Hay Fever News and Research

RSS

Hay fever (pollen allergy) is one of the most common kinds of allergies. About 35 million Americans suffer from hay fever. Pollen is made by trees, grasses, and weeds. During the spring, summer, and fall some plants release pollen into the air you breathe. Your symptoms might be different at different times of the year. It all depends on the kinds of plants that grow where you live and what allergies you have.

Study: Pregnant women need to avoid antibiotics to prevent asthma development in children

Getting sick when you're pregnant is especially difficult, but women whose children are at risk for developing asthma should avoid antibiotics, according to a new study.

4 Mar 2015

New article shows how marijuana can act as an allergen

Growing up, you may have been given reasons for not smoking marijuana. What you may not have heard is that marijuana, like other pollen-bearing plants, is an allergen which can cause allergic responses.

4 Mar 2015

Experts recommend sublingual immunotherapy for treatment of allergic rhinitis

Sublingual immunotherapy is one of several state-of-the-science treatments for allergic rhinitis, or "hay fever," being recommended by a panel of experts in a new guideline published Feb. 2, 2015, by the American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery Foundation.

3 Feb 2015

Study: New flooring can increase risk of respiratory diseases in infants

New flooring in the living environment of pregnant women significantly increases the risk of infants to suffer from respiratory diseases in their first year of life. This is the result of a study carried out by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the "St Georg" Municipal Hospital, which demonstrates that exposure to volatile organic compounds in the months before and after birth induces breathing problems in early childhood .

16 Dec 2014

Exposure to indoor air pollution affects children's lungs

Children with asthma and hay fever often struggle with their breathing. Add secondhand smoke, kerosene and biomass fuel to the mix and allergy and asthma symptoms increase.

7 Nov 2014

Dry roasted peanuts more likely to trigger allergy risk

Dry roasted peanuts are more likely to trigger an allergy to peanuts than raw peanuts, suggests an Oxford University study involving mice.

22 Sep 2014

Researchers aim to safely and quickly suppress food allergies in human

In mice, the answer appears to be "yes," but making sure the same can happen in humans is a task that Fred Finkelman, MD, professor of medicine and pediatrics in the University of Cincinnati's (UC) College of Medicine and a researcher at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, is attempting to tackle.

9 Sep 2014

Reforestation can reduce ragweed pollen that triggers hay fever

When it comes to controlling hay fever-triggering ragweed plants on Detroit vacant lots, occasional mowing is worse than no mowing at all, and promoting reforestation might be the best solution.

18 Jun 2014

Type I interferons can block development of allergy- and asthma-driving Th2 cells

A mechanism that could underlie the development of cells that drive asthma and allergies has been uncovered by immunology researchers at UT-Southwestern Medical Center.

17 Jun 2014

AeraMax air purifiers reduce exposure to allergens

The true scale of the allergy epidemic is revealed in the British Airborne Allergy Report commissioned by air purification specialists Fellowes, in association with national charity Allergy UK.

11 Jun 2014

Scientists develop new nasal filter that helps people with nasal symptoms from seasonal hay fever

A small filter the size of a contact lens could possibly make life easier for some of the estimated 500 million people worldwide who suffer from itching, sneezing and a runny nose as soon as the pollen season starts.

10 Mar 2014

Mother's illness, allergen exposure during pregency may predict child's risk of asthma and allergy

Women that are pregnant may want to take extra precaution around those that are sniffling and sneezing this winter. According to a new study published today, the more common colds and viral infections a woman has during pregnancy, the higher the risk her baby will have asthma.

4 Feb 2014

FDA to make recommendations on safety of oral tablets used to treat ragweed allergy symptoms

There is more to seasonal allergies than a little congestion and sneezing. If you notice eating watermelon, cantaloupe or avocado make you cough and itch, it may be a symptom of ragweed allergy. But more help might be on the way for some of the 23 million hay fever sufferers.

24 Jan 2014

Low gut microbial diversity in infants' intestines can increase risk for asthma

Low gut microbial diversity in the intestines of infants can increase the risk for asthma development. These are the findings of the age 7 follow-up in a multi-year study led by researchers at Linköping University in Sweden.

7 Jan 2014

Early antibiotic use linked to asthma, not atopy

Research from the UK has found a “robust and dose-dependent” association between antibiotic use in the first 2 years of life and subsequent asthma at the age of 7 and a half years.

11 Dec 2013

Longer looks: Providing dental care in rural Alaska; the after-effects of the ICU; cure for allergies

Aniak, Alaska, is a Yu'pik village of 500 people on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, about 400 miles northwest of Anchorage. It is in this special and isolated community where I practice as a dental therapist, trained and certified to deliver some, but not all, types of dental care. Dental therapists have been practicing in Alaska for nine years and now provide routine dental care to 40,000 Native Alaskans. In the United States about forty-seven million people live in areas where there is a shortage of dentists, and millions more can't afford to see them. For so many Americans, even the most basic dental care is out of reach. Yet right here in Alaska, I think we've found part of the solution (Conan Murat, November, 2013).

28 Nov 2013

Probiotic drink changes reaction of cells lining nasal passages of hay fever sufferers

A study has shown that a daily probiotic drink changed how cells lining the nasal passages of hay fever sufferers reacted to a single out-of-season challenge. However, it did not lead to significant changes in hay fever symptoms, although this challenge test may not have accurately represented natural allergen exposure.

27 Nov 2013

Researchers find that hay fever and allergies make migraines worse

People with migraine who also battle allergies and hay fever (rhinitis) endure a more severe form of headaches than their peers who struggle with migraine, but aren't affected by the seasonal or year-round sniffles, according to researchers from the University of Cincinnati, Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Vedanta Research.

26 Nov 2013

Study: Hay fever more prevalent in children living in southeastern and southern states

If you think your child's stuffy nose is due to an autumn cold, you might want to consider allergies, especially if you live in the southern region of the United States. A study being presented this week at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) found hay fever is more prevalent in children living in the southeastern and southern states.

8 Nov 2013

Oral allergy syndrome sufferers with hypertension may be at increased risk for severe reaction

Oral allergy syndrome sufferers that take high blood pressure medications may experience extreme facial swelling and difficulty breathing the next time they bite into a juicy apple.