Pulmonologists, allergists and immunologists are sounding the alarm: the plague of acquired allergies is spreading. The problem is further exacerbated by increasing air pollution. What is worse, the drugs used so far stop working. So, how to fight these diseases and do we have a chance to win with them?
Until a few decades ago, allergy was rare. Now the problem affects more and more people. The disease can strike regardless of age or lifestyle. Data from epidemiological studies show that in some regions of our country, allergic symptoms affect as much as 40 percent. people, with the most common form of allergy being pollinosis – a strong allergic reaction that occurs after contact with pollen.
Experts who met in Krakow at a conference devoted to the problem of allergies admit that it will get worse. Today, for example, bronchial asthma occurs in completely healthy people, because the quality of the air we breathe is deteriorating.
– The substances contained in the dust are irritating, toxic and allergenic. They mainly get to the mucous membranes, irritate them and cause coughing. The effect is that our body’s natural defenses are damaged. Then the infection usually occurs secondarily. It is from this group that people classified as patients with recurrent respiratory infections come from. The problem concerns especially children and seniors – explains prof. Ewa Czarnobilska, head of the Center for Clinical and Environmental Allergology at the University Hospital in Krakow, who organized the conference there.
Drugs stop working?
A patient who comes to the doctor with a strong cough, and loses his breath with any movement, expects that he will give him immediate help. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. Specialists emphasize that the administration of an appropriate drug, usually with an antihistamine effect, is not enough. The key to improving the patient’s condition is to change the environment to a cleaner one. In a large group of patients, the change of environment alone solves the problem. But not every patient can afford to reorganize their current life and move.
Unusual or only more frequently diagnosed?
It can sensitize practically everything. Some experts admit that, especially in young people, allergies to certain metals, such as nickel, cobalt and chromium, are increasingly observed. An allergic reaction can occur when dyeing your hair or getting a tattoo. Are they really something unusual? In an interview with Medonet, prof. Jerzy Kruszewski, an allergist, admits that allergy to metals is nothing new. People were allergic to them before allergy was invented. In his opinion, thanks to more thorough research and better diagnostic methods, this type of allergy is simply diagnosed more, but it does not mean that we can talk about a new phenomenon.
Where is the most sick?
The rapid increase in the incidence is visible especially in developing countries, including Poland. Why right there? One of the theories is about the so-called hygienic hypothesis. It assumes that excessive sterility may contribute to the “impairment” of the immune system. The immune system, devoid of contact with bacteria, animal allergens or pollen, cannot recognize them properly. When it finally comes into contact with them, the body mistakenly interprets a harmless substance as a threat, and an immune reaction, i.e. an allergy, appears.
The truth of this theory is supported by the fact that in rural areas, compared to large cities, clearly fewer cases of allergies are observed. The research of Kurpińska et al. Shows that nearly 16.1% suffer from seasonal allergic rhinitis. large-city population (the worst situation is in Poznań, Warsaw, Łódź, Katowice and Kraków) and 6.7 percent. from the countryside.