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Year after year - hay fever dampens the joys of spring
Published at: Sunday, 01. January 2006
At last the cold months are gone, the days are getting longer once again, the air is becoming milder, and people are full of joy as nature awakes. Unfortunately, the pleasure of experiencing the first buds and blossoms is not unbridled in everyone: approximately 30 million people in Europe suffer from hay fever. Depending on the temperatures and the type of pollen, for some people their days of suffering begin as early as the end of February or the beginning of March. In those who are affected, the mucous membranes in the upper respiratory tracts react allergically to blossom or grass pollens. The results are sneezing, itching and watery eyes and not uncommonly an asthmatic cough. The patients find themselves under a great deal of psychological strain, and their quality of life and ability to perform are severely restricted.
Treat hay fever systematically
All too often hay fever is trivialised. Hay fever patients, however, have three times a greater risk of developing asthma than healthy people do. The correct diagnosis and a systematic treatment of the symptoms is therefore very important in order to avoid the "migration" from the nose to the bronchial tubes.
Modern medications help
In the last few years, great progress has been made in the research and development of effective and easily tolerated medications to combat hay fever. The firstchoice medications are antihistamines, such as azelastine (RhinolastTM / Optilast TM), a so called anti-histamine.
Quick and effective
Antihistamines target mediators which play a significant role in inflammations - one symptom of allergic reactions. In addition, the active substance azelastine also reduces immunoglobulin E in particular, which is released in larger amounts in the event of an allergy, and unlike older active substances of this kind it does not cause drowsiness. Azelastine begins to take effect very quickly after 10-15 minutes.
When nothing else helps
It has been demonstrated that patients with very severe hay fever symptoms can still also profit from azelastine when other medications fail to have any effect.
Wide range of applications
Azelastine is currently the only active substance amongst antihistamines which is available not only in the form of a nasal spray and eye drops, but also as a tablet.
