appear only in adulthood.
Sensitization surprises the otherwise healthy people who "have never been allergic to anything." Our immune system - and he is responsible for allergic reactions - is adapted to fight against parasites (bacteria, viruses, fungi, worms) for about 30 years of life, which are necessary for man to beget and raise the next generation. Today, however, we live much longer, the death rate dropped drastically during childhood (children with allergies have practically the same chances of adulthood as healthy children), and we encounter many substances completely unknown even 50 years ago. It seems that our immune system simply can not cope with the enormity of irritating stimuli that bombard it from all sides for many years, and just like an overloaded computer, it works with less and less stability over time. The difference is that the computer can be turned off and restarted. It is not possible with the immune system.
That's why many of us have to come to terms with our ailments.
Of course, there are methods to cure some forms of allergies, e.g. desensitization; You can also try to avoid contact with the allergen. However, these methods are not always and not always effective; sometimes the discomfort is so trivial that we simply do not have the time and willingness to undergo a long series of injections, or to avoid friends who have a cat. Therefore, the treatment of many allergic disorders is often only to remove troublesome symptoms. Today, we are fortunate to have many safe and effective drugs that allow normal - or almost normal - life of patients with allergies.
JAnother of the most common (in some regions more than 10% of inhabitants) diseases is allergic rhinitis.
This condition is commonly known as hay fever. It is usually caused by pollen of flowering plants (trees, grasses, shrubs, perennials), although not only - it happens that the cause is an allergen consumed in food. This catarrh occurs periodically - when the plants sensitizing bloom. Sometimes, however, it turns out that we are allergic to almost all pollen, and in addition to the allergens contained in domestic dust, and then the rhinitis lasts a whole year. Unpleasant symptoms: sneezing, runny nose, mucous membrane edema preventing breathing, and conjunctivitis accompanying the catarrh are forcing us to look for an antidote. Another common disease is urticaria, known not only to mothers who babys up several months old babies, but also many adults.Chronic urticaria is particularly unpleasant, which often fails to determine the type of allergen, so it is impossible to avoid it, or treatment by desensitization.
The allergy that raises the most anxiety is asthma.
It is indeed a serious condition in which under the influence of known or unknown allergic or physical stimuli there is a paroxysmal bronchospasm. This contraction seriously hampers breathing, and in extreme cases it can even lead to death. Even 50 years ago, the only known medicines in this disease were preparations of plant origin that expanded the bronchi. They brought temporary relief, but often they were not enough. The most dramatic thing was that - as you know - children with asthma often "grow out" (the disease ends or softens already at the age of several years), and enough to remove the symptoms of asthma, so that the child develops normally.
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HISTORY OF POST PU IN THE TREATMENT OF ALLERGY
The first breakthrough in the treatment of allergies - corticosteroids
Introduced these drugs for the treatment of asthma and allergies in the early 60's. These are adrenocortical hormones - i.e. corticosteroids. They have strong antiallergic effects. The first of these drugs was cortisol, which is still used today. As medicine progressed, more steroid derivatives appeared (yes, yes, anabolics used by pseudo-athletes are drugs from a very similar group) with an ever stronger and longer effect, such as prednisone, triamcinolone or dexamethasone (the latter is 25x stronger than cortisol ). Immediately after the discovery it seemed that the ideal drug was found for many difficult to treat or incurable diseases: corticosteroids improved the condition not only of asthma patients, but also patients with rheumatoid arthritis, glomerulonephritis, psoriasis and pemphigus, and even some forms of cancer. Unfortunately - it turned out that steroids very deeply interfere with the immune system and metabolic processes. That they inhibit the excessive activity of the dysregulated immune system, but at the price of large and dangerous side effects. They can cause stomach ulcer, hypertension, diabetes, severe weakness of immunity. Today, medicines containing corticosteroids are used only in cases where other, safer preparations do not help. A significant advance is the development of topical steroid medications, e.g. as a nasal spray. They are now much safer than tablets or injections, but they are still used mainly when other methods fail.
In the 1970s two more drug groups appeared. One of them is so-called cromones.
This is sodium cromoglycate, currently replaced by more modern sodium nedocromil. Both of these drugs work by contact with the mucous membrane, which reacts excessively to the allergen and prevents allergic reactions: swelling, bronchial spasm and sneezing. They are effective and very safe, almost without side effects. In patients with asthma or allergic rhinitis, they are used in the form of aerosols; There are also eye drops, and even oral capsules intended for patients with food allergies. In lighter forms of allergy, the croupes are enough. Their only drawback is not a very convenient way of using (inhalation). However, this is a very slight drawback in comparison with the troubles of, for example, long-term oral use of prednisone.
The second group is called antihistamines.
There are plenty of antihistamines and, from time to time, pharmaceutical companies synthesize new, more excellent derivatives. Antihistamines act by blocking cellular receptors for histamine - a mediating protein in allergic reactions. A few years ago, these drugs were used not very readily - although they were effective, they caused drowsiness, fatigue, weight gain and alcohol intolerance. However, they were much safer than corticosteroids - even with long-term use they did not cause serious consequences. They were also very convenient to use: they usually took the form of tablets or syrup for children. Therefore, the efforts of research laboratories have gone in the direction of improving the tolerance of these drugs.
The most important matter turned out to be drowsiness.
After using antihistamines you were not allowed to drive a car! In turn, children with allergies fell asleep during classes and had difficulties concentrating. The first drug that did not cause such symptoms was astemizole.It turned out, however, that in combination with other drugs it can cause heart problems, so it is now withdrawn in most countries. Another drug was cetirizine; shortly after, loratadine was synthesized. Both of these drugs are now called "second generation antihistamines", although using cetirizine it is still not recommended to drive a car (the same applies to high doses of the popular loratadine!). These drugs, thanks to convenient dosage - once a day - have become very popular. They are a convenient alternative to kromonów in allergic rhinitis, eye conjunctiva and in cases of urticaria; in asthma they are sometimes used as supportive care.
The latest generations of medicines are almost asymptomatic
An example is a group of drugs containing a chemical called fexofenadine. When you use drugs with this substance, you can drive your car or do lots of mental work. It is the first antihistamine allowed for use in flight controllers at airports, and therefore in people for whom the efficiency of mind is of great importance. In addition, it is not processed by the liver, so it does not burden this organ like some older preparations.
The so-called anti-leukotrienes: these drugs block the action of leukotrienes
Leukotrienes are substances that, like histamine, mediate an allergic reaction. Anti-leukotrienes have been effective primarily in the treatment of asthma. These drugs are relatively expensive, but safer than oral corticosteroids and can often - even partially - replace them.
Thanks to the progress in the pharmaceutical industry
treatment of symptoms of allergic diseases - because we can not cure diseases alone except through desensitization - it has become effective and safe today. The drugs themselves, however, are not enough. People with allergies should follow a healthy lifestyle: do not smoke, avoid alcohol (wine and beer can be a strong allergen), fight overweight (especially important for patients with asthma), take a lot of movement, avoid excessive sun exposure. They should also, if they know their allergen, eliminate it from their surroundings; there are special vacuum cleaners for asthma patients, there are calendars available with periods of dusting of individual plant species, etc. Allergies are diseases often lasting for years and sometimes we are tempted to experiment with the drug that the doctor has prescribed to a friend or herbal preparations. WE WILL NEVER DO THIS without consulting with our doctor. Allergic patients may react violently to certain medications, especially herbal preparations, but also to ordinary aspirin and analgesics. Therefore, if we have to live with an allergy, often consult a doctor - it will help us to forget about troublesome accidents and enjoy life.
Prepared by: dr n. Med. M. R. Nowacki
More information on allergy treatment:
Desensitization or desynsibilization
Secondly, avoid contact with allergens
Safety of antihistamines