We are delighted to have been invited to co-host the 2015 HAE-UK Patient Day in Birmingham. This annual event is is an opportunity to meet up with many friends who know what it is like to live with this rare condition and to learn from a panel of HAE Experts.
The theme for this year’s day is ‘HAE through all the changing stages of Life’. If you would like more information or to register for the event, see the HAE UK website. We look forward to seeing many of our patients there.
It is peak grass pollen season, and lots of people are sneezing, wheezing and rubbing their eyes.
For most people hay fever (seasonal allergic rhinitis) is a mild condition that is little more than a nuisance and can be controlled with an antihistamine. For some it makes summer a misery.
People with severe hay fever may dread outdoor activities like sports or picnics. Sitting inside with the windows closed is no fun in this weather. Hay fever can also severely affect concentration at work and at school (not a good thing during your GCSEs).
1. Only use non-drowsy antihistamines (cetirizine, loratidine and acrivastine*)
2. Use a steroid nose spray daily (beclometasone and fluticasone sprays*)
3. Try to avoid using decongestants regularly – they are fine to use occasionally, but can make rhinitis worse if used often.
4. Pollen avoidance can help:
For severe hay fever, immunotherapy (hay fever injections or tablets) can help to control symptoms – it’s too late to start this year, but ask your GP about referring you to our immunotherapy clinic (or other local allergy clinic) to see if this would be suitable for you for next season.
Lots more advice is available from allergy websites such as Allergy UK’s.
*Available without prescription, but do check with your chemist if you are taking other medications
See today’s Met Office Pollen Forecast
This is a common question from patients, and it is a difficult one for doctors to answer. The West Midlands Primary Immunodeficiency Network has organised a meeting for patients and GPs to try to find some of these answers.
Date: 11/09/2014, time: 18:00-21:00
Venue: IET Austin Court, 80 Cambridge Street, Birmingham, B1 2NP (near NEC)
If you would like to attend, contact Miss Toni Wheatley 0121 5075157, toni.wheatley@nhs.net
A guide to easy tests for Immunodeficiency can be found by clicking here.
Now is the time to start using your steroid nose spray to prevent sneezing, itchy streaming eyes and runny nose – use the chin-to-chest technique! You can add antihistamines and eyedrops as well but if all that doesn’t help, then perhaps you need to come and see us. Ask your GP about a referral.
Milk allergy affects up to 8% of childen in the UK but new treatment can provide a ‘cure’ for some sufferers. Dr Scott Hackett, Consultant Paediatrician in Allergy comments in a recent Daily Mail article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2339247/How-buttered-toast-ice-cream-beat-milk-allergy.html
