Respiratory Allergy

An allergy is defined as an immunological disorder where your body’s own defence mechanism, the immune system, is hypersensitive to one or several substances, so-called allergens. When the body is exposed to these substances, it responds with an allergic reaction which can greatly vary in its severity from person to person. While for most people allergies are mostly a nuisance causing temporary (or sometimes intermittent) inconvenience, symptoms can be very severe requiring immediate medical treatment and sometimes even end fatally. Fortunately, this is very rare.

Allergy Treatments

How does an allergy manifest itself?

Symptoms will occur at the entry site of the allergen. Respiratory allergies are all caused by airborne allergens, so the mucous membranes and the airways are affected when exposed to the allergenic substance, i.e. the eyes, nose and throat. Some people feel as though they have a permanent cold and typical symptoms include:

* stuffy nose and blocked sinuses
* wheezing and difficulty breathing
* watery eyes (conjunctivitis)
* headache
* fatigue and irritability
* loss of concentration
* sore throat
* snoring due to breathing problems

What types of allergy are there?

There are many different types of allergens such as certain animal foods (crustaceans, fish), dairy (lactose, a component of milk-derived products), nuts, gluten (this is called coeliac disease), but also plants (causing hay fever), pet hair, dust mites, latex or certain chemicals such as perfumes, essential oils or detergents.

You will find further information on the following pages :

1. Seasonal Hay Fever
The term used to name typical symptoms such as frequent sneezing, wheezing, blocked and runny nose and watery eyes was first coined in 1819 by John Bostock, a Liverpudlian physician. He observed that the frequency of symptoms would increase during the haying season i.e. the summer months. People suffering from hay fever are allergic to the pollen of wind pollinated plants. Find out more.

2. Swollen Polyps or Rhinitis
Respiratory allergies are often called Rhinitis, i.e. an inflammation of the nose resulting from inhaling an allergen. Rhinitis can cause the flesh inside the nose to swell, which gives the feeling of a constant blocked nose and makes it hard for the patient to breathe. To find more about swollen polyps, click here.

3. Indoor allergies (Pet Hair - Dust Mites - Mould spores)
The other most common respiratory allergies are called indoor allergies as, contrary to hay fever, they mostly happen inside a house and not outside. These include allergies to animal hair, often referred to as pet hair, dust mites and mould spores. Find out more about these allergies on our Indoor allergies page.

Allergy Management

The first step of allergy management is to diagnose if your symptoms are caused by an allergy, and then to find out what you are allergic to.

Once you know what your body is reacting to, there are a few things that you can do to relieve your allergy symptoms.

To know how to diagnose your allergy symptoms and for tips on how to manage your allergies, please have a look at our Allergy Management page.

Allergy Treatments

Please have a look at our Resources page for external references on allergies.