House dust mites For allergy sufferers, high season starts

House dust mites torment allergy sufferers

15/11/2014

When allergic complaints, many people first think of a pollen allergy and hay fever. But often the symptoms like cold and sneeze are based on a house dust allergy. Allergic reactions are caused by the feces of dust mites. With the beginning of winter the hardest time starts for those affected.

Dust mite droppings provide reactions
Runny nose, stuffy nose, sneezing attacks: Allergic complaints quickly lead to pollen allergy and hay fever. But behind the symptoms may also be a house dust allergy. The allergic reactions go back to the feces of dust mites. In addition to the common cold, this can cause symptoms such as coughing or swollen, watery and itchy eyes among allergy sufferers. In some cases, an itchy itchy skin rash is associated with the allergy. Even if sufferers suffer all year round from the complaints, the problem can increase with the onset of the cold months.

Years often go by until diagnosis
It can often take a long time for house dust allergy sufferers to find out the causes of their complaints. „On average, seven to nine years pass before patients receive a diagnosis“, Uwe Berger from the Aerobiology and Pollen Information Research Group at the ENT Clinic of the Med-Uni Vienna explained to the Austrian „default“. To change this, Berger and his colleagues have developed both an Internet platform and an app for smartphones to help those affected to recognize their medical problem. If the allergy remains untreated, long term chronic asthma may develop. Therefore, "early diagnosis in childhood or adolescence is so important to improve the chances of recovery of patients".

Winter begins is the hardest time for house dust allergy sufferers
The tiny arachnids live mainly in mattresses, upholstered furniture, carpets or stuffed animals and are especially in the period from May to October particularly willing to mate. When the heating season starts, the humidity decreases and as a result, the mites die and accumulate millions of times in the dust. Therefore, the beginning of winter for house dust allergy sufferers is also the hardest time, like the „default“ writes. The allergens reach the mucous membranes of the eyes and nose via the respiratory air. In house dust allergy sufferers, the immune system reacts hypersensitive to these proteins and sends histamine into the race, which leads to the unpleasant allergic reactions such as runny nose, cough and shortness of breath.

Therapy consists of three pillars
„In the EU, 113 million people have an allergic rhinitis, 68 million have allergic asthma. 20 to 30 percent of the population suffer from an allergy, in Austria 2.5 million people are affected, including pollen allergy sufferers“, said Otto Spranger, spokesman for the Austrian Lung Union, the „default“ According. The expert sees a need for action, both during training in medical studies, as well as in the training of general practitioners and other physicians. The therapy is based on three pillars: „Avoid allergens, relieve symptoms and combat causes“, lung specialist Felix Wantke, medical director of the Floridsdorfer Allergiezentrums (FAZ).

Medications and hyposensitization
If a house dust allergy is diagnosed on the one hand drugs for symptom relief as well as the possibility of a specific immunotherapy (SIT), the so-called hyposensitization, available, through which the body loses its hypersensitivity over the years. „We hardly see any patients who come back to us after this therapy“, said Reinhart Jarisch, Deputy Head of FAZ. The experts also have great hopes for a desensitization therapy in tablet form, which will come on the market in one to two years.

Ventilate rooms and keep them dry
Basically, sufferers should provide for a mites and allergens poor living space. For example, by not only use mite-resistant mattresses, beds and bedding, and - as the German Allergy and Asthma Association recommends - make sure to ventilate all rooms always good and dry and in the house on dust traps (such as open Bookcases, many pillows or stuffed animals). The association also points out on its website that cuddly toys by a „visit“ could be freed of mites in the freezer. Otto Spranger of the Lungenunion said he has never experienced that certain forms of dieting, as sometimes recommended, would be beneficial. However, allergy sufferers should avoid crustaceans such as lobsters, clams or shrimp, as these contain the same protein as the mite animals themselves and could also trigger an allergic reaction. (Ad)