What Is Allergic Asthma
Allergic asthma is a chronic inflammatory condition where your lungs become inflamed, and your airways tighten when you inhale an allergen. Its also known as allergy-induced asthma.
In people with allergic asthma, exposure to allergens triggers the immune system to produce too much immunoglobulin E . This causes the airways to swell, leading to symptoms such as shortness of breath and wheezing.
People with allergic asthma usually start feeling symptoms after inhaling an allergen, such as pollen, mold, dust mites, or pet dander. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America reports that an estimated 60 percent of people with asthma have allergic asthma.
However, not everyone with asthma has allergies. Allergic asthma should be diagnosed and treated by an allergist.
How To Breathe Easier With Your Allergies And Copd
Feb 28, 2018 6:44:52 AM / byDuke Reeves
Allergy season is a nuisance for anyone who suffers from allergies, but it can be a serious struggle for people who also suffer from COPD. Common allergens like pollen, dust, and mold can not only cause uncomfortable allergic reactions, but they can also irritate your lungs and airways and make it more difficult to breathe.
At least one in five people in the US suffer from allergies, and that includes many people who also have COPD. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a lot of research on how the two conditions interact, and there are few official treatment guidelines to help COPD patients manage their allergies.
However, thanks to research from John Hopkins University, we do know that people who suffer from both allergies and COPD are more likely to have worsened symptoms and shortness of breath. They are also more likely to experience exacerbations, which are episodes of increased symptoms that can be serious and even require hospitalization.
Currently, the best known way handle allergies when you have COPD is to treat the symptoms with medication. The best treatment, however, is prevention to keep you from having allergic reactions at all.
What Are The Most Common Symptoms Of The Delta Variant Of Covid
Fever and cough are present in both types, but headaches, sinus congestion, sore throats and runny noses all appear to be more common with the Delta strain. Excessive sneezing is also a symptom. Loss of taste and smell, considered a hallmark symptom of the original virus, may happen less frequently.
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How Allergic Asthma Leads To Decreased Lung Capacity
Just as some people may experience skin irritation or swollen eyes, some patients can experience reactions in their airways, leading to asthma symptoms. When you breathe in an allergen, small particles become lodged in your throat and lungs causing allergic asthma. This condition is very common in patients with seasonal and year-round allergies including those with environmental and food allergies.
Common Conditions for Patients with Asthma
Allergens cause inflammation in the lungs which if left untreated can cause permanent damage to your lungs and lung capacity. This can be dangerous for patients who are already at high risk of viral infections such as COVID-19, who may experience an extremely hard time breathing if they become sick. Patients with asthma and breathing troubles are also at a higher risk of developing bronchitis, some patients developing a chronic form that occurs every few months.
Patients may also develop a hypersensitivity to allergens, known as hypersensitivity pneumonitis. This type of allergic reaction causes inflammation of the lungs air sacs, further decreasing your lung function.
Can An Allergy Attack Damage My Lungs
While most allergy sufferers experience a runny nose or itchy eyes when their symptoms act up, some patients may also experience trouble breathing.
In light of the current health pandemic, its important to keep your respiratory system as healthy as possible to prevent any adverse reactions. Keep reading to learn how your allergies can affect your lung capacity and how our specialists at Center for Allergy and Asthma of Georgia can help treat your symptoms.
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Hay Fever Pollution Hot Weather And Thunderstorms
Lots of people find their hay fever is worse when theres high pollution, especially as hot weather makes pollution worse. Pollution molecules stick to pollen grains, so they hang about in the air longer and are harder to get out of your airways.
Thunderstorms can also cause your symptoms to get worse or flare up, because they smash pollen into tiny bits that go deeper into your lungs.
These three steps will reduce your risk of and asthma attack or your lung condition symptoms flaring up from pollen combined with heat, high pollution or thunderstorms:
- Make sure you carry your reliever inhaler . If you have asthma and need to use it three or more times a week, book an urgent GP appointment.
- Try to stay away from the trigger take extra care if youre out and about in the heat, or if the pollen count or the level of pollution is high. You could use a weather app on your phone to get weather and pollen alerts.
- Take hay fever medicines to help reduce the allergic reaction that could be making your symptoms worse see our hay fever treatments page.
How Air Purifiers Can Help
An air purifier removes some of the contaminants and improves the quality of indoor air. Airfree products may help allergy sufferers by reducing contaminants such as organic particles that cause odor and other allergens.
Choose Airfree for a natural solution to reduce allergens and mold in your home. Our purifiers do more than cleaning the air you breathe. An Airfree purifier can help reducing the number of bacteria, dust mites, fungi, pollen, viruses, allergens and microorganisms, leaving behind noticeably fresher air.
Find a dealer today to determine the product that works best for your allergies.
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Stay Indoors When Pollen And Humidity Are High
Sometimes the best way to avoid allergens is to avoid going outside altogether. Of course, you can’t avoid going outdoors all the time, but it’s a good idea when the allergy forecast looks bad.
Whenever pollen levels are extremely high, you should try to stay indoors as much as possible. Close all your windows, shut all your doors, and turn on your home ventilation system to control allergy levels in your house.
Humid days can also be a problem, since they tend to encourage mold and dust mites to proliferate. Humidity traps smog and lowers air quality, which can be especially irritating to your lungs and airways if you have COPD.
Inflammation Of The Airways
When the body detects an allergen, it tries to reject it by producing antibodies and chemicals, such as histamine. Histamine causes the airways to become inflamed and constricted, and it also causes the body to produce mucus to help expel the allergen.
As a result, the airways become narrower. When a person breathes through narrowed airways, the air is forced through a smaller-than-usual space, and a whistling sound can result. This sound is wheezing.
Some causes of wheezing result in short-lived symptoms. Others can cause symptoms that are more serious or longer lasting.
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How Can I Avoid Serious Complications
The best thing you can do is to avoid potential allergens.
Allergens are all around us, but you already have a head start if you know your triggers. You can take steps now to reduce your contact with specific allergens that worsen your symptoms.
Read on for tips on avoiding common allergens that could make your COPD symptoms worse.
Seasonal Or Environmental Allergy Treatments
The best approach depends on the allergen, which may include:
- Pollen. A reaction to pollen is called hay fever or allergic rhinitis, and allergy medications can help.
- Dust. The best way to treat wheezing that stems from an allergy to dust mites is to clean carpets, bedding, and furnishings and reduce household humidity.
- Pet hair. The saliva, skin flakes, and urine that collect when pets shed their hair can cause allergies. Regular vacuuming can help.
- Certain foods. An allergist can help determine which food is responsible, and a person usually needs to eliminate it from their diet.
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Health Problems Related To Dampness And Mold
Allergies or allergic responses to pollen or animal dander are the most common types of health problems related to mold. Typical symptoms include:
- Nose, mouth, or throat irritation
- Irritation of the nose, mouth, or throat
- Nasal stuffiness and runny nose
- Red, itchy, or watery eyes
Inhaling or touching mold or mold spores can cause a person to become allergic to mold. Molds can trigger asthma symptoms including shortness of breath, wheezing, or cough in people with known allergies. People who do not have allergies can also become irritated. Studies indicate that exposure to molds in the workplace can make pre-existing asthma worse. NIOSH investigates associations between damp buildings and developing new asthma.
Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is a kind of lung inflammation that occurs when people develop immune system sensitization to inhaled organic dust. Immune system sensitization is similar to an allergy. It can seem like pneumonia, but it does not get better with antibiotics for infection. Symptoms of HP can vary. Some persons have:
- Shortness of breath
- Profound fatigue
These symptoms usually first appear 2 to 9 hours after exposure and last for 1 to 3 days. Other affected persons have progressive shortness of breath and cough, as well as weight loss.
This lung disease has also occurred in workers who worked in water-damaged buildings with:
- Poorly draining condensation pans
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Do You Suffer From Allergies And Asthma
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How Do Allergies Affect Asthma
If you have asthma, it’s a good idea to find out if allergies may be causing problems for you. See your health care provider, who may suggest a visit to an allergist so you can find out if you’re allergic to anything.
If you have allergies, it doesn’t mean that they’re causing your asthma symptoms. But knowing what they are lets you and your doctor start looking into the connection.
Limiting your exposure to possible allergens may be a big help in controlling your asthma. If you can’t completely limit your exposure to something you’re allergic to, your doctor may recommend medicine or allergy shots.
The Facts You Should Know About Breathing Allergies
When your body reacts to some specific elements in the air, then you can face respiratory allergies. You can face breathing-related allergies because of pollen, dust mites, mold and pet dander.
You may notice that sometimes you face an allergy problem in a specific season. It is called seasonal allergy. When you suffer from allergy only in the presence of a specific element like when you play with pets. This is called situational allergy. Everybody does not react in the same way to a specific element. Therefore, you should not depend on others’ reactions to analyze your allergy reaction.
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Symptoms Of Pollen Allergies
Everyones immune system is different and allergies to pollens can cause diverse signs and symptoms. This means that diagnosing an allergy can be difficult. If you think you may have an allergy, keeping a record of your symptoms can help you and your doctor to understand what is causing your symptoms.
What Are The Symptoms Of A Mold Allergy
Mold spores get into your nose and cause rhinitis symptoms. They also can reach the lungs and trigger asthma.
Symptoms can include:
- Mucus in the throat
- Asthma symptoms if you have allergic asthma cough, wheeze, shortness of breath and/or chest tightness
Mold allergy can cause an allergic reaction right away. But in some cases, it may cause delayed symptoms. This can cause a stuffy nose or asthma symptoms that get worse over time. If your symptoms often get worse in a damp, humid, or moldy room like a basement, this may mean you have a mold allergy.
Outdoor molds often cause allergy symptoms in summer and fall. But they may be year-round in warmer, humid climates. Indoor molds may cause allergy symptoms year-round.
Rarely, some people can have a more serious illness called allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. In this condition, there is both an allergic and an inflammatory response in the lungs to the mold or fungus. Symptoms may include severe wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath, much like asthma.
Food fungi, like mushrooms, dried fruit, or foods containing yeast, vinegar, or soy sauce usually dont cause allergy symptoms in the nose, eyes, and lungs. Reactions to food fungi are often caused by the foods direct effect on blood vessels.
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Reduce The Risk Of Hay Fever Triggering An Asthma Attack
How Allergies Affect Copd
Seasonal nasal allergies, also known as allergic rhinitis, tend to peak in the summer. However, they can start as early as the spring and last late into the fall, since these warmer months are when plants, mold, fungi, and dust mites thrive.
Some people experience allergies during the winter, too, although it is less common. Most winter allergies come from spending extra time in indoor places with dust and mold.
All of these different factors can trigger respiratory symptoms for the more than 24 million people in the US who suffer from seasonal allergies. But for people who suffer from COPD as well, the pollen, mold spores, and generally poor air quality can actually make their disease worse.
If you suffer from allergies and breathe in allergens like pollen or mold, it triggers the release of histamine that affects your upper and lower respiratory tracts. Histamine causes an inflammatory response, causing irritation, swelling, and increased mucus secretion in the lungs and airways.
Here are some common symptoms associated with seasonal allergies:
- Itchy, watery eyes
- Excess mucus production
- Coughing and sneezing
As you can see, many allergy symptoms are respiratory symptoms that have the potential to interact or compound with existing symptoms of COPD like coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. For example, an allergic reaction can cause excess mucus production and swelling in the airways, which in turn blocks airflow and makes it even more difficult to breathe.
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Wash And Groom Your Pets
If you have pets, they can be a major contributor to your allergies. It’s important to wash and groom them regularly to reduce the amount of allergens they bring into your house.
When dogs and cats go outside, all kinds of pollen, dust, and mold spores that are in the grass and in the air stick to their fur. When they come inside, all of those allergens are transferred from their fur onto any carpet, clothes, and furniture they come in contact with.
Giving your pets baths and brushing them regularly helps prevent these allergens from building up in their fur and causing your allergies to act up. It also helps to keep your pets off of your furniture and bedding, so you won’t be sitting and sleeping in places where your pets have tracked pollen.
How To Protect Your Lungs From Seasonal Allergies
Check the outdoor air quality levels and pollution forecasts before you venture outside. If you do go outside, scope out the environment for obvious allergy triggers.
Do gardening and lawn maintenance in the early morning or in the evening, while pollen counts are at their lowest.
Stay away from citronella candles, bug sprays, strong-smelling candles, and other seasonal products that can irritate your lungs. Opt for mosquito repellants in lotion form rather than in sprays.
Use medications as prescribed and keep your allergy medications handy.
Consult with a medical professional. Doctors can diagnose seasonal allergies, prescribe medications, and recommend imaging tests to evaluate the health of your lungs. For more information, make an appointment today with Virtual Imaging, Inc. at .
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What Other Tools Can I Use For Monitoring Asthma Control
Peak Flow Meter
Sometimes doctors recommend a peak flow meter a handheld device that measures how well air moves out of your lungs. A peak flow meter, when used every day, can spot reduced airflow before you notice the signs and symptoms of an asthma episode.
Peak flow meter readings can help you monitor your asthma control. But they are just one tool. Your peak flow meter reading is not the only indicator of asthma control. Always follow your Asthma Action Plan.
Pulse Oximeter
Doctors use pulse oximeters to measure how much oxygen your blood is carrying. Some people with asthma may experience a drop in their oxygen levels in their blood.
Pulse oximeters you can buy online and use at home are not as accurate as medical grade devices. Monitoring your blood oxygen levels with pulse oximeters is not a recommended part of home management of asthma.
Lung Function Tests
Your allergist or pulmonologist may use different lung function tests to assess your asthma control. Learn more about the tests used to diagnose and monitor asthma.
