European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 8, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse New drugs offer Relief to Hay fever sufferers by Daniel q. Haney associated press a bout this time each year Tho immune systems of millions of americana run cruel and ironic mix up occurs. Tri internal that s supposed to keep them healthy makes them sick. They drip and sniffle. They wheeze. They sneeze. They itch in places that they can Only fantasize about scratching. They have what s sometimes known As allergic rhinitis a quaintly autumnal Catarrh. To most everyone however it s Hay fever the seasonal allergy hat s a f at worse evil irian its mildly whimsical name suggests. As Only these victims of nature can appreciate the disease has the Power to reduce Strong men and women to eviscerated shells sad shadows of their once Peppy selves in the grim pollen choked Days of september it May even set the mind to wondering whether Lite is realty Worth living. There is no easy cure for Hay fever. But Over the Pas couple of years three new kinds of drugs have been introduce to thai provide merciful escape from the symptoms. And Unoko Many of Medicine s earlier answers to Hay fever these treatments Are not worse than the disease. In fact or. Michael Kaliner chief of the allergic diseases Section of the National Institute of allergic and infectious diseases can now make a statement hat he says would have been unrealistic just two years ago people should not have to suffer. Propel use of the drugs we have today should control essentially everybody s syrup loss. There s been dramatic the new drugs Are Meldane a form of Anli histamine and two kinds of nose sprays nasal rom and topical steroids. All of them. In different ways Lake the punch Oul of histamine the natural body secretion a gals of of whack during allergy time. Hay lever is an allergy to pollen. It afflicts roughly 20 million americans. In the Centra and Eastern pans of he country ragweed is the bid offender in the late summer and fall. But people Are also allergic to grass and Trees in the Spring and Early summer. Virtually everywhere in the country something blooms to mane people sneeze. It s no different in Europe. However Hay Faver certainly in t the Only allergy. An equal number Are thought o be Aser Gic to cats Dusl insects medicines holds foods or feathers among Tola of other things. In All of these allergies. The body s immune system identifies some harmless intruder As a danger and opens War. The real i Lemal troublemaker la an antibody called Immunoglobulin a or Ige. This antibody was t Woven in of the body s chemistry simply to Maxe folks miserable. It s useful Lor warding off parasitic infections. But people with allergies have too much of in. Here s what happens with Tols of Ige floating around thousands of the antibody molecules Slick to the surface of Mast cells. These cells line the skin. Nose Throat and other parts of the body. Trouble starts when an allergen appears on the scene. An allergen is anything thai causes an allergy. For a Hay lever sufferer in might be a few innocuous grains of ragweed pollen. The allergen combines Wilh the Ige. This reaction in turn slim Lalas the Mast cells to manufacture a burst of chemicals among these secretions is Hislam inc. Plata Mem make people feel Rotten. It swells the blood vessels and makes them leak. It inflames the skin and tightens the air passages it makes the Corners of the eyes itch. The symptoms Range in severity from annoying to disabling. It s always said that people who Don t have allergies really can t appreciate them Kaliner says those of us who have allergies recognize that they la ruin your imagine having a nose hat runs constantly a cold that never seems to go away. People with allergies often make funny clicking noises Wilh their tongues in a hopeless Effort to scratch their tickling throats. They have a powerful urge to Jam their fingers into their eyes to quell the awful itch. Some run a Low lever. They Are says or. Albert Shelfer allergy chief at Brigham and women s Hospital in Boston. They have a general feeling of malaise. The itching is bad enough. The Lack of sleep is terrible. 8u the Lack of motivation the Lack of fee Fig Well makes them think they Are the first Fine of defense against allergies has Long been and still is Anthis Lamones. For Many seasonal sufferers the kind available Over the counter do a Fine of of keeping the nose Clear. Bui some people refuse to take them because they make them sleepy. The new prescription form of this drug known As Meldane Orter Venadine. Is not most powerful available but it has 0 unique property it does t Cross from the bloodstream into the brain. So ii does t make people tired. Atlhia Tantone interfere with histamines once there released. Another and entirely new approach to treating allergies is a kind of Medicine that stops Mast cents from making histamine and owner chemicals. This drug is a prescription nose Spray matted nasal rom or Cro Molyn. Nasal com is slow to have an effect once allergy symptoms begin. But if people use the Spray Dally before their miseries Start they May be Able to Ward off Hay fever symptoms entirety. Trie stuff does t make people feel run Down or Cany other noticeable Side effects. However probably the biggest Advance of All says Kaliner is Spray on steroids which he says have revolutionized the treatment of Hay fever. Cortisone like drugs have Long been used for severe allergies. But when they circulate throughout the body hey can cause dangerous Side ef1ec s. The new prescription sprays deliver Liny amounts of steroids dire Cuy to the irritated tissues where they soothe the inflammation. Any of the drug that reaches the bloodstream la quickly removed. Doctors believe they can be used safely through the entire Hay Ever season. Since the new drugs All work in different ways they can also be combined effectively to Brunt tha body s overreaction to Sofea our experience Kaliner says is that every patient with alter git it Vinitia can be adequately controlled with Pago 16 the stars and stripes monday septembers 1986
