The majority of people with an allergy to various pollens seem to suffer with sneezing, watery catarrh, post-nasal drip and allergic conjunctivitis from late May to July/ August. A small proportion also suffer with seasonal asthma and require inhalers to control it. This is a time when various grass pollens (rapeseed, timothy, bermuda, cocksfoot and rye grass) and weed pollens are in great concentration in the air. A few people start having symptoms as early as February or March, if they react to tree pollen, such as birch, hazel, willow and alder. Many hay fever sufferers manage quite well with the help of antihistamines and/or steroid nasal sprays during the summer months. A minority with severe symptoms, which fail to respond to treatment, require desensitisation. >>> Immunotherapy

Hay fever is a very common allergy in the UK, usually staring during the teenage years and often abating 20-40 years later. Many people with pollen allergy have the capacity to develop symptoms from other inhalant allergens such as house dust mites, animal dander or moulds. These allergen can be identified in skin prick tests and RAST or specific immunoglobulin test. A few people have weak allergy, which is unlikely to be confirmed with skin prick tests but inta-cutaneous tests seem to be more accurate.      (Also see link with Immunotherapy and Oral Allergy Syndrome.)

TIP As cereals and flour are of the grass family and dairy products come from cows feeding on grass, patients with hay fever symptoms often feel better, if they reduce the use of these foods during the grass pollen season.

TIP People with allergy to early tree pollens can often get some relief using an air filter in the bedroom at night.

Note: Many patients remember to contact an allergy clinic when they experience bad symptoms of pollen allergy, but this is often too close to the grass pollen season to use the method of the Enzyme Potentiated Desensitisation. Instead we use the method of neutralization (end-point titration) which does not have the same constraints).

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