Prevention
Allergies add up…
We often get asked, “How come I am allergic, but don’t have symptoms?” Although some patients may be sensitive to a single allergen, the majority will have multiple triggers. Depending on the time of year or situation exposure rate and intensity can vary. Furthermore, patients only become symptomatic once they cross what is referred to as the allergic symptom threshold. In other words, below this threshold, patients are often asymptomatic and above this threshold, the majority will have clinically significant symptoms. This threshold varies from person to person. So not everyone’s threshold will be the same.
Here is an example of a male patient who has allergies to ragweed, dust mites, and cat.
- Situation A: During the spring, summer, and winter, the patient has his usual exposure to cats and dust mites. But his total allergen exposure load is below the allergen symptom threshold and therefore is asymptomatic.
- Situation B: Th fall is typically when ragweed pollen levels are at its highest. Again, the patient continues to have his usual exposure to cats and dust mites, but also has to cope with ragweed pollen exposure. Because of this, his total allergen exposure load is above the allergen symptom threshold and is therefore clinically symptomatic.
- Situation C: Since he can’t control how much ragweed pollen is in the air, the patient decides to reduce his indoor allergen exposure to dust mites and cats. By doing this, he is able to reduce the total allergen load such that he is again below the allergen symptom threshold and is therefore asymptomatic.
Find out how you can implement environmental control measures to reduce your allergen load to:
