Treatment of allergic rhinitis

(Dr. Gao Zhenhua, Director of Luwan Branch, Ruijin Hospital, Affiliated with Shanghai Second Medical University)

Allergic rhinitis is a common allergic disease, affecting at least 30 million people in China every year. Allergic rhinitis is divided into perennial and seasonal categories. The former can have symptoms of varying weight within a year, the latter has a fixed season, mainly in spring or summer and autumn, caused by pollen, spring pollen disease is mostly caused by tree pollen, and summer and autumn pollen disease is mostly caused by grass and grass pollen.

Allergic rhinitis has four typical symptoms: itchy nose, sneezing, flushy snot and nasal congestion. These symptoms can cause inconvenience to patients, especially nasal congestion. Nasal plugs can be intermittent or persistent, manifested as one-sided or two-sided, often heavier at night, some patients may have a reduced sense of smell or lack. Long-term face changes (dementia-like face) can be caused by nasal congestion patients who often exhibit open mouth breathing. Nasal congestion can also cause facial venous reflux to be blocked, causing dark circles to form in the lower eyelids on both sides. For patients with asthma symptoms, the exacerbation of rhinitis symptoms is often a pioneering manifestation of asthma attacks.

Can allergic rhinitis be cured? For allergic diseases, the first priority should avoid allergens, but in fact, the original allergy in the environment is not easy to detect or difficult to completely avoid, and the patient's allergy is more related to genetics, so it is more difficult to cure. However, by adopting the correct treatment method, the patient's condition can be controlled, to achieve no significant symptoms, no complications of the ideal therapeutic effect.

In terms of medication, effective and safe anti-allergy drugs are preferred. The older generation of anti-allergy drugs such as paracetamol, Ketamine and so on, although help to alleviate symptoms, but need to take the drug several times a day, and there are obvious drowsiness, drowsiness and other adverse reactions.

- Excerpted from Popular Medicine No.9 P71, 2004