Health Issues is a general health based blog concentrating on multiple health topics. » Allergies

MEDICATIONS FOR PREVENTION OF ALLERGIC RHINITIS: NASALCROM NASAL SOLUTION

admin — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:12:13 +0000

Nasalcrom Nasal Solution is the only form in which cromolyn sodium is available for use in the nose, and it is distributed only by prescription. It is formulated to deliver 5.2 milligrams of cromolyn sodium per spray and comes in 13 milliliter and 26 milliliter bottles. The smaller bottle delivers about 100 sprays; the larger delivers approximately 200 sprays. In general, the larger bottle is a better buy in terms of cost per spray.
The recommended dose is as follows: Adults and children older than six years can take one spray in each side of the nose 3 to 4 times a day. If needed, the dose may be increased to 6 times a day. However, many physicians recommend a larger beginning dose: two sprays on each side of the nose 4 times a day.
Like most products that are unique, cromolyn sodium is expensive. You would do well to shop around for the best price before getting your prescription filled. There is only one Nasalcrom Nasal Solution, and no generic equivalent, so quality will not suffer in your attempt to get the best price.
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POLLENS CAUSING ALLERGIC RHINITIS: TREE AND GRASS POLLENS

admin — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 10:11:37 +0000

Tree Pollens
There are more than 50,000 species of trees worldwide. Some 600 to 700 of these are native to North America, but only the pollen from about 65 of these has been shown to cause allergic rhinitis. As you would expect, the trees causing symptoms are those most commonly found around and within inhabited areas.
Tree pollens generally show little cross reactivity: that is, in general, you must develop an allergy to each specific tree pollen in order for it to cause symptoms. However, there are two tree families that are exceptions: the family containing the alders, beeches, birches, and oaks, and the family of the junipers and cedars. With respect to these, if you are allergic to the pollen of one member of the family, you will probably experience symptoms from one or more other family members.

Grass Pollens
A grass is any member of the botanical family Gramineae, which contains some 4,500 species. However, the pollens of only a small percentage of the grasses – mostly members of the same subfamily – cause the majority of grass-induced allergic rhinitis. These do so because they are widely distributed and release enormous amounts of pollen into the air each season. These plants are so ubiquitous that none of us is safe from grass pollen anywhere in North America. Even in downtown New York City, you can become sufficiently exposed to grass pollen to develop allergic rhinitis.
Included in the grass family are the cereals (oats, barley, rice, corn, wheat). Most of the cereals have large, heavy pollens that can be carried on air currents only for very short distances, not the miles required of pollens that are going to cause widespread allergic reactions. Hence, grass pollen-allergic people are unlikely to be triggered by pollens from a cereal unless they are in proximity during the cereal’s pollination.
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SYMPTOMS OF FOOD ALLERGY: SLOW REACTIONS

admin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:19:00 +0000

Most people with food intolerance have symptoms that fluctuate from day to day, and there may be periods when they are worse for a while, or better. Changeable factors, such as stress, probably play a part in these fluctuations, by making the patient more or less susceptible to the foods they are eating.

Following an elimination diet, during which the offending foods are withdrawn for a week or more, the reaction time may speed up considerably. If a culprit food is eaten again after this period of avoidance, the reaction is likely to be both more prompt and more severe. In some people there is an almost immediate reaction, such as vomiting, flushing, itching or a sudden flow of mucus from the nose. (However, sudden severe swelling of the lips and tongue – the characteristic symptom of immediate reactions in food allergy -is not seen.)

More puzzling still, the symptoms that appear on testing are not necessarily the same ones that the patient had before. To orthodox doctors, this is a very dubious aspect of food intolerance, and one that puts the whole phenomenon in doubt – it is a fundamental part of the scientific approach to medicine that the same cause should always produce the same effect. However, the common observation with food-intolerant patients is that the symptoms really do vary in some people, especially after abstinence from the food. How this might be explained is not known at present. But given the fact that food intolerance is probably a result of many interacting factors (see Chapter Twelve) then changing symptoms may not be so implausible as they seem at first sight. If changes occur, following exclusion of the food, it may be because one cause of sensitivity is more easily ‘cured’ by avoidance than another. Not eating the food could alter the balance of causative factors, and thus produce a different type of symptom.

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