Spring is here, is allergic rhinitis far behind?

Spring is a good time to go out and enjoy the scenery, but it is also a headache for many patients with allergic rhinitis. Various plants are awakened in this season, causing pollen to float, catkins to fly, and dust to spread. All these phenomena are very likely to cause allergic rhinitis. Many patients said that spring is the most difficult season of the year, and paper towels have become a common item to deal with the sneezing, runny nose, and uncontrollable nasal congestion and nasal itching that come at any time. In this article, let's talk about allergic rhinitis.

Q: What are the main symptoms of allergic rhinitis?

A: The typical symptoms of allergic rhinitis are paroxysmal sneezing, watery nasal discharge, nasal itching and nasal congestion. They may be accompanied by eye symptoms, including itchy eyes, tearing, red eyes and burning sensation, as well as itchy symptoms of the soft palate at the back of the nasal cavity.

Q: Is allergic rhinitis contagious?

A: Infectious diseases are diseases that are spread through certain transmission routes by pathogens carried by infectious sources. Allergic rhinitis has no infectious source and is therefore not contagious.

Q: Is allergic rhinitis hereditary? If one of the parents has allergic rhinitis, will the offspring also have it?

A: Allergic rhinitis is hereditary to a certain extent, but it is not a single gene inheritance, but a polygenic genetic disease. Compared with single gene genetic diseases, polygenic genetic diseases are not determined by genetic factors alone, but by genetic factors and environmental factors working together. It does not mean that as long as one of the parents has allergic rhinitis, the offspring will definitely have allergic rhinitis. It can only be said that the probability of offspring having allergic rhinitis is higher than that of the general population.

Q: Since allergic rhinitis is hereditary, why have I never had an attack of allergic rhinitis before, but now I have allergic rhinitis again in my middle-aged or elderly age?

A: The onset of allergic rhinitis is related to the interaction between heredity and the environment, which means that environmental factors also play an important role in the onset of allergic rhinitis. Some studies have shown that if the chance of exposure to environmental microorganisms in early life is low, the risk of allergic rhinitis in the future will increase. If you have not had allergic rhinitis before, it does not mean that you will not have it in the future. If you are exposed to allergens that you have not been exposed to before, allergic rhinitis will still occur.

Q: Can allergic rhinitis turn into cancer?

A: Current research does not suggest that allergic rhinitis may turn into cancer, but it can induce a variety of diseases, such as allergic conjunctivitis, chronic sinusitis, nasal polyps, exudative otitis media, adenoid hypertrophy, asthma, etc. Therefore, once allergic rhinitis is diagnosed, it needs to be treated in time.

Q: What are the treatments for allergic rhinitis?

A: The treatment principles of allergic rhinitis mainly include environmental control, drug therapy, immunotherapy and health education. Environmental control is mainly allergen avoidance; drug therapy includes some first-line drugs, such as nasal glucocorticoids, oral or nasal second-generation antihistamines, oral leukotriene receptor antagonists, nasal irrigation, etc.; immunotherapy as a first-line treatment method includes sublingual immunotherapy and subcutaneous immunotherapy.

Q: Can allergic rhinitis be completely cured?

A: Allergic rhinitis is related to genetic and environmental factors and is genetically susceptible. It cannot be cured at present. The goal of treatment is to achieve and maintain clinical control.

Q: Does allergic rhinitis need to be treated with antibiotics?

A: Allergic rhinitis is a chronic non-infectious inflammatory disease of the nasal mucosa. As the name suggests, non-infectious inflammation is inflammation that is not caused by pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, chlamydia, etc.), so antibiotics are not required for treatment.

Q: In the treatment of allergic rhinitis, glucocorticoids are mentioned. Will excessive use of this drug have major side effects on the human body?

A: People are afraid of hormones, but there is no need to worry too much. Nasal glucocorticoids are topical medications with low systemic bioavailability and good safety and tolerance. When used for a long time, as long as nasal glucocorticoids with low systemic bioavailability are selected according to the patient's age and the recommended dose is used, the impact on the human body is not significant. Studies have shown that some drugs have no significant effect on children's growth and development overall after a one-year course of treatment.

Q: Why choose immunotherapy for allergic rhinitis? What are the advantages of choosing immunotherapy?

A: Drug treatment is mainly to control symptoms and relieve patients' pain. Immunotherapy is a causal treatment for allergic diseases. After treatment, the patient's symptoms may be significantly alleviated when exposed to allergens again, or even no clinical symptoms may occur.

The advantage of immunotherapy is that it has short-term and long-term therapeutic effects after treatment, and has the potential to change the natural course of the disease, prevent allergic rhinitis from developing into asthma, and reduce the occurrence of new sensitization.

Q: Why is standardized treatment emphasized for allergic rhinitis?

A: Since allergic rhinitis is a chronic disease with the characteristic of recurring attacks, it cannot be completely cured, but through standardized comprehensive prevention and treatment, the patient's various symptoms can be well controlled, and the patient's quality of life and happiness level can be significantly improved.

Q: Why is it important to emphasize personalized treatment for allergic rhinitis?

A: Allergic rhinitis is not a single disease, and its clinical manifestations vary. It may be accompanied by bronchial asthma, chronic sinusitis, upper airway cough syndrome and other diseases; it may be seasonal or perennial, intermittent or persistent, mild or moderate-severe. The above characteristics determine that the treatment of allergic rhinitis must follow the premise of unified standardized treatment, but also vary from person to person, and be personalized under the guidance of a doctor.