Coping with Hay Fever

Hay fever is common and on the increase, with around nine million people affected in the UK, both old and young. Last year's season was particularly severe, a trend which looks set to continue and which may be linked to climate change. But the UK has few allergy specialists and many GPs aren't trained to treat allergy and/or aren't that interested in the problem. The Royal College of Physicians outlined the scale of the challenge facing doctors in a report in 2003, adding that 60 per cent of sufferers continue to have troublesome symptoms, either because they don't recognise and avoid triggers, or because they don't use medicines correctly.There are plenty of conventional and complementary treatments for hayfever but what really works? In a survey carried out for Allergy UK in 2005, 73 per cent of sufferers said they'd had the problem for over 10 years but had been unable to find a treatment that could fully control symptoms. This book aims to provide that information.Topics in this book include: causes; why some people may get hay fever all the year round; remission; late-onset; recognising symptoms, and what can make them worse e.g. stress, other medicines; oral allergy syndrome - hay fever link to allergy to some foods; diagnosis and treatments including antihistamines and immunotherapy; complementary therapies; prevention and self-help; hayfever in children; and, getting more help - referral to allergy clinics, useful websites.

About Christine Craggs-Hinton