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The Basics of Allergy Is it a Cold or an Allergy? The Right Treatment for Your Allergies

Allergies

Seasonal and Chronic Allergies

Summary & Participants

What time of the year is allergy season? Actually, it's all year long for some allergy sufferers. Learn the difference between seasonal and year-round allergies, and the treatments available for both.

Medically Reviewed On: July 01, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ELI MELTZER, MD: Maybe certain chores are not as appropriate. Mowing the lawn may not be a great task for somebody who's grass allergic. And it's been shown in people who have allergic disease that's really quite consequential, they're more irritable, more angry, more frustrated. When you're feeling run-down, tired and itchy just generally yuck from your allergies, and people bother you, you have a short temper. At least I do.

ANNOUNCER: The good news for those with allergies is there are a variety of medical treatments and ways to modify their environment that can control their symptoms.

MARJORIE SLANKARD, MD: There are over the counter nasal sprays such as Nasalcrom, and then there are the prescription nose sprays which are most effectively prescribed as the topical steroid sprays.

ANNOUNCER: Other medications include the antihistamines. Many sold over the counter, like Benadryl, Chlor-Trimeton, and Dimetapp are sedating-they can cause sleepiness. Those prescribed by doctors are usually non-sedating. These medications can help improve an allergy sufferer's quality of life.

ELI MELTZER, MD: Quality of life is not just a general three-word sentence. There's actually ways you can measure people's health quality of life, if you give them an effective medication, you can show improvement in physical ability, ability to sleep, ability to have less emotional upset, ability to carry on their activities.

ANNOUNCER: Right now a non-sedating medication, Claritin, is available over the counter, which allows allergy sufferers to buy it without a prescription. But medications alone are often not enough. Many allergy sufferers have to learn to modify their environment-that is, avoid the things that trigger their symptoms.

EVE RUBENSTEIN, MD: My husband and I always wanted to have plants in the house, but there are certain kinds of plants that I just can't have. And so the other day I walked in and he had bought this wonderful leafy plant. And he was very proud of himself that he had managed to do something that was within my allergy-free zone.

ANNOUNCER: One of the biggest challenges for many physicians is treating those who are allergic to their pets.

GILLIAN SHEPHERD, MD: Patients with cats are the curse and bane of an allergy physician's existence. They probably also sustain an awful lot of allergy practices. Somebody who is genetically prone to allergies gets a cat. And it's only a matter of time and usually by six months that's person's allergy system has seen the cat and said 'Programmed to react to this' turned on and made allergy. But after this period of time the owner of the cat and the cat have completely bonded and we're stuck. We say 'Well at least try to keep the cat out of the bedroom. The majority of cat owners sleep with the cat here. And if they have two cats, it's here and here. So it does help if the cats are at least out of the bedroom.

ANNOUNCER: The combination of managing their environment, knowing their allergy triggers, and using their medicine when necessary, can significantly improve the quality of life of many people with allergies.

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