CLEVELAND — While the signs of spring are welcome, the allergies that come along are not.
Dr. Sandra Hong, Cleveland Clinic Chair of the Department of Allergy and Immunology, says now is the time to prepare for the season.
"Valentine's Day, think of your allergist, but I would say now is perfect to start treatment," Hong told 3News. "If they know their symptoms are about to start up, I would start those nasal steroid nasal sprays now, because they can take a little bit of time to work, the antihistamines. They can start when their symptoms really start up with the itching and the sneezing."
Tree pollen, grass, and even mold (thanks to the rainy days coming our way) are the biggest culprits of spring allergies. Usually, most people wait until allergy season is in full swing before they start taking allergy medication.
"If you have a history of allergies, you've got a much higher risk of having asthma just alone," Hong explained. "If you notice, 'Every springtime, I start to get kind of short of breath or I wheeze,' I absolutely would love for you to see your physician so that they can actually try to start you on some medications that can benefit. Wheezing is not normal, so if you wheeze, someone should be evaluating you."
While the medications can help with hay fever, runny nose, sneezing, and itchy, watery eyes, now is a good time to start using some of them.
It's important to remember the cold and flu season isn't over, so be aware those sneezes and sniffles could be related to a virus. Allergies usually come with itchy and watery eyes, ears, and throat, as well as wheezing and long-lasting symptoms. Cold or flu can include fever, chills, sore throat, and body aches.
Experts say you shouldn't use nasal steroid sprays for colds or flu. Hong also advises caution when using nasal decongestants too.
"We as allergists and physicians really don't love our patients using any of the nasal decongestants, and the reason for it is that if they use these medications for more than three to five days, the nose can get addicted to those medications," she said. "They don't get addicted to nasal steroids or antihistamines, but the nasal decongestants can be very, very addictive, so that when they stop using it, they get super stuffy more than even when they started."
Additionally, Hone just attended the annual American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology conference in Washington, D.C., where Cleveland Clinic presented findings from nine years of research into potentially curing young children of food allergies.
Any parent of a child who has a severe food allergy often lives in fear of exposure and the nightmare of an anaphylactic reaction. Cleveland Clinic has been testing immunotherapy on children under the age of 4, and the research indicates if the child gets early intervention before age 4, there's a possibility the allergy can be cured. Intervention includes giving miniscule amounts of the food the child is allergic to to help build tolerance.
"Once they get to 4 years and above, typically the patient will live with that allergy lifelong, and they'll be therapies like immunotherapy out there," Hong, who also serves as the Clinic's medical director for the Food Allergy Center of Excellence, stated. "However, the problem is they live with it as opposed to the possibility of a cure, and we're getting 80 to 90% improvement. We're one of the only academic centers in the country that are doing this therapy, and we've been doing it for about nine years now.
"Our studies are actually showing improvement and patients do amazingly well. We have patients coming to us from the tri-state area from all over the country for this therapy because there's not many people doing it out there.
So how does a parent know if their child has a food allergy?
"Very frequently, there are the highly allergenic foods, such as peanut, egg, milk, wheat, soy, tree nuts, and seafood and shellfish," Hong said. "So when these foods are introduced to the diet, if they notice symptoms and very frequently in the really young ones below the age of 2, it's actually rashes, they'll have hives, or they'll vomit for you."
Hong advises anyone who has an allergic reaction to any food or environmental substance to talk to an allergist and consider getting a skin test. Treatments can vary from allergy shots to sublingual immunotherapy, which is a small pill placed under the tongue for those who prefer to avoid shots.
Other research out of the annual conference included the findings of Xolair, an allergic asthma medication first approved in 2003.
In 2017 the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases launched a study of 177 kids, aged 1 to 17, who were allergic to peanuts and two more foods, such as tree nuts, milk, eggs, or wheat. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and the drug is now available to anyone aged 1 and older. But Hong says not everyone will qualify for the drug, and they must be aware of the side effects.
"Ironically, people can have allergic reactions to Xolair," she added. "We need to make sure that patients are monitored, to make sure that they can tolerate the medication without allergic reactions. There are also black box warnings on it that include an increased risk [of] cerebrovascular issues like heart attacks, TIAs like transient ischemic attacks, and blood clots. But that being said, I think an allergist would be able to work through, like, who would be an amazing candidate for this medication."