When you breathe in high amounts of a substance you’re allergic to—such as pollen, mold, pet dander, or dust mites—the resulting reactions in the nose are called allergic rhinitis.
You may develop a stuffy, runny, and itchy nose as well as sneezing.
These problems are caused by the body’s disease defenses reacting to something that’s harmless for most people.
In a study from the National Institute of Health, scientists tested a new way to treat people with allergies. The method uses regular allergy shots plus a lab-made molecule.
The molecule blocks substances involved in allergic reactions in the body. For people with cat allergies, the combination therapy gave more effective relief than allergy shots alone.
Some people get allergy shots to reduce these reactions. The shots gradually expose them to higher doses of the substance they’re allergic to.
This can train the body’s defenses not to react when these things are in the air. Unfortunately, allergy shots don’t work for everyone. And the shots usually need to be given for at least three years.
In the study, to test the new treatment, the team studied 121 adults with cat allergies.
Some participants received allergy shots alone. Others received the new combination treatment. Treatments lasted nearly a year.
The researchers found by the time the treatments ended, both groups had improved.
But when exposed to cat proteins, those given the experimental combination therapy had fewer symptoms than people given allergy shots alone.
A year after the treatments were stopped, the effects from the standard allergy shots started wearing off. But the experimental treatment was still working to reduce symptoms.
The researchers are continuing to study how the treatment works. They also plan to test and see if the approach might help to treat food allergies.
If you care about lung health, please read studies about the cause of wheezing in the lungs, and smoking marijuana may damage your lungs more than tobacco.
For more information about health, please see recent studies that lung infections caused by soil fungi are common in the US, and results showing common dietary fiber may trigger inflammation in the lungs.
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