Hyposensitization to hay fever

Hyposensitization at best starting from autumn

23/08/2011

This year's hay fever season is coming to an end and millions of allergy sufferers throughout Germany can breathe freely for months now for the first time. Experts of the German Allergy and Asthma Association now point out in a recent communication that autumn is the best time for a so-called hyposensitization.

Hyposensitization aims to remedy the causes of hay fever, so that those affected will ideally no longer be allergic to the pollens of the various plants after therapy. In the context of hyposensitization, allergy sufferers receive regular injections of exactly those substances that have been diagnosed as the cause of hay fever. By continuously increasing the administered doses, the sensitivity of the body to the allergenic pollen should be reduced and, in the best case, the hay fever should be corrected in the long term. The fall is, according to the experts, particularly good for the beginning of such a therapy, since there are hardly any pollen in the air at that time.

Use autumn time for hyposensitization
According to the German Allergy and Asthma Association, hay fever patients considering hyposensitization should start therapy in the fall. Because at this time of year the pollen load of the air is particularly low. Depending on the weather in December or January are the „Early flowering plants such as hazelnut or alder“ Already active again, said the biologist of the German Allergy and Asthma Federation, Anja Schwalfenberg. Then, according to the expert, the birch flowering time between „End of March and beginning of May“, so that only a relatively small time window remains without pollen. If they are interested in hyposensitization, they should use this time to start therapy, Schwalfenberg said. At best, the hay fever patients are immune to the original allergy triggers after completing the multi-year therapy and can henceforth also live through the pollen season without any complaints, explained Anja Schwalfenberg. According to the German Allergy and Asthma Federation, the hyposensitization could redeem millions of hay fever patients in this country from their suffering. The costs for this take over the health insurance.

Treatment method of hyposensitization
In the context of hyposensitization, the hay fever patient is given those substances that trigger the allergy to them. The hyposensitization is usually designed for a period of three years, in which the affected every four to eight weeks, a continuously increasing dose of the allergy triggers get administered, said the expert of the German Allergy and Asthma Association. By slowly increasing the dosage, the body can gradually get used to the allergy triggers and „Ideally this relieves the symptoms well and reduces the risk that allergic asthma develops from the pollen allergy“, Anja Schwalfenberg told the news agency „DAPD“. As a rule, the allergy triggers are injected under the skin, but the patients can also take the active ingredients in drops or tablets, Schwalfenberg continues. The inclusion on the oral mucosa have „the advantage that you can perform the therapy at home, for example, if a syringe therapy for lack of time for the doctor's appointments is not possible“, stressed the allergy expert. If hyposensitization is successful, patients can end up living the summer without constantly watery eyes, runny noses and irritating cough, Schwalfenberg emphasized.

Hyposensitization protects against hay fever and reduces the risk of asthma
Also Michael Barczok, pulmonologist and allergist from the pulmonary center Ulm and board member of the German Pulmonary Association told the news agency „DAPD“, that in his opinion a hyposensitization makes perfect sense, since this „not just the risk of asthma developing from a pollen allergy,“ It also reduces the risk of other allergies. According to the pulmonologist, successful hyposensitization may protect patients from hay fever throughout their lives, and the chances of successful treatment are particularly high if allergy is present. Already at the beginning of this year's pollen season, the allergist and specialist in pulmonary and bronchial medicine, Dr. med. Wolfram Feußner, pointed out the benefits of hyposensitization. This could offer significant advantages, especially in hay fever patients who only respond to individual allergens and still have good lung function. Feußner at the beginning of the year. In patients with so-called cross-allergies (people who suffer from hay fever and food allergies, for example), hyposensitization is much more difficult, according to Michael Barczok.

Cross-allergies complicate the treatment
In patients with cross-allergy, successful hyposensitization is only possible if it is clearly possible to determine in advance which substance causes the most severe symptoms and which major and secondary allergies are present, said pulmonologist Barczok. On the basis of a blood test can be determined in advance of the therapy, how high the chances of success of hyposensitization are, so Barczok on. However, allergologists lead anyway „routine“ such a test, „because the immunization process - which is paid by the way by the statutory health insurance - is ultimately consuming and also expensive“, emphasized the board member of the German Pulmonary Association. Hyposensitization is recommended especially for young patients, as it not only attenuates existing allergies, but also prevents new allergies, Barczok explained. Hyposensitization could be used from school age. However, according to the pulmonary specialist, there should be three essential requirements for the use of the treatment method: the allergens must be known, the patients have no opportunity to avoid the allergens in everyday life and hyposensitization is proven as a safe, successful treatment method for the corresponding allergens.

Criticizing the hyposensitization
While current reporting tends to focus on the benefits of hyposensitization, critics see significant weaknesses in the treatment approach. Above all the expenditure of time and the threatening side effects are mentioned here as criticisms of hyposensitization. Although the side effects are rather rare, in the worst case threaten considerable health impairments, such as anaphylactic shocks. The temporal effort is to be criticized from the point of view of the critics, since the human organism sets itself again in the course of life several times and this could also be the case in the course of the multi-year therapy. In naturopathy, the therapists are therefore more likely to resort to measures such as relaxation procedures, magnetic field / bioresonance procedures, autologous blood therapies, herbal therapies, self-suggestion, acupuncture and homeopathy to remedy the causes of hay fever. (Fp)

Also read:
Pollen allergy & hay fever
Attention: The Ambrosia pollens bloom
Warning about Ambrosia pollen
Ambrosia: World's strongest pollen allergen
Ambrosia leads to many cross allergies

Picture credits: Thomas Blenkers