What Allergy and Asthma Sufferers Need to Know for Fall

An estimated 35 million Americans suffer from allergies. For those with fall allergies, three triggers typically occur – ragweed, indoor allergens and infections.

“During the summer, people experience the lowest incidence of allergies and asthma so they feel better and stop taking their allergy medications...” said David Rosenstreich, M.D., director of the allergy and immunology division at Montefiore Medical Center. “If allergy sufferers make the mistake of waiting until after their symptoms are in full swing, it’s much harder to stop the allergic reaction than to prevent it from even beginning.”

One of the biggest culprits for fall allergies is ragweed. In the fall, ragweed releases pollen into the air and this continues until frost kills the plant closer to winter. Most prevalent in the Eastern and Midwest states, ragweed causes an allergic reaction commonly called hay fever and results in symptoms that include itchy eyes, nose and throat, sneezing, stuffy or runny nose, tearing or dark circles under the eyes.

An allergy symptom is the result of the immune system overreacting. It mistakes the pollen or other allergy trigger as a foreign invader and attacks it, which leads to the release of chemicals called histamines into the blood. The histamine travels through the blood and latches onto histamine receptors on other cells, causing them to swell. This inflammation causes many familiar allergy symptoms.

Another trigger for allergies during the fall is due to people staying indoors more and they are therefore exposed to allergens like pet dander, dust and mold. Several precautions to consider include:

• Maintain an allergen free environment at home
• Focus on your bedroom: keep your pets out, eliminate the rug because it collects dust and avoid feather pillows
• Make sure the fireplace is well-ventilated and be careful of any leakage
• Keep basement and bathroom dry to avoid mold growing in these damp areas of the house
• Have your heating system cleaned to avoid dust mites when you first turn on the heat


The third trigger is infections and the flu, which affect the body’s immune system and cause it to release antibodies and histamines to fight them off. The flu vaccine is recommended to help reduce the risk of getting sick, but it’s even more important for people who suffer from asthma or other lung conditions.

“There’s no reason for people with allergies to suffer,” Dr. Rosenstreich said. “As long as you take the proper precautions, you should be able to enjoy the beautiful fall weather and make the most of family time in your home.”

----------------------------------------------------------------

Reduce indoor allergens like pollen and dust by cleaning the air you breathe! AllerAir air purifiers for allergies and asthma pollutants remove 99.97%* of airborne dust, particles and the chemicals and odors that other air cleaners leave behind. Connect with us to learn more www.allerair.com.

(*Tests conducted at 0.3 microns)

Can't take another minute of your seasonal allergies? Move to the country say researchers

For the first time ever, researchers from Denmark have demonstrated that exposure to a farming environment may prevent or dampen hypersensitivities and allergies - even in adults.

Adults who move to farming areas where they experience a wider range of environmental exposures than in cities may reduce the symptoms of their hypersensitivities and allergies considerably.

Positive effect on children and adults

Surprisingly, the positive effect on the immune system is seen both in people who have lived in urban environments and in adults who were born and raised in farming areas. But the real surprise is that the effect is not only seen in children:

“Previously, the assumption was that only persons who had lived in farming areas while growing up would benefit from the environment’s protective effect on the immune system. But now we can demonstrate that it’s not too late simply because you are an adult,” says postdoc Grethe Elholm.

It is, in other words, possible to affect the immune system and thereby the hypersensitivity which may cause allergy and allergic asthma, and what is more, this can be done at a much later point in life than previously assumed.

Closer to preventing allergies

This knowledge is now bringing researchers closer to discovering how to prevent allergies. The assumption is that the absence of environmental exposure does not protect against hypersensitivity. In fact, living in an environment with a much higher level of environmental exposure than you are used to can actually be good for your health. In general, exposure to the farming environment dampens the entire immune response to the environment because it stimulates the immune system.

“We cannot, however, simply recommend that people who suffer from allergies and hypersensitivities move to farms. Because they may also suffer from lung diseases such as asthma and would therefore become more ill due to the high concentrations of dust and particles found in stables and in agriculture in general,” stresses Grethe Elholm.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air purifiers for allergies and asthma pollutants.

Can't move to the country to improve your allergies? AllerAir air purifiers remove 99.97% of airborne
dust, particles and the chemicals and odors that other air cleaners leave behind.Connect with us to learn more www.allerair.com.

Protein explains increased asthma severity in children exposed to traffic pollution

A new study shows that exposure to diesel exhaust particles from traffic pollution leads to increased asthma severity in children. Moreover, the study finds that this is due to increased blood levels of IL-17A, a protein associated with several chronic inflammatory diseases, in children with high diesel exposure.

The study by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

The research, conducted in mice and in humans, showed that neutralizing IL-17A prevented airway inflammation. Neutralization of IL-17A "may be a useful potential therapeutic strategy to counteract the asthma-promoting effects of traffic-related air pollution, especially in highly exposed, severe allergic asthmatics," says Gurjit Khurana Hershey, MD, PhD, director of asthma research at Cincinnati Children's and senior author of the study.

Dr. Hershey and her colleagues studied 235 children and teens with asthma. The researchers plotted each person's primary address and estimated their diesel exposure attributable to traffic based on where they lived. The researchers also studied mice exposed to diesel particles and dust mites, a common household allergen.

In children with asthma, diesel exposure was associated with more frequent asthma symptoms and increased IL-17A blood levels. Similarly, exposure to both diesel and dust mites resulted in more severe asthma in mice compared to dust mite exposure alone. When IL-17A was neutralized in mice, it alleviated airway inflammation induced by diesel exposure.

"Blocking IL-17A may be a useful strategy to counteract the effects of traffic-related air pollution, especially in highly exposed allergic asthmatic children," says Dr. Hershey.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you asthmatic? Reduce your exposure to airborne pollutants by improving your indoor air quality. AllerAir air purifiers for allergens and asthma triggers remove 99.97% of fine particles and the chemicals and odors that other air cleaners leave behind. Connect with us at www.allerair.com.