Allergy to herbs

Let us take a closer look at the second and third periods of exacerbation of pollinosis, the causes of which are cereals and weeds.

Cereals are a large family of plants with about 12,000 species. Wild-growing cereals (grasses) are found everywhere in fields and forests, gardens and parks (Table 1). These include chaff, sweet ear, meadow bluegrass, timofeevka, hedgehog, etc. Cultivated cereals include oats, rye, wheat, barley, millet, etc. (Table 2).

		May	June	July
	Timofeevka lugovaya				Height: 25-80 cm it is most often used for lawns
	The Hedgehog national team				Height: up to 1 m inflorescences are prickly, in the form of glomeruli
	Bluegrass meadow				Height: 30-60 cm the so-called "cockerel or chicken?"
	Sweet spikelet				Height: 25-80 cm It is often used in perfumery
	Chaff (ryegrass)				Height: up to 1 m inflorescences are located on both sides of the stem

Table.1. Wild-growing cereals

	Oats	Wheat	Barley	Corn

Table 2. Cultivated cereals


Weeds include plants of several families: haze, compound, plantain. The most famous "allergy culprits" among weeds, depending on the region, are wormwood, ragweed and quinoa (Table 3).

		August	September
	Wormwood			Height: 3-150 cm The flowers are extremely small, often yellow, sometimes reddish, collected in small fruits - smooth, small achenes without a crest.
	Quinoa			Height: up to 1 m Often the plants are covered with silvery hairs, which makes them look like they are sprinkled with flour.
	Ambrosia			Height: 20-180 cm, sometimes up to 2 meters. In appearance and leaf shape, it resembles wormwood - wormwood It occurs more often in the south of Russia

Table 3. The most allergenic weeds

During the flowering period, grass pollen is carried by the wind over long distances. Allergies manifest themselves in the form of runny nose, stuffy nose, sneezing, burning or itching in the nose and mouth, conjunctivitis, coughing, and in some cases, attacks of suffocation. The condition of seasonal exacerbation of pollinosis resembles a "cold", but the temperature often remains normal. In the midst of the disease, common symptoms may occur - the so-called "pollen intoxication": irritability, fatigue, sleep disorders, fatigue. 

Patients with allergies to grass pollen may also experience allergy symptoms after eating certain foods (Table 4). The reason for the so-called “cross allergy” lies in the biological similarity of plants belonging to the same family and having similar allergens in structure. 

Table 4. Cross allergens

Allergy diagnosis is of great importance because it determines the further tactics of patient management. It is based on a detailed assessment of the clinical picture of the disease in combination with a special examination, including a blood test for specific immunoglobulin E and/ or skin allergological tests. 

After determining the cause of the allergy, the doctor prescribes treatment: symptomatic (antihistamines, local anti-inflammatory and antiallergic drugs) and pathogenetic, i.e. aimed at the cause of the allergic disease. Currently, the only method with proven effectiveness is Allergen-Specific immunotherapy (ASIT). 

ASIT consists in the sequential administration of certain doses of allergens into the human body: during the initial phase of treatment (up to 4 months), the administered doses gradually increase, and then during the maintenance phase, the same dose of allergen is administered for 3 years. The full course of treatment is about 3 years, after which the patient has a long-term remission, immunity to the allergen. There are two main methods of administration: subcutaneous and sublingual. Currently, the sublingual route of administration is more relevant: tablets are taken under the tongue, absorbed, and then swallowed. ASIT allows you to stop the symptoms of the disease, avoid subsequent sensitization, and prevents the development of bronchial asthma. 

The EMC Dermatology and Allergy Clinic performs all types of diagnostics for seasonal and other forms of allergies, as well as offers modern treatments for hay fever.