Don't treat rhinitis as a cold

(Professor Li Yunzhu, Ruijin Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Second Medical University)

At the turn of spring and summer, the weather is sometimescold and sometimeshot, the temperature difference between day and night is large, many people are frequently troubled by allergic rhinitis and colds. Because of their similar clinical performance, people often confuse the two.

Allergic rhinitis and cold will have nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose and other symptoms, how to distinguish between the two? In addition to runny nose, sneezing and other symptoms, usually accompanied by sore throat, cough, severe fever, headache, body aches and even nausea, diarrhea. Symptoms of allergic rhinitis are concentrated in the nose, mainly in the nose itch, nasal congestion, snot and sneezing, usually in the morning when you get up, sneezing, or even a dozen at a time. Patients with higher rhinitis also get up in the morning with a cough or sputum cough, which is caused by a runny nose that flows backwards into the throat or trachea during sleep at night, usually without fever, body aches and other symptoms. Allergic rhinitis occurs rapidly and improves rapidly, especially in patients with certain seasonal seizures, and of course some patients may often have symptoms, manifested as perennial seizures. In addition, the causes of the two are not the same. Colds are mostly caused by cold, overworked, or viral infections such as rhinoviruses, allergic rhinitis is exposed to the natural environment of pollen, dust, or cold air stimulation induced, allergic to the body of people prone to occur.

Patients suffering from rhinitis should also pay attention to the usual health care, as little exposure to allergens, such as flowers, dust, pets, smoke, often vacuum cleaning, or before sweeping the floor to spray water, to keep the room clean.

- Excerpted from Popular Medicine No.5 P61, 2005