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2020-10-09 14:20:26
Dr. Liu, otorhinolaryngologist specialist at Shanghai
Jiahui International hospital kindly accepted to answer our questions about allergies and give us some tips to overcome allergic rhinitis.
Allergy is a hypersensitive disorder of the immune
system. It means your body has overreactions to allergens. There are four types
of allergic reactions and among them, allergic rhinitis is type I.
The first time a person is exposed to a type of
allergens, the body does not show any allergic symptoms. However, B cells in
your immune system will produce corresponding specific antibodies, called IgE. When you encounter this unique allergen again, it will
combine with IgE, leading to extensive mass cell degranulation, releasing a
variety of transmitters, and therefore resulting to a series of allergic
reactions.
Actually, we cannot prevent or cure allergies. What we
can do is to prevent or control the allergic reactions. Patients usually feel
like their allergies are gone when they do not experience any symptoms.
Due to China’s vast territory, seasonal allergies vary
from locations. Different regions have different allergens. The best way to
protect yourself is to first do an allergen test.
By doing so, it can exactly tell you what kind of
allergens you are allergic to. After knowing the allergen types, you can choose
to avoid them physically in order to prevent allergic reactions. Wearing masks
or avoiding areas with high concentrations of the specific allergen can be
helpful.
Sneezing, runny nose, itchy nose and nasal
obstructions will be presented. Some severe cases may company with other
symptoms like asthma, itchy eyes and skin lesions.
A multi-centre study shows that in 2011, the
prevalence rate of allergic rhinitis in China is 17.6%. This number shows that
every 1 of 5 person in China will have allergic rhinitis.
Fig. 1 - Comparisons
of the prevalence of self-reported Allergic Rhinitis in 11 major cities in China between 2005
and 2011 according to the study by Wang et al.
At Shanghai JIAHUI International hospital, we have 4
different methods for coping with allergic rhinitis:
1. Physically keeping the allergens away from your body.
Firstly, use a nasal mucosal blocker. Other than
wearing masks or moving away from certain areas, nasal mucosal blockers have
been largely used because they can create a physical film to prevent allergens
from being inhaled in