Allergies, asthma, eczema-why me? Well, you are not alone; one out of four Americans suffers from some form of allergic illness with an impact on their quality of life, school or work performance, and overall health.
Unlike infections, allergies are long-term health issues that require attention to avoidance of allergens, use of medications to control symptoms, and, at times, immunotherapy (allergy shots) to control the problems. Allergies can be more than just an annoyance and can lead to life threatening disease such as asthma attacks, food allergy reactions, and stinging insect reactions (more people die from bee stings than from rattle snakes!).
How can you combat these issues? Certainly avoiding the items to which you are allergic would be great, but this is not easy to do. Grasses, oak trees, cats; peanuts and other foods are just not easy to eliminate from your life. You can use air purifiers and A/C to control pollen allergens, keep pets out of the bedroom, and learn to read labels and watch restaurant menus closely for possible food allergens.
There are currently good medications available over-the-counter as well as by prescription for control of allergies and your pharmacist or doctor can guide you to those that are best for you. Long-term preventive strategies for asthma control with preventive inhalers can keep you out of the hospital or emergency room and definitely improve your quality of life. Immunotherapy, treatment that specifically improves your immune response to inhaled allergens, is also available.
Allergy shots have been shown to be very effective in treating allergies and asthma due to pollens, cat, molds, and house dust mite. Oral drops or sublingual immunotherapy has not been approved by the FDA and the materials we have in this country have not been shown to be either safe or effective; they will not be paid for by your insurance (although regular allergy shots are generally covered and at times can be less expensive than medications for management of your allergies or asthma).
The only treatment we currently have for food allergies is avoidance.
Stinging insects like bees and yellow jackets can cause life threatening reactions; these are very effectively treated with allergy shots to those stinging insects.
Your health care provider should be able to direct you to appropriate medications or to help you decide when it is time to seek the input from a board certified allergist trained to appropriately diagnose and treat your allergy and asthma problems.
Since 1984 Dr. Ron Renard has provided quality medical care to Northern California patients who suffer from allergy problems. You may reach Dr. Renard’s office at Redding Allergy & Asthma Care, 1505 Victor Avenue in Redding, telephone 530.226.5325. For more information visit reddingallergy.com.
