AzelastinE-News - 2/2010
Dear Reader,
Nothing reminds us of the long, cold winter anymore: The leaves on the trees are coming out, the meadows are green and in bloom. But the blossoming of trees and grasses also means that the hay fever season is in full swing once again - and that means bad times for all those suffering from what is called allergic rhinitis!
Not all rhinitis is alike - many of those affected only suffer from symptoms for a brief period, others however have problems to grapple with all year long. In this issue of the newsletter you will be able to learn about the kind of treatment specialists recommend for you and how quickly your symptoms disappear with treatment targeted at onset of action!
Why those allergic to birch trees are suffering particularly this year from higher pollen counts will become clear to you when you read the detailed introduction to this representative of early bloomers.
In the current question to experts, the spotlight is on something called "allergic march" and what that is all about. A questionnaire will help you figure out whether your symptoms point to hay fever or more to asthma.
Enjoy this latest issue!
Your Newsletter-Team for Rhinitis
Treatment right at the onset of action - The key to successful rhinitis therapy
With blossoming trees and meadow grasses, the hay fever season for those with allergies is once again in full swing: An itchy, congested nose, watery eyes and constant sneezing are the annoying symptoms patients with allergic rhinitis have to struggle with. Those with hay fever often sleep poorly and feel tired and irritable. However, with the aid of the right therapy, sufferers can get troublesome allergy symptoms under control quickly. Antihistamines with the active agent azelastine can be used right at the onset of action. Whether as spray in an itchy nose or drops in watery eyes, a locally active antihistamine only has to be used when symptoms actually appear. Azelastine, for instance, begins to take effect within 12 to 15 minutes and thus gives rapid relief from symptoms for up to 12 hours. Besides its quick and long-lasting effect, azelastine is also very well tolerated.
Millions of people worldwide suffer from the symptoms of allergic rhinitis (AR). Alarmingly, more and more are affected every year, so the forecasts of experts. And pollen is not always the only culprit: Foodstuffs, pets and dust mites can also often unleash AR. Depending on the duration and severity of the symptoms, the initiative "Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma" (ARIA), initiated in cooperation with the WHO, distinguishes between several stages of AR. Besides light and brief symptoms, from which around 20% of all AR patients suffer, around 40% of those with allergies experience brief and moderate symptoms. Light symptoms year-round can be found among 5% of all patients with rhinitis, whereas year-round symptoms with moderate or severe incidence appear in around 35% of all those affected.
Although the ARIA recommends the additional use of cromone for light, brief symptoms, and a combination with topical glucocorticoids for moderate or severe symptoms year round, modern antihistamines form the basis for treating all stages of AR. According to experts, they should be administered either as nasal sprays or in tablet form. But did you know that topic treatment with antihistamines has distinct advantages over tablets? For one thing, a nasal spray or eye drop applies the medication right to the site of the allergic inflammation and thus can begin working immediately. For another, topic application also causes fewer side effects than taking tablets. Azelastine nasal spray, for instance, is easy to use and gives rapid relief from the symptoms of rhinitis. As a nasal spray, Azelastine relieves symptoms within 15 minutes and as eye drops it helps relieve red, itchy eyes in just three minutes. Because the effect lasts 12 hours, Azelastine nasal spray only has to be used twice a day (mornings and evenings) during the exposure to allergic trigger. The greatest advantage of azelastine is that, in contrast to other medications, it has not to be used continuously but only exposed to allergic trigger and so when needed for the treatment of rhinitis.
So, regardless of whether you suffer from hay fever symptoms as a result of current pollen counts or allergy symptoms plague you year-round, therapy with azelastine, which is also well-tolerated, easy to use and works fast, improves your quality of life!
Profile: Birch (lat: betula)
Family: The birch is a genre of deciduous tree in the family of birch/beech plants (betulaceae).
Indigenous: Europe, North America, and Asia to Japan
Birches are deciduous trees or shrubs. They belong to the very fast-growing woods and can reach heights of 30 metres (100 feet) when fully grown. In many birches, the bark is conspicuously bright to white. All birches are wind-pollinated, which is why large amounts of pollen can be shaken off them when they are in bloom - in 2010, from the end of March probably to the end of May. The inflorescences (clustered flowers) are commonly called catkins. The male catkins hang, the female ones stand erect. The many, small winged seeds, which ripen in autumn, can be found between the bracts (stem nodes) in the seed heads.
Birch pollen has a high degree of allergenic potential. Around half of all those with allergies react to birch pollen, and bad times have now begun for all those affected because the European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF) is forecasting for 2010 a relatively high pollen count for birch! Records from the past have shown birch pollen intensity follows a biannual rhythm. This means that high amounts of birch pollen can regularly be found during even-numbered years, whereas in years with odd numbers, such as last year, there is usually less birch pollen in flight. The scientific reason for this has not yet been fully explained, but something similar occurs in such fruit-bearing trees as apples or pears during what are called their "mast years" when these trees blossom the most and thus also yield a particularly large amount of fruit.
FAQs from people plagued by allergies:
My hay fever symptoms, like my itchy nose and watery eyes, are getting worse and sometimes I also suffer from a cough. Now my chemist has recommended I take an antihistamine to prevent an "allergic march." What do I have to watch out for with this medication and what exactly does this "allergic march" mean?
A pollen allergy is an inflammatory reaction of the upper respiratory tract, meaning the mucous membranes in nose and eye are affected. If symptoms go untreated or only receive inadequate therapy, the focus of inflammation can grow to affect the lower respiratory tract, meaning the lungs and bronchia. This is called an "allergic march," which experts see as the development of asthma as a result of an untreated or inadequately treated allergy. If you notice coughing in addition to the usual nose and eye symptoms, this can be the first indication of such a progression to asthma. This is why it is important to treat your allergy effectively whenever symptoms appear.
The modern antihistamine azelastine, for instance, not only has an anti-allergic effect, it has an anti-inflammatory and mast cell-stabilising one as well. This is why it works effectively in just a minute when symptoms first appear. And because the effect can last up to 12 hours, you only have to use eye drops or nasal spray twice daily during exposure to allergic trigger. However, should your physician have already diagnosed a progression to asthma, you should perhaps be administering additional medications to fight your asthma.
Get well soon, from your editorial team!
Questionnaire
Asthma or rhinitis? If you are not sure whether your symptoms indicate rhinitis or asthma, answer the following questionnaire. Your doctor will doubtlessly be happy to discuss the results with you; then you can be sure!
>> Questionnaire (PDF)
