Here comes the Hayfever

Meridian said:
I'm no doctor, but I'm fairly certain hayfever is triggered by pollen. There are certainly various cranks who think diet is an issue causing hayfever (as opposed to true food allergies), but it's amazing how many of those cranks just happen to be involved in companies selling the foods which will "cure" the symptoms. Pseudoscience at best, and roughly as useful as homeopathic medicine (aka lactose).


M
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That's why you're not a doctor.

Think about it logically. If your body has to deal with 200 substances it is allergic to (even mildly), how is it going to cope? If your body has to deal with just 5 things that it is allergic to, do you think it's going to cope better or worse with those 5 things?

Once again, like most people here, you are concentrating on the symptoms of hayfever, not the cause. The cause is NOT pollen, the cause is your body not being able to DEAL with the pollen.

And it's not about companies selling foods that will cure the symptoms, it's about NOT eating the food that contribute to the underlying problem. I fail to see how eating LESS of most products, and more fresh fruit and veg is some sort of corporate conspiracy.

The only food that I'm aware of that can help the symptoms is local honey, and that's not helping the symptoms directly, it's working like a vaccine, giving you low intensity local pollen for your immune system to deal with in a reasonable and controlled manner.
 
Mr^B said:
Once again, like most people here, you are concentrating on the symptoms of hayfever, not the cause. The cause is NOT pollen, the cause is your body not being able to DEAL with the pollen.
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Wrong, it's your body dealing with pollen that's the problem. When it should just ignore it.
 
AcidHell2 said:
Wrong, it's your body dealing with pollen that's the problem. When it should just ignore it.
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That's simply not correct. Your body HAS to deal with airborne particles that's what your nose and throat are partially design/evolved to do - ie filter them out. It us the process of filtering them which causes the symptoms.

Pollen is, by its nature, an irritant (as are most airborne particles, including perfumes, etc) everyone has a reaction to it - people with low reactions probably don't notice anything, people with larger reactions have hay-fever.

:)
 
Mr^B said:
That's simply not correct. Your body HAS to deal with airborne particles that's what your nose and throat are partially design/evolved to do - ie filter them out. It us the process of filtering them which causes the symptoms.

Pollen is, by its nature, an irritant (as are most airborne particles, including perfumes, etc) everyone has a reaction to it - people with low reactions probably don't notice anything, people with larger reactions have hay-fever.

:)
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No no no, it has nothing to do with the filtering, nasal hair ect.

It's to do with a over sensitive immune system. Which produces far to many antibodies. Which then causes the symptoms.
 
Meridian said:
Personally I use Beconaise nasal spray (beclamethasone - a steroid) - far better than any of the many tablets I've tried over the last thirty years.


M
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Becalmethasone the steroid is the best thing ive used over the years too. Just been to the chemist today and got the strongest they do, £5 for a 180 dose nasal spray, should last me a couple of months.
 
AcidHell2 said:
No no no, it has nothing to do with the filtering, nasal hair ect.

It's to do with a over sensitive immune system. Which produces far to many antibodies. Which then causes the symptoms.
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Yes, I know, I just said that.

Do you have a point?

Better immune system = less severe reaction to pollen. It's not rocket science.

:)
 
Mr^B said:
Better immune system = less severe reaction to pollen. It's not rocket science.

:)
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It's not to do with how good your immune system is.
It's what your immune system does.

The point is, reducing other allergies will not affect how the body copes with others, I have never seen any research that confirms what you have said and is probably just a placebo in some cases.
 
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I've had it quite badly in the past and had very slight sneezing last year however I haven't really felt anything this year... I have slight stuffiness however it feels more like a cold rather than hayfever.
 
yeah was feeling it abit at the weekend. i have a g/f who woorks in a pharmacy 30 cirterzine dyhrydrocloride (no i cant spell) 89p wooo
 
Anyone know what the results where from hookworm infestations where? They started researching this a few years ago. Does it indeed alleviate heyfever?

Hayfever sufferers: could you host a hookworm?
07 February 2006

PA17/05

Academics at The University of Nottingham are looking for hayfever sufferers to take part in an unusual study, which will look at a potential new treatment for the allergy.

But the research is not for the squeamish or fainthearted — volunteers would need to agree to being deliberately infected with hookworm to look at the possible link between the parasite and a lower risk of allergic disease.

Hayfever and asthma have both become increasingly more common in affluent societies over recent years, although scientists are uncertain about what is causing this. One possible explanation is that as we live in an increasingly clean environment, and are exposed to fewer infections, our immune systems start to respond to normally harmless things, like pollen.

In the developing world, hayfever and asthma are far less common but millions of people are infected with hookworm — a tiny worm that lives in the bowel. Studies in Ethiopia suggest a link between being infected by hookworm and a lower risk of developing the diseases, which could present new possibilities for treatment.

The research team in the Department of Epidemiology at the University is looking for volunteers with hayfever to take part in the clinical trial, which is being funded by the Wellcome Trust.

During the study volunteers would be infected with 10 hookworm larvae (or with a placebo), which is done by placing the larvae on the skin under a plaster for 24 hours. They would then make regular visits to Nottingham City Hospital over a period of 16 weeks, there members of the team will monitor their progress closely by carrying out blood tests, questionnaires about their hayfever symptoms and various breathing tests. The researchers will also carry out skin tests on the volunteers for allergy to cat, dust and grass extract.

The hookworm infection is not contagious in developed countries with normal standards of hygiene and sanitation and at the end of the study, the volunteers will be given a tablet to cure the hookworm infection from their body.

The study follows a pilot study to work out how many hookworms would be needed to trigger a response from the immune system. A group of 10 (including the researchers) received 10, 25, 50 or 100 hookworm larvae and 10 larvae was found to produce a good response while also producing the fewest side effects.

All information gained during the study will be treated confidentially and the researchers will reimburse all reasonable travel expenses incurred during the study.

Anyone who would like to take part is asked to contact Dr Johanna Feary, Clinical Research Fellow, on +44 (0)115 823 1936 or by e-mail at [email protected]

Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham undertakes world-changing research and provides teaching of the highest quality. Ranked in the THES World Top 100 Universities, its academics have won two Nobel Prizes since 2003. An international institution, the University has campuses in the United Kingdom, Malaysia and China.
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But I can't find the results for it.
 
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AcidHell2 said:
It's not to do with how good your immune system is.
It's what your immune system does.

The point is, reducing other allergies will not affect how the body copes with others, I have never seen any research that confirms what you have said and is probably just a placebo in some cases.
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I guess you don't read the Lancet then?

And it worked for me, even though I was ad ignorant and skeptical about it as you are now.

:)
 
Had a little sniffle today while driving through the country. could have been a combination of my new Super Strength air freshener aswell :D
 
my hay fever not started yet but it will soon - its usually by the end of may, then its tablets all summer for me.
interestingly, one summer i was taking large amounts of omega 3 and my hay fever virtually disappeared - i stopped taking it for other reasons though.
 
I thought last year at about this time I had it really badly, but for some reason I don't have it at the moment. Maybe it was end of May last year that I had it.
 
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