Bad advice on hayfever in pharmacies

Hay fever patients are poorly advised in pharmacies

09/05/2011

Hay fever patients are given insufficient advice in the pharmacy. Not only that usually the indications of a required visit to a doctor is omitted, also the wrong preparations are often recommended, so the result of a study of the „NDR“.

According to the German Allergy and Asthma Federation, a visit to the doctor or allergist is urgently recommended for hay fever, as asthma may be the cause of the condition. But many Germans go in the current hay fever high season rather in the pharmacy than doctor. There they can get advice from the pharmacist and then cover themselves with appropriate hay fever preparations. However, the advice often leaves much to be desired and the drugs sold can only help in the fewest cases that the symptoms of hay fever decline, the consumer and business magazine said „market“.

Advising the pharmacist with hay fever insufficient
Subjects in the local pharmacies have subjects from the magazine „market“ always the same typical symptoms of hay fever, such as itchy eyes, dripping nose and regular cough, described. According to the German Allergy and Asthma Association, the pharmacists should urgently recommend a visit to a doctor in order to rule out the onset of asthma as the cause of the symptoms. However, the advice to see a doctor gave only 40 percent of pharmacists, although they should be well aware of the risk of asthma, the result of the „market“-Investigation. Instead, the pharmacists sold their customers numerous preparations to alleviate the symptoms. Each examined pharmacy recommended the test customer thereby different active substances, in order to tackle against the hay fever complaints. From nasal spray, to eye drops, to lozenges, the pharmacists' recommended repertoire was enough, but the effect of some recommendations appears, according to Drs. Kristine Breuer, allergologist at the Dermatologikum Hamburg, opposite the „NDR“ more than questionable. So would Breuer of „Lozenges, which are used in colds with cough suppressant effect, expect no benefit“. Besides, be the cough „Expression of an allergic reaction of the deep respiratory tract“ and there could be a wrong treatment „Of course, it can also be dangerous“, warned the allergist.

Education of hay fever patients neglected for business interest?
Ursula Wens of the consumer center Hamburg emphasized to the „NDR“-Magazine that it „Worrying (if) pharmacists do not properly educate patients.“ Dr. Kristine Breuer recommends the supposed hay fever patients with irritated cough necessarily consult a doctor or allergist and resort to cortisone-containing nasal spray and antihistamine tablets in otherwise severe hay fever complaints. However, a recommendation was made by only one of the tested pharmacy. Instead, the pharmacists advised the use of a variety of freely salable products, apparently not without interest in their own businesses, as well as the „NDR“ suggest differences in price in the individual pharmacies. In the case of over-the-counter medicines, the magazine stopped „market“ Price differences of up to five euros for the same preparations. However, the Federal Association of German Pharmacist Associations (ABDA) did not want to comment on how these are explained. The ABDA has despite demand of „NDR“ to the results of the current research so far no position taken.

Protective measures during the hay fever season
Hay fever patients who already have an appropriate diagnosis can, according to experts such as Dr. med. Wolfram Feußner, allergist and specialist for lung and bronchial medicine from Kassel, in addition to the common medicines also resort to some relatively simple preventive measures to relieve their symptoms. Thus, the windows of the apartment should remain closed during the day and be ventilated only at night or after the rain to keep the pollen load in their own four walls as low as possible. Street clothes, should be kept in a separate room us not be taken into the bedroom. Hair washing is appropriate prior to going to the shawl, and regular purging of the face can significantly reduce pollen load. Nasal douches may also help to clear the nose of pollen. The rather unconventional tip from Dr. However, Wolfram Feußner's hay-fever protection is: Rub the nose inside with a little Vaseline and gargle with a little cooking oil after getting up. The idea behind this is to bind the pollen and thus reduce the allergic reactions.

Treatment of hay fever causes
Anyone who no longer wishes to combat the symptoms of hay fever but its causes can use conventional medicine to treat hypo-sensitization to allergic reactions. In the process, the immune system is accustomed to the allergy triggers over a period of three to five years with small doses, so that in the end no allergic reactions occur in the successful course of therapy. The extremely long treatment period is for many hay fever patients, however, still rather daunting. As an alternative to orthodox hyposensitization, numerous measures are applied in natural medicine that also address the causes of hay fever. For example, far reaching treatment success has already been achieved with herbal therapies, relaxation procedures, magnetic field / bioresonance procedures, autologous blood therapies as well as self-suggestion, acupuncture and homeopathy. If the symptoms of hay fever do not disappear in the course of naturopathic therapy, allergy sufferers should consult a doctor, as according to the German Allergy and Asthma Association the allergic reactions to the lungs and bronchi can pass over and an untreated hay fever can cause asthma in the worst case. (Fp)

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Treat allergies with Chinese medicine
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Pollen allergy & hay fever

Picture: siepmannH, Pixelio.de