HAY FEVER
Make ‘hay’ while the sun shines?
Spring is here, which means that pharmacists can expect to see the annual increase in requests for treatment for hay fever and other allergies which are related to an improvement in the weather. By Dr. Dan Corbett.
it’s worthwhile having a fuller understanding of how these conditions actually work, and also to refresh our knowledge about how these common conditions should be treated.
D
Part of a bigger problem? As we know, hay fever falls under the broader umbrella heading of allergy, which is one of the most widespread conditions in the UK, and includes conditions such as food allergy, anaphylaxis, and eczema, amongst others.
Allergy is a big problem in the UK, with approximately 21 million people across the country being affected by at least one allergy type, with a group of around 10 million people having more than one allergy. When we delve further in the numbers and focus on hay fever, we can see that around
50
pharmacyinfocus.co.uk
espite the fact that these are conditions that we pharmacists will be particularly au fait with,
20% of the UK population are affected by this condition in one way or another, meaning that it’s something that will take up a lot of a healthcare professional’s time, particularly if they’re in primary care!
The severity and extent of effect of these conditions is even more apparent when we take a look at the cost of allergy, including hay fever, to the NHS, with £900 million being spent annually on the primary care side, and an additional £68 million being spent on allergy-related hospital admissions(1)
.
It is also important to remember that whilst hay fever isn’t necessarily regarded as being a “serious” condition, it has the potential to lead to very serious outcomes in patients with particular comorbidities.
For example, approximately 80% of patients who have a history of asthma also have hay fever, meaning that
exposure to pollen can bring on an asthma attack(2)
. Which this is
considered, it is clear that the management of these conditions is very important, both for the overall health of the patient, in addition to their overall quality of life.
Due to the nature of hay fever, its importance, and the exceedingly high likelihood that you will be dealing with droves of patients who are afflicted with this condition in the coming months, the remainder of this article will focus on hay fever, and provide some points, which will enhance your management of this condition.
So, what is hay fever anyway? Hay fever, sometimes referred to as allergic rhinitis, is classically characterised by symptoms such as sneezing, runny/blocked nose, itch, and post-nasal drip, with these symptoms being brought about by the inflammation of the mucosal tissues of the nose as a result of an allergic
reaction to pollen. In addition to these symptoms, hay fever can also bring about involvement of the eyes and sinuses, leading to irritation, pain, and general discomfort for the sufferer.
From a biochemical point of view, hay fever comes about due to the sensitisation of the patient to allergens, such as tree or grass pollen.
During this process, allergens are processed by antigen presenting cells (such as dendritic cells, which are present on the surface of the nasal mucosa), which then present selected peptides from the allergens on major histocompatibility complex class II molecules, with these molecules going on to bring about a chemical cascade involving a number of immune cells, such as naïve CD4+ T-cells and specific Th2 cells.
The resultant chemicals then lead to further immune cell activity, bringing about the production of specific IgE, >
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64