Coping Successfully with Hay Fever
By Dr Robert Youngson - A Sheldon Press book

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people suffer distress, discomfort and embarrassment whenever the pollen count rises. Summer misery from hay fever, with itching and watering of eyes and nose, constant sneezing, blocked nose and red eyes takes much of the pleasure out of life, and can cause problems for people taking exams in summer. Our polluted cities can be as bad as open countryside for sufferers, and some people have symptoms all year round.

If you suffer from hay fever this book gives you the key to your personal management of your symptoms. It explains the latest advances in our understanding of the immune system and how hay fever is caused, and the new, better treatments that are now available. In clear, straightforward terms it tells you all need need to know to minimize the effect of this troublesome condition on your life. 

Contents

• Introduction
• What is hay fever?
• Understanding allergy
• The symptoms of hay fever
• How hay fever is diagnosed
• Perennial allergic rhinitis
• All about antihistamines
• Other forms of treatment
• The emotional dimension
• Hay fever in children
• Complication
• Avoiding hay fever

Introduction

Every year, millions of people — an estimated 20 per cent of the population — suffer distress, discomfort and embarrassment whenever the pollen count rises. Seasonal misery from hay fever, with itching and watering of eyes and noses, constant sneezing, nasal congestion and redness of the eyes, popping of the ears, constant clearing of the throat and coughing, takes much of the pleasure out of the best times of the year, and can prevent people from going to areas of natural beauty. It can also cause problems for young people taking important exams during the summer. Non-seasonal forms of the disorder affect people all the year round and these sometimes develop into more serious allergies. Some ten per cent of hay fever sufferers are also asthmatics or develop asthma.

Hay fever has been becoming increasingly common and is now ranked as the sixth most prevalent persistent condition in the major developed countries. In this respect it now outranks heart disease. Hay fever is not only unpleasant in its own right, but it also features a number of complications some of which can be even more troublesome — middle ear problems, hearing upsets, sinusitis, alteration of the sense of smell, sleep disturbances and mouth-breathing. Many conditions previously unsuspected of being allergic in nature are now known to be features of hay fever.

Recent years have seen great advances in the understanding of the immune system disturbances that underlie hay fever, and with these advances have come new and better forms of treatment. If you are a sufferer, the key to your personal management of hay fever is knowledge of these new facts. This book contains a straightforward account in clear, simple language of all the essential scientific facts underlying this annoying condition. It is not a medical textbook, but if you read it carefully the chances are that you will end up knowing more about hay fever than the average health professional. More importantly, you will know much that will help you to minimize the effect of this distressing condition on your life.

This book contains a number of 'case histories' illustrating important points in the story. It would not do to publish actual excerpts from clinical notes so these cases are presented in fictional form. All the events described in these cases, however, actually happened.