Allergy & Its Impact On Respiratory System

Hi,

I am Dr. Nilesh Chinchkar, Pulmonologist. Today I will talk on allergy and its impact on the respiratory system. Allergies are the main causes of respiratory diseases. Some of the diseases are allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, bronchial asthma, and a few others. There are many allergens present in our environment. Few are because of pollution, environmental allergens. There is a lot of construction going because of development. There are food allergens also which are present in seafood, dairy products and even in your day-to-day daily meal. There are pollens which causes allergies, grasses cause allergies. We live where there are many allergens and it cannot be detected which allergen is harmful to you. Every individual has a different body type. Few are very sensitive and a few are not at all. Now how to detect allergy.

There are a few blood tests available which detect the presence of allergens but do not detect the specific allergy. If you want to detect specifically then you have to go skin prick test or specific allergy testing. What we do in allergy or skin prick testing, we decide what exactly has to be tested. We put a few drops of allergens on your forearm and if somebody is allergic to the specific drop then they flare upswelling. After this, we ask the patient to go for immunotherapy. It is a way to treat allergic diseases. We customize for every individual. It is also available in injection forms and droplet form. It is advisable to take over a period of 1-2 years. The doses and treatment plan depends on the history and the type of allergens. Usually, we give it 2-3 times in a week and then on a monthly basis and then quarterly basis. After taking this treatment, the patient can get rid of allergies completely.

Yes, it is definitely possible to eliminate the allergy. It is not a life long thing which you need to carry from your birth to death. With the advancement of science, it is possible to defeat the allergens. Immunotherapy is really helpful for the patient in such cases. Allergic disease is like bronchial asthma, rhinitis, sinusitis. It can happen because of a dust mite. It can happen because of food also and environmental pollutant. And the symptoms arise during the change of season. During winter or spring season you get symptoms and the method of detecting is skin prick testing and with immunotherapy. So, friends, I wanted to tell you the basics of allergies, the diseases it causes and it is possible to treat the allergies with the help of immunotherapy. I hope you have understood the topic.

Thank You!