Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “HAY FEVER”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Natural history of hay fever and pollen sensitization, and doctors' diagnosis of hay fever and pollen asthma in German schoolchildren.

BACKGROUND: In order to prevent pollen asthma by immunotherapy it is mandatory to know the best time to initiate it. Children with hay fever complaints are at considerable risk of developing pollen asthma. Population-based data on their natural history is urgently needed. METHODS: A longitudinal cohort study was conducted over four years in six rural towns in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. A questionnaire with questions taken from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in childhood (ISAAC) was filled in every spring and autumn. Hay fever complaints, asthma defining symptoms and new doctors' diagnosis of hay fever and asthma were recorded. Additionally a skin prick test with pollen allergens was performed every autumn. RESULTS: In 1996, 19.7% of 1101 elementary school children (age: 8.1-9.9 years (5-95%)) were found to be sensitized to pollen and 8.7% had already been diagnosed as having hay fever. In a pooled analysis of 2478 children-summers, children with positive pollen sensitization had a significantly higher risk of developing hay fever symptoms (2.63; 2.17-3.10 odds ratio (OR); 95% confidence interval (CI)) and of being diagnosed as suffering from hay fever (7.88; 4.70-13.20). Furthermore, although their OR for the development of asthma symptoms during the pollen season was 3.88 (2.48-6.07 CI), it was only 0.69 (0.24-2.01 CI) for doctors' diagnosis of pollen asthma. CONCLUSION: Children of elementary school age with pollen sensitization and a history of hay fever are at considerable risk of getting pollen asthma, but they are not quickly diagnosed as such. Specific immunotherapy might be a means of preventing asthma completely in such a situation. Our data helps to estimate the sample size for intervention studies of this kind.

Air Pollutants↗

Daily hay fever forecast in the Netherlands. Radio broadcasting of the expected influence of the weather or subjective complaints of hay fever sufferers.

The literature on local pollen counts and their significance for hay fever is reviewed and a system for forecasting hay fever is described. Such forecasts have been broadcast by radio in The Netherlands since 1977. The hay fever forecast takes the form of a prognosis (in terms of three grades) of the influence of the expected whether situation on tomorrow's course of the subjective complaints of hay fever sufferers. It is not a forecast of the pollen count. When the subjective complaints of about 150 hay fever patients were used as reference for evaluation, the forecasts proved to have been correct in 72, 85, and 88% of the cases in 1977, 1978, and 1979, respectively. The practical usefulness and the limitations of the system are briefly discussed, with emphasis on the principle that not the local pollen count but the weather should be taken as the main determinative factor for the expected subjective experiences in a group of hay fever sufferers in a certain region.

Female↗

Budesonide and terfenadine, separately and in combination, in the treatment of hay fever.

BACKGROUND: While hay fever is a very common experience, its treatment in primary care setting has been little reported in controlled studies. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to evaluate the patient's assessment of efficacy of an intranasal steroid spray (budesonide) alone or in combination with an antihistamine (terfenadine) against terfenadine alone or placebo alone. METHODS: A double-blind parallel group, placebo-controlled trial design was used, comparing the four groups. Each group used an active or placebo spray and active or placebo tablets. Symptom scores were recorded daily in diaries over a 21-day period. RESULTS: Overall assessment of efficacy by the 106 patients was significantly greater (P < .05) for budesonide versus terfenadine or placebo alone. There was a 40% placebo response. Budesonide was more effective than terfenadine for all individual symptom scores, particularly nasal blockage, against which terfenadine was ineffective. Adverse effects were mild and transient for all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Budesonide alone is a highly effective treatment for hay fever with few side effects.

Adolescent↗

Cytologic evaluation of the nasal epithelium in patients with hay fever.

Seventy two cases of hay fever which were confirmed by scratch tests were used to estimate the state of the epithelium of the mucous membrane of the nose. Cells of the respiratory eptihelium were found in smears from the surface of the mucous membrane in 79per cent of the cases of hay fever. Compared with nose smears from the control group, nose smears from patients with hay fever contained many more cells, predominantly goblet cells. In the cases of hay fever, a very rich cellular material was discovered in the smears from the surface of the mucous membrane of the nose. The chief characteristic feature of those cells is that they appear in clusters. Numerous cells from the respiratory epithelium, mostly goblet cells, were found in nose smears from patients with hay fever. The patterns of smears observed in patients with hay fever are helpful to us in the differential diagnosis in the rhinological laboratory.

Cytodiagnosis↗

Any place for depot triamcinolone in hay fever?

The prevalence of hay fever (seasonal allergic rhinitis) in the UK has been increasing; for instance, it doubled from 10 to 20 per 1000 people between the 1970s and 1980s. For a few patients with severe hay fever symptoms, it sometimes helps to give a systemic corticosteroid; one possible option is the injection of a long-acting corticosteroid, such as triamcinolone. We have previously concluded that systemic corticosteroids have only a limited role, that is, when complete control of severe symptoms is judged essential (e.g. for a wedding or exam). Here we reconsider the case for depot triamcinolone injections in the management of hay fever.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents↗

Circulating basophils in normal subjects and in subjects with hay fever.

The relationship of hay fever symptoms and changes in the number of circulating basophils was studied in 12 subjects clinically sensitive only to ragweed and in 10 nonatopic subjects before, during, and after the ragweed season. Total white blood counts, absolute basophil counts, and symptom scores were recorded twice weekly from mid-June through October, 1974, and compared with the ragweed pollen count. The results indicated that the absolute and relative number of basophils were significantly elevated (p less than 0.001) in the hay fever group when symptoms occurred. As the symptom score of the allergic group increased during the ragweed season, the number of basophils also increased, only to decrease to control values when symptoms subsided. The basophil counts of the atopic group were significantly higher than those of the nonatopic group during the control periods. The nonatopic group also showed a significant elevation of basophils during the ragweed season, but to a much lesser extent than the atopic group. It is concluded that: (1) subjects with symptomatic hay fever have a significantly elevated absolute and relative basophil count which correlates with the exacerbation and remission of symptoms; (2) nonatopic subjects also have a small but significant elevation of basophils during the ragweed season; and (3) the elevation of basophils in the atopic group during symptoms is significantly greater than in the nonatopic group during the ragweed season.

Adolescent↗

Different slopes for different folks: socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in asthma and hay fever among 173,859 U.S. men and women.

Although allergic diseases such as asthma and hay fever are a major cause of morbidity in industrialized countries, most studies have focused on patterns of prevalence among children and adolescents, with relatively few studies on variations in prevalence by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic position among adults. Our study examined racial/ethnic and socioeconomic patterns in the prevalence of asthma overall, asthma with hay fever, asthma without hay fever, and hay fever overall, in a population of 173,859 women and men in a large prepaid health plan in northern California. Using education as a measure of socioeconomic position, we found evidence of a positive gradient for asthma with hay fever with increasing level of education but an inverse gradient for asthma without hay fever. Hay fever was also strongly associated with education. Compared with their White counterparts, Black women and men were more likely to report asthma without hay fever, and Black women were less likely to have asthma with hay fever. Asian men were also more likely to report asthma with hay fever, and Asian women and men were much more likely to have hay fever. Racial/ethnic disparities in prevalence of allergic diseases were largely independent of education. We discuss implications for understanding these social inequalities in allergic disease risk in relation to possible differences in exposure to allergens and determinants of immunologic susceptibility and suggest directions for future research.

Adolescent↗

Twin concordance for a binary trait: III. A bivariate analysis of hay fever and asthma.

Self-reported histories of hay fever and asthma were obtained from 3,808 pairs of adult twins 18 years and over registered with the Australian National Health Medical Research Council Twin Registry (1232 MZF, 567 MZM, 751 DZF, 352 DZM, 906 DZO). The prevalence of hay fever and asthma was 0.32 and 0.13, respectively, with little variation with zygosity, sex, and age. The associations between twin pairs for these two traits were analysed, under the assumption of constant prevalences, as a special case of a log-linear model for binary traits in pedigrees using the statistical package GLIM. The model assumption that there are no second- or higher-order interactions was tested in the 2 X 2 X 2 X 2 table of twin by disease outcomes without revealing strong evidence of departure, even in this large data set. The log-linear modelling showed that only three first-order interactions, namely 1) between hay fever in a twin pair, 2) asthma in a twin pair, and 3) hay fever and asthma in the same twin, were necessary to describe the data. The first two interaction terms were significantly larger in identical pairs; the third was independent of zygosity. Under this parsimonious model, there was a significant difference between identical and fraternal pairs in marginal correlation, both in asthma and hay fever, and in the cross-correlation between hay fever in one twin and asthma in the other. This suggests that genetic factors are implicated in both hay fever and asthma and that some of these genetic factors are common (at least among a subgroup of individuals) to both traits.

Adolescent↗

A double-blind comparison of oxatomide (R 35 443) and diphenhydramine in the treatment of hay fever.

Ninety-one hay fever patients received either 0.5 mg/kg oxatomide b.i.d. or 0.4 mg/kg diphenhydramine b.i.d. in a two-month double-blind study. If necessary this dose could be doubled. The results showed that fewer oxatomide patients needed to double this starting dose and to use a nasal spray. Oxatomide proved to be more effective than diphenhydramine in limiting the severity of the hay fever attacks, as evidenced by the findings that oxatomide patients had fewer complaint-days, and that more of these patients were rated by the investigators to have excellent or good results. Apart from daytime fatigue, transient in several patients, no oxatomide-induced side-effects were found.

Adolescent↗

Comparative trial of two dose regimens of terfenadine in patients with hay fever.

Eighty patients with hay fever took part in a double-blind study to compare the efficacy of two doses of terfenadine, namely 60 mg b.d., the standard recommended dose, and 120 mg b.d. Thirty-nine patients received 60 mg b.d. and thirty-eight received 120 mg b.d., each given over 1 week. Symptoms were assessed at the start and end of treatment and were also recorded in diary cards. Over-all efficacy was determined by doctor and patient at the end of treatment. Onset of relief of symptoms after the first dose was recorded. The results showed no significant differences between the two treatments. Symptom relief was good for both (54%-63% experiencing good or complete relief) and the target symptoms of hay fever (i.e. those most commonly reported) were relieved particularly well. Average onset of symptom relief was 72 minutes for 60 mg and 59 minutes for 120 mg. Side-effects were few for both doses, only three patients in total reporting sedation.

Adolescent↗

Incidence and prevalence of asthma among adult Finnish men and women of the Finnish Twin Cohort from 1975 to 1990, and their relation to hay fever and chronic bronchitis.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence of asthma and hay fever, and the incidence and temporal relationships of asthma, hay fever, and chronic bronchitis among adult twins during a 15-year period. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: A population of 11,540 Finnish adult men and women, initially 18 to 45 years of age, who returned a health questionnaire in 1975, 1981, and 1990 as part of the Finnish Twin Cohort study. METHODS: Age-standardized prevalences and cumulative incidences among individuals were calculated for asthma, hay fever, and chronic bronchitis. The incidence of asthma among subjects with and without hay fever or chronic bronchitis was analyzed in the entire cohort as well as in twin pairs discordant for incident asthma. RESULTS: The prevalence of asthma increased slightly from 1975 (2.0% in men and 2.2% in women) to 1990 (2.9% in men and 3.1% in women). The prevalence of hay fever showed a larger increase in men and women (from 6.8% and 9.8% to 11.8% and 15.3%, respectively). Compared with figures for 1976 to 1981, no significant increase in asthma incidence occurred from 1982 to 1990, whereas the incidence of hay fever was lower during the latter period among men (incidence rate ratio, 0.7; 95% confidence interval, 0.6 to 0.9) as was the incidence of chronic bronchitis among women (incidence rate ratio, 0.7; 95% confidence interval, 0.6 to 0.9). Hay fever and chronic bronchitis were usually diagnosed before asthma. Both diseases increased the risk of asthma significantly on the basis of analyses of all individuals and of discordant twin pairs. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of increase in asthma and hay fever prevalence with time was similar, and hay fever was a strong predictor of asthma. These diseases showed no significant increase in incidence.

Adolescent↗

Hay fever treated with ACTH gel.

ACTH gel was used as a treatment for hay fever during the 1972-1974 hay fever seasons. Patients suffering from hay fever were given ACTH in different dose schedules and other hay fever patients were used as controls. Subjectively, those treated with ACTH gel were pleased with the results and reported more favourably on the injections than those receiving placebo. Objectively, using presence of any symptoms as the index of measurement, those treated with ACTH gel (80 units once weekly or 80 units twice weekly) had a significantly lower incidence of hay fever. Side effects were few.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

[Aeropollinologic and allergologic studies for the clarification of "poplar tree hay fever"].

The authors performed allergen research on patients reported hay fever symptoms during the poplar pollen season (March), and in patients with hay fever symptoms during the time of the year that the seed hairs of the poplar trees are blowing in the air (May). Skin prick tests (Epipharm) and serum specific IgE tests (Epignost IgE Quick and Phadezym Populus deltoides RAST, Pharmacia) were performed on the basis of the pollen calendar of Szeged region on 30 patients. The pollen containt of the air was measured by means of a Lanzoni sampler. According to the pollen calendar of our region a large amount of grass pollens could be found in the air at the same time as the seed hairs of poplar trees are present (in May). The season of poplar pollen is in March in this area. Poplar pollen sensitivity was found on 8 patients. This is 6.8% of the total number of hay fever patients. They were found to be sensitive to other tree pollens too. The 23 patients complaining about hay fever symptoms in May, during the flaying of the cottons of the poplar trees in the air were all found to be sensitive to grass pollens. On the basis of our results the poplar pollen sensitivity is a relatively rare cause of hay fever. Our patients having complained about the seed hairs were all found to be sensitive to grass pollens. It seems that the grass pollens are the real cause of their disease.

Allergens↗

Hay fever--a Finnish nationwide study of adolescent twins and their parents.

BACKGROUND: Like other atopic diseases, hay fever is known to cluster in families. This clustering is due either to effects of a shared family environment or to genetic inheritance. By comparing the occurrence of hay fever among monozygous (MZ) and dizygous (DZ) twin pairs, we were able to estimate the contribution of genetic and environmental factors in the development of hay fever. METHODS: A questionnaire mailed to a nationwide sample of 2483 families with 16-year-old twins furnished data for the cumulative incidence of physician-diagnosed hay fever among these adolescents and their parents. RESULTS: Among the 1765 twin pairs with data available for analysis, hay fever was reported for 14.1% of boys (95% CI=12.4-15.8%) and 10.0% of girls (95% CI=8.6-11.4%). The MZ twin pairs (probandwise concordance rate=60.3%, 95% CI =52-68%) were significantly more concordant for hay fever than were DZ twin pairs (31.5%, 95% CI=26-36%). Genetic factors accounted for 74-82% of the interindividual variability in liability to hay fever, variation in shared family environment for 7% at most, and unique (individual) environment for 18%. CONCLUSIONS: Familial occurrence of hay fever is mainly due to genes predisposing to the trait. Environmental exposures shared in common by family members but varying between families appear to account for at most a modest proportion of the variability in risk of developing hay fever.

Adolescent↗