European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 15, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Summertime health tis the season for sneezing an update on allergies by Gerri Kobren the Baltimore Sun t has been estimated that 14.6 million i americans Are allergic to pollens of one Type or another if you Are one of them your annual season in hell is either upon you or coming soon. As the season goes on you get More and More sensitive a longer season makes everyone More reactive says or Michael Kaliner head of allergic diseases at the National Institute of allergy and infectious diseases in other words the longer it lasts the worse it gets. Quot if you come into Contact with an allergen it does something called priming and when you come into Contact with another allergen or irritant your reaction will be greater Quot says or Lawrence Lichtenstein director of the Johns Hopkins asthma and allergy Center at Francis Scott key medical Center in Baltimore so maybe you re already sneezing and sniffling and walking around with the feeling that your sinuses Are plugged with Cotton. And maybe the cat you live with and love in december has really got you gasping now when the Oak pollen has you primed for other trouble. Or maybe you be escaped so far because you re Only a Little bit allergic Quot each individual patient has a different threshold some Are miserable when the pollen count is 20, and others do not react until it hits 200, says or Lawrence Schieken an allergist with offices in Reisterstown and Annapolis my. It is also possible that the particular kind of tree or grass that sets you off has not started its Fertility dance or the weeds that create a faucet in the Middle of your face Don t do their dirty work until August. On the other hand you might have started in March with symptoms that do not usually Abate until the a weeds die in october. Or you might be reactive All the time indoors As Well As out. Bad As your allergy is it does t have to be As bad As it used to be. Even if you reject the idea of year life a / it it ? Wax us a a Sci a it so is % f % v round allergy shots to reduce your allergic response you might Well find Relief with the recently introduced Oral medicines and nasal sprays. To understand How they work you need to understand How your allergy works allergic people have an oversupply or an Over Active Supply of an immune system component known As Immunoglobulin e. For reasons unknown Ige recognizes your allergens As invaders and creates antibodies against them. Ige antibodies attach themselves to histamine containing Quot Mast cells Quot and to White blood cells known As like detonators they sit on those cells waiting for your allergens. When allergen and antibody meet Mast cells and Basophils spew out histamine and other inflammatory chemicals that make blood vessels swell and leak fluid into your mucus membranes which then become congested. Decongestants constrict the blood vessels and reduce the swelling. But that Sall they do says or. Harry Cantrell an assistant professor of otolaryngology and allergy specialist at the University of Maryland medical system. Quot they do not relieve itchy eyes Post nasal drip sneezing. Some people find that congestion is their main complaint and take them. Most people find antihistamines work antihistamines work before you get congested because they Block the effects of histamine. Quot they work Best if you have them in your system before allergy hits Quot Cantrell says. About 30 generic antihistamines Are in use in Antihistamine medications. But All of them Are not created equal. Histamine itself has functions other than irritating your nose. It also attaches to receptors in your brain and helps keep you Alert. Over the counter antihistamines and some prescription types As Well Block the histamine in your brain As Well As in your nose. Most Antihistamine products come with warnings about the hazards of operating machinery after taking Iii my some allergy sufferers receive desensitization shots them. In recent years however drug manufacturers have found ways to keep antihistamines out of your brain. Two types of these new non sedating antihistamines Are now available by prescription Meldane generic name Terf Nidine and his Manal generic name Aste Mazole. These Are not available in All military medical facilities they Are not Miracle cures. In fact according to Schieken their Antihistamine effect is not much greater than that of some Over the counter products. Quot one can Only expect at Best a 50 percent reduction in symptoms Quot he says. It is possible however that whatever you be been taking in t helping you even by half for reasons unknown different people Are More or less responsive to different drugs. How does a doctor know which one to prescribe or advise Quot the Doc puts patient a on Antihistamine a Quot Lichtenstein says. Quot the reasons that the patient gets s�.r0aches�?T Deer exercise some folks Are allergic to the strange by Lee Siegel associated press Deer can make Hunters sneeze cockroaches often prompt asthmatics to wheeze and exercise can Send joggers into Shock say researchers who study Little known but potentially deadly allergies. There s All kind of weird triggers to allergies Quot said or. Robert k. Bush a University of Wisconsin allergist who studied Deer allergy among Hunters and called it Quot Bambi strikes several studies of unusual often unrecognized allergies were presented at the american Academy of allergy and immunology s annual meeting held recently. The prevalence of such allergies is unknown but the studies suggest they Are probably More common than once thought especially among people with common allergies such As sensitivity to certain kinds of pollen dust and foods. The Academy s president or. Albert Sheffer of Harvard University medical school co authored the largest study to Date of exercise induced allergic Shock which was first recognized in 1969 and is characterized by hives choking or a life threatening drop in blood pressure and loss of consciousness after documenting the allergy in 500 people Sheffer concluded that while the condition is rare Quot its the most common physical allergy Quot even More common than hives induced by heat or cold. The study Analysed 199 people who develop allergic Shock called anaphylaxis when they exercise. Jogging prompted Shock in 71 percent of the patients aerobics in 38 percent dancing in 26 percent and swimming in 17 percent. Many were allergic to certain foods pollen cat Dander aspirin and other painkillers. The cause of exercise allergy is unknown. While exercise induced Shock is life threatening Quot we Page 14 Don t have any evidence anybody died from it Quot Sheffer said. The study of 12 allergic Hunters by Bush and or. David Schroeck Enstein concluded Quot Deer sensitivity May pose a risk to some Hunters Quot who inhale Deer hair or touch the animals hair saliva blood or urine most of the Hunters suffered congestion hives asthma sneezing wheezing Runny noses itchy eyes and swollen eyelids and lips but one was a state Deer checker who went into allergic Shock after cutting his and on a tag he placed on a Deer. The Man recovered a study of 680 asthmatics in Chicago found that 283 were allergic to body parts eggs and fees of in House dust said or Bann Kang head of the medical allergy Section at the University of Kentucky medical Center in Lexington. They usually have very severe intractable asthma she said Quot they have attacks All the the allergy was first identified in new York in 1967, v v a ass v in pc a it ivx1.s1. Vly .y.v. Vav. i a i a my Rell you red a photo not Are not Clear. You have to play around drugs and match the Medicine to the prescription nasal sprays the choices Are r. One Type known generically As Cro Molyn toughens the Walls of Mast cells so that lies can to punch through. Like antihistamines it lest in Advance of an allergy attack. Cro Molyn is Jii Lable As Eye drops. Ther kind with a steroid drug that works where a it without entering the general circulation the inflammation in airways that have already imitated. Lied steroids Are probably the most effective it we be got for allergic rhinitis Quot Lichtenstein f you Are one of the people for whom nothing Jfe liable is effective take heart you might be tag easier in the future As newer drugs become a. Quot there Are a couple of non sedating amines in the wings but none yet approved by id and drug administration Quot Cantrell says. Kan cock Quot Sei cock things Aid. Because Many doctors done to recognize Ach asthma they Only treat symptoms then he patient Back Home where the Home is filled Izerial that May induce asthma attacks again Quot she s said her earlier research found up to half of cans with other allergies also Are sensitive to Cocle Ches Kansiti nation injections can eliminate allergies is House dust and cockroaches but there is no e serum to desensitize people allergic to Deer or t the researchers said. Be prone to develop exercise induced allergic Shock not exercise for at least four to six hours after since exercise allergy often causes symptoms Only Nic foods were consumed Sheffer said. He said Ople also Quot should exercise with another person Cape of recognizing their symptoms and administering n which halts Shock and if they Start to itch Stop a a a the stars and stripes tuesday 15,1990 beware of ticks risk of Lyme disease increases Lyme disease How it is spread a Deer tick attaches to a human and feast on its blood for 12-24 hours before depositing a Corkscrew shaped organism called a Spiro Chete into a capillary. The Spiro Chete not carried by All Deer ticks causes the disease. Removing a tick before the Spiro Chete is deposited can prevent the disease. Peak months for the infection Are june and july. Lyme disease and encephalitis Are two of the More serious illnesses that can be transmitted by ticks. And this season an increase in the tick population in Europe is expected because of the recent mild Winters. Quot there is a greater concern for transmission of these diseases now than in previous years Quot said or. Col Michael Benenson chief of preventive Medicine for 7th medical come in Heidelberg West Germany. While Only a percentage of the ticks May transmit these diseases the risk is greater because of the larger population of the insects. The High risk periods for ticks Are june july and october. The health risks Are especially High in the Eastern bavarian and Black Forest regions of West Germany Benenson said. Although a vaccine has been developed against Lyme disease it has not received approval by the food and drug administration said maj. Gen. Richard t. Travis commander of the 7th medical come and Usa eur surgeon. Quot we Are studying the prevalence of tick borne illnesses and the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine in a test group that is at High risk to tick exposure Quot Travis said. Quot until we Complete the evaluation of our data to recommend action by the Fra we caution soldiers and families to use common sense preventive measures during outdoor to reduce the risk of tick bites Wear clothing that covers the most vulnerable areas of the bodies a the lower extremities a when in wooded areas Benenson said. Quot Don t go Barefoot or Wear sandals. Wear shoes with socks and Long pants tucked in the socks. Try to stay on cleared trails avoid Bushes Check clothing periodically for ticks and use an insect most commercial insect repellents contain Quot deet Quot which repels ticks. A new tick repellent Quot per Manone Quot comes in aerosol form for use on clothing. Make it a habit to Check for ticks especially on children after going into the Woods or Field. The ticks Are quite Small and May be difficult to see. Many people Are not aware they have been bitten by a tick. In addition Benenson cautions that pets should be checked for ticks. Although the tick that carries such illnesses As Lyme disease and encephalitis can infect mammals through bites during its entire lifespan mammals which become infected from tick bites Are not contagious he said. A tick that has attached itself to your skin should be removed As quickly and carefully As possible Benenson said. Quot the safest Way to remove the tick is with tweezers or Small forceps. You should grasp the tick As close to its Mouth As possible and slowly pull upwards Quot he said. The Deer tick about the size of a Small freckle or comma it thrives in wooded and Grassy areas. It is a parasitic creature which feeds on medium sized mammals and humans during its Nymph stage. As infected hosts move from one area to another they carry the ticks and the disease. The ticks Hatch in the Spring and live for two years. Symptoms of the disease Early stages fever headache extreme fatigue stiff neck. A characteristic rash which looks like a Bull s Eye with an expanding red Circle surrounding a lighter area May also develop. Advanced stages visual disturbances facial paralysis tingling and numbness arthritis irregular heartbeat and seizures. How to reduce the risk of infection a Wear Long pants and Long sleeve shirts if possible. Tuck pants into socks and shirt into pants Malimit accessibility to skin. A use insect repellent containing deet on open skin. Spray per Methrine sold As per Manone on clothes particularly pants legs and socks. A Check children and pets for ticks if they be been exposed to infested areas. A remove ticks using tweezers making sure the insect s head is completely removed. Chicago Tribune graphic Benenson does not recommend other methods of removing ticks such As applying gasoline or kerosene because these methods arc More Likely to irritate the tick causing it to spew germs into the skin victims of tick bites should Check the bite area for several weeks to see if a rash forms Benenson said Quot a rash is frequently the first symptom of Lyme disease Quot without treatment sufferers from Lyme disease May experience complications of the heart nervous system or joints most patients do not develop these symptoms if treated Early treatment is with antibiotics symptoms of encephalitis a an inflammation of the brain a Range from headaches fever and abdominal pain to paralysis in severe cases unlike Lyme disease there really is no treatment for tick borne encephalitis because it is a viral illness Benenson said Quot we May be Able to treat some of the symptoms but not the disease per be until we have a vaccine approved by the food and drug administration we must rely on preventive measure to reduce the incidence of tick borne if you Are bitten by a tick and later experience any of the symptoms associated with these diseases you should seek medical care As soon As possible Benenson recommended Quot you should ensure that the medical practitioner knows that you have been recently bitten by a tick. This will assist in proper treatment because the symptoms can resemble other this information was provided by Barbara Slifer Public affairs officer for 7th medical come in Heidelberg West Germany the stars and stripes a a a Page 15
