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It’s allergy season

By Christina Crea

Red eyes, runny noses, wheezing and uncontrollable sneezing are common symptoms of outdoor summer-season allergies.

The allergens that appear during the summer include, but certainly are not limited to, alder, cedar and cottonwood trees as well as ragweed and timothy grass.

Allergies are an abnormal response of someone’s immune system because it reacts to a usually harmless substance from the environment.

Thankfully, not everyone has allergies, but they are inherited.

When one parent has allergies his or her children have a 50 percent chance of having allergies and it jumps to 75 percent if both parents have allergies.

Immunotherapy, also known as allergy shots, is becoming popular in treating people who have severe allergies.

Sheila Springer, 36, Olympia, who has been the Certified Asthma Educator at Northwest Pediatric Center in Centralia for six years, knows all about immunotherapy.

Springer has about 105 immunotherapy patients.

For immunotherapy, shots are given in the arm weekly or monthly for three to five years to increase the patient’s tolerance of allergens. It does not necessarily cure allergies, but it can reduce the sensitivity to them.

A small dose of the liquefied allergen enters the immune system so that, hopefully, over time the body will not see that substance as an enemy anymore.

“Immunotherapy desensitizes the body to the allergen substance and accepts it as a regular thing,” Springer said.

Springer said mixing allergen serums would be bad because it would make the serum so thick that it would be extremely painful to give to patients and some serums cannot be mixed together to work effectively.

It is proven effective for a variety of pollen, insect and dust mite allergens but not for hives or food allergies.

Usually people ages 5-20 receive immunotherapy because the older someone is, the less effective the shots are.

Before patients receive immunotherapy, they take an antihistamine such as Zyrtec, Claritin, Benadryl or Allegra one or two hours prior to prevent Histamines from occurring.

Histamines are substances that try to attach to the cells in the body to irritate them, which is what causes itching, sneezing and runny noses with allergies.

Reducing histamines can also reduce the chance of a severe allergic reaction

called anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis commonly begins with severe itching and redness of the eyes or face and within minutes progresses to swallowing and breathing difficulties, wheezing, abdominal pain, cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, hives, increased heart rate, sudden weakness, a drop in blood pressure and can ultimately lead to unconsciousness and death.

This severe reaction can happen after immunotherapy, exercise or eating allergy-provoking food such as nuts and shellfish.

The only treatment for anaphylaxis is epinephrine by injection.

Epinephrine is a shot that lets adrenaline rapidly reverse the reaction.

Springer has immunotherapy patients that have had an anaphylaxis reaction and have their own epinephrine to administer in case a reaction occurs outside the hospital after their shot.

“If that were to happen, the patient puts the shot in their thigh to reverse the reaction,” Springer said.

Springer said a good candidate for allergy shots are people who have severe allergies, asthma and eczema.

“The same cells found for allergies in the lungs are also in asthma, that is why allergies and asthma are connected,” Springer said. “Allergy cells in the nose can travel down to your lungs and then cause allergic asthma.”

More than 70 percent of people with asthma also suffer from allergic asthma, according to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology statistics.

Allergic asthma is asthma trigged by an allergy.

Asthma is the disease of the branches of the windpipe, which carry air in and out of the lungs, and makes people feel as if they cannot get enough air into their lungs and can make breathing difficult.

Christian Juson, 17, Adna, who is a Running Start student here, knows what it is like to receive immunotherapy.

Even though he has only been on immunotherapy for a few months, he has already noticed a difference.

“It has helped me because I do not have to take as much allergy medicine,” Juson said.

All four of his siblings, two brothers and one sister, receive immunotherapy from Springer.

Juson’s mother has allergies, which proves that even if only one parent has allergies, there is a 50 percent change their children will as well.

And in Juson’s sibling’s cases, they all inherited the allergies.

Allergy and asthma symptoms can easily grow into sicknesses such as pneumonia and bronchitis because asthma and allergies cause people’s lungs chronic inflammation – and since the lungs are already weak, the diseases can attack them more easily.

The only downside of receiving immunotherapy for many people is experiencing anaphylaxis and having to wait 30 minutes in the doctor’s office after the shots.

Immunotherapy patients wait about 10-45 minutes in case an anaphylaxis reaction happens.

“The majority that take immunotherapy show improvements such as no longer being on daily allergy and asthma medicine,” Springer said. “But a couple of my patients have stopped because the anaphylaxis reaction that happened to them scared them.”

Some scientists believe the hygiene hypothesis when it comes to allergies and asthma.

The hygiene hypothesis, which is often presented as “the danger of being too clean,” states that exposure to several varieties of microorganisms and parasites are necessary for a balanced and regulated immune system development.

Since hygiene has improved and antibiotics are taken so often, exposure to potentially harmful substances is not common anymore – and they believe that is why many people have allergies and asthma.

This idea was first proposed by David Strachan in 1989 because he observed that hay fever and eczema, all forms of allergies, were less common in children from larger families who were probably exposed to more infectious substances throughout their lives.

“Parents who are ultra clean are not letting their children’s immune system become as efficient because they are so protected from any kind of bacteria,” Springer said.

Although some people believe in the hygiene hypothesis, there is uncertainty about it.

There is no specific way to prevent allergy symptoms, but some methods could help.

One obvious way is for people to stay away from the specific allergen their allergic to. Yet if you’re allergic to timothy grass, pollen or dust mites, three common allergens, that could be difficult.

Someone’s own house is extremely prone to indoor allergens such as dust mites, mold and animal dander.

Some things people can do in their houses to keep those allergens to a minimum is encasing and washing pillows, blankets and bed linens every week in hot water, encasing the mattress in an allergen barrier, vacuuming weekly, keeping surfaces clean and dry, controlling the humidity level and using an air cleaner to remove airborne allergies.

Those are only some of the steps that can be taken for indoor allergies – and since people live busy lives, it’s hard to follow all and more of those steps.

That’s why immunology is such a key factor in helping people with allergies and asthma – it helps build one’s immune system for particular substances.

Taking daily allergy medicine such as Claritin can also help relieve symptoms, but before taking any kind of medication you should consult your doctor.

It is also important to know how well the lungs are doing when it comes to allergies and asthma.

Measuring the airflow of the lungs can be used with a peak flow meter.

Springer’s immunology patients blow into a peak flow meter before and after immunotherapy to measure the airflow in the lungs.

“The peak flow meter is especially important for people with asthma because if it measures to low, I don’t want to give them an immunotherapy shot,” Springer said.

Springer can also relate to her immunotherapy patients.

“I received immunotherapy when I was 12, 13 and 14 years old and now I have no allergies,” Springer said.

Springer has always worked with children and enjoys helping people.

She has been a counselor, social worker, registered nurse and now an asthma educator.

Since every person is different, working with an asthma specialist such as Springer can help determine the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of allergies and asthma.

For more information on allergies and asthma visit the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology at .

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