Hay fever, the chronic condition that affects millions worldwide,
is characterized by the hypersensitivity reaction to airborne allergens and the
inflammation associated. This inflammation of the upper respiratory tract leads
to symptoms of nasal congestion, sneezing, watery itchy eyes, and rhinitis.
These symptoms plague those who suffer from this illness seasonally,
perennially, or both. Standard treatment implemented on patients usually
consists of pharmaceutical interventions in combination with lifestyle changes.
With information used from this blog and through the website www.RateADrug.com, I was able to compare
the medications evaluated to see effectiveness of hay fever management. The top
five drugs evaluated for the indicated use of hay fever were Dimetapp Allergy,
Benadryl Allergy Sinus, Vick’s Children’s NyQuil, Allegra, and Zyrtec. All of
these drugs had high ratings for effectiveness and generally low side effects.
The last three medications had the most side effects with overall theme being
drowsiness. Through these evaluations, it should be recognized that all
medications were either had an antihistamine as an active ingredient. This makes
sense for the fact that one of the main components of the hypersensitivity
reaction in hay fever revolves around the mast cell degranulation and histamine
release. Through this mechanism of action, the risk of having many harmful side
effects is low. Other medications, which was discussed in previous blogs,
include decongestants, LTRAs, corticosteroids etc. Many of these are not as
easily accessible because medications such as these usually either need to be
bought through the pharmacy or through a prescription. Although these medications do appear to work well for those suffering, lifestyle changes a considered to be the first line defense. This is done primarily through avoiding the specific allergy triggers. Avoiding triggers has also been discussed in previous blogs with information regarding frequent dusting, using the air conditioning as opposed to keeping windows open etc. The reasoning for these interventions to help with the management of
hay fever symptoms relates to the basic pathophysiology of the condition. By
preventing the allergen, or antigen, from entering eyes and nasal passageway, the body would not produce the inflammatory effects. However this is easier said than done, that's why medication therapy is implemented in order to make up for what can be avoided. The
use of these lifestyle changes also benefit the quality of life work optimally
by creating a balance of the pharmacological therapies. Although hay fever tends to be
undertreated or self-treated by the patients, it is the goal for the health
care providers to find a balance between this in order to promote better health
and a better quality of life.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Spring Allergies vs Fall Allergies: Which is Worse
For those who suffer from seasonal symptoms of hay fever,
there always seems to be that time of the year that is absolutely dreaded. For
some it includes the spring, and for others it’s the fall. Seasonal allergy
sufferers may also suffer from both or even more seasons, but one will usually
dominate. So which is worse? Well, it depends on the specific allergen and when
it is most abundant in the regional area at a specific time of the year.
Spring Allergies- Spring appears to be the time of the
year when trees release the most pollen. Some of the top trees responsible for
this abundant pollen release are Oak, Sycamore, Maple, Elm, Birch, Walnut,
Hickory, and Cypress. The warming of the weather still accompanied by heavy
winds also aggravates these allergens. Mold is still a prime allergy source in
the spring, however it will worsen in the fall.
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| Oak Tree |
Fall Allergies- The biggest culprit during the fall season
is ragweed. Ragweed begins to pollinate in August normally, which makes it stay
in the air and “attack” those for the following months. It’s also a very light particle
that travels well in the wind. This allows it to act as an allergen to many
nationwide, even if you don’t live near growing ragweed. Also in the fall, mold
proliferates the most. Although mold is stated to be a major contributor to spring
allergies, fall has higher levels because of the increase in spore release. The
release of these mold spores also wreaks havoc to those susceptible to mold
allergies. Another additional burden that fall allergies do play is with
children. Because it is the start of the school year children will begin to
have more exposure to certain school time activities, which may aggravate their
allergies even further. This appears to be correlated with children asthma
attack spikes in the fall as well.
 |
| Ragweed |
So which one is worse? Well, of course, it changes for each individual because allergies are triggered by different allergens. For both spring and fall allergies, the best defense is
avoiding the triggers in combination with medication in order to manage
symptoms. These options were discussed in previous blogs.
Friday, November 11, 2011
The Typical Costs of Treatment
Depending on the severity of your condition, Hay Fever may
end up being a relatively expensive disease with its chronic nature and
pharmaceutical symptom management.
Let’s say you take a daily Claritin, Loratadine, 10mg 24 hr
antihistamine is taken daily. For a box of 30 tablets, the regular price ranges
about $19.89 at Target (and most drug stores). We can round this to about $20 a
month for just a daily Claritin tablet and $240 a year.
Now let’s say you have multiple members of the family also
taking this medication for their symptoms as well, this price will only go up
and possibly double. But of course no medication is perfect and works for
anyone. If you have congestion and decide that regular Claritin is sufficient
and you need a decongestant, Claritin-D may be a more suitable choice, but with
an added price. At Walgreens you can buy Claritin-D (120mg pseudoephedrine with
5mg loratadine antihistamine) 12-hour decongestant with 30 tablets for $29.89.
The rounded cost for a day’s use of this drug will then be about $2. This would
be $60 a month, and $720 a year if used two times a day, every day of the year.
Claritin-D, and other decongestants,
such as Sudafed and Allegra-D are pose additional obstacles because you have to
buy it over the counter which is an inconvenience.
Like I said before, Claritin or Claritin-D may not be the
drug of choice for a particular user, others may prefer Allegra, Allegra-D,
Zyrtec, and generic brands. However these are usually range around the same
prices give or take a couple dollars.
Not only can these medications be expensive, but the other
interventions taken by many allergy sufferers add up as well. These include
things such as immunotherapy and lifestyle changes.
Immunotherapy prices tend to range on a variety of factors.
These include length of therapy, type, and whether or not insurance will cover
it. In the US, the average cost for immunotherapy ranged from $1,480-$2,500 for
six years of therapy. This averaged to about $800 for the first, and most
expensive year of therapy, and then dropped down to about $200-$300 dollars a
year after that. This is an interesting consideration considering the outcomes
of therapy hopefully mean eliminating drug usage for several years and when
comparing this to some of the prices above this may be the more fiscally
favorable choice.
Lastly, lifestyle changes do have a great financial impact
on the hay fever sufferer as well. In previous entries. This includes using the
air conditioning instead of opening windows, use of more cleaning products, and
a higher quality of filtration system which may all increase electricity and
gas bills. A common recommendation to those with hay fever is the use of a HEPA
filter. The Envion Therapure Air Purifier for a Medium Room (26x8”) at target
is sold online for $139.99. This only works for a room that is about 100-300sq
ft. room, which means that multiple may need to be purchased to fulfill the
needs of an individual with multiple rooms.
In conclusion, Hay Fever can add up to be a pretty expensive
condition to have and something to keep in mind when choosing treatments. However a combination of one or many
may be necessary in order to ensure an improved quality of life which is
priceless.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
How Big of a Problem is Hay Fever
It’s pretty obvious that Hay Fever is a big problem that
affects many people worldwide. We know that it happens to children and adults
and that we probably have a little of it (or a lot) ourselves. But really who
all is suffering?
According to the CDC, the United States has had 17.7 million
adults newly diagnosed with hay fever within the past 12 months and another 7.1
million children have reported having hay fever. The Revolution Health Group
reports that hay fever causes about 14 million doctor office visits, 90% of
which are seasonal and 70-80% have perennial as well. By the age 6-19, 17% of
all children have an allergy to some environmental factor, and the severity and
occurrence tend to greatly increase with age with no apparent discrimination to
race or gender. Most importantly, the rates in the U.S. have been rising
dramatically for unknown reasons.
So what does this even mean? That a significant number of
people are suffering from hay fever and that this is an increasing problem. It
appears that by this data alone that quality of life for these individuals is
also affected. For example; for the doctor’s visits alone take into
consideration the time, money (co-pays, medications, transportation etc.) and
overall hassle of even getting the visits. This does not even include the
symptomatic burdens associated with this chronic condition. Also, because
having hay fever puts you at a higher risk for other hypersensitivity
conditions from an overactive immune system, there is the increase for food/drug
allergies, asthma, and other types of hypersensitivity reactions and the other
issues that go along with them.
The most interesting thing about this condition is that even
though it affects so many people, leads to so many undesirable effects,
symptoms, medication usage, and even possible complications, there is no cure.
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