Your natural spring survival guide for allergy sufferers

Spring is here! And although that usually brings pure joy to some people with the warmer weather and beautiful blooms, it can send the 3 million of us that are hay fever sufferers into a sneezing frenzy just thinking about it.

What happens for allergy sufferers is shortly after the mucus membranes in the upper respiratory tract come into contact with the allergen whether that is pollen, grasses, dust mites or mould, is the immune system misbehaves by producing antibodies which gear up to attack what should be a harmless particle.

What happens next is the mast cells release histamine which is what causes all the troublesome symptoms like sneezing, coughing, itchy watery eyes all of which is called allergic rhinitis. Fun huh?

So how can we help reduce the severity and soothe the symptoms short of wearing a hazmat suit?

 

References:

Moyer. N, Healthline article “Mast Cell activation Syndrome”, May 2019

Hay fever: Overview, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279488/, April 2020.

Asica website, “Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever)”, https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/allergic-rhinitis-hay-fever-and-sinusitis/allergic-rhinitis-or-hay-fever, April 2019