Abstract

Allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (hay fever) is the most common chronic disease in all industrialized nations. Therapy consists essentially in the use of anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory drugs, which mostly show a good and quick effect. With allergenspecific immunotherapy, there is also a causal possibility of tolerance induction. There is currently a considerable undersupply, as those affected trivialize the symptoms and often have concerns about long-term drug therapy. There is also great interest in using non-medicinal measures to prevent and/or relieve allergic symptoms on the assumption that these are free from side effects. In this publication, we present non-drug methods for which clinical studies are available in the literature. The methods have varying degrees of effectiveness. An evidence-based comparative assessment between the methods is not possible. There are also hardly any studies in comparison to standard drug therapy. A large number of the interventions consist of allergen reduction, e.g., with air filters, or cleaning of the mucous membranes with nasal irrigation, etc., none of which should be seen as a substitute but as a supplement to drug therapy.

Author Details

Authors

• Karl-Christian Bergmann¹
• Markus Berger²
• Ludger Klimek³
• Oliver Pfaar⁴
• Barbora Werchan⁵
• Matthias Werchan⁵
• Torsten Zuberbier¹

Departments

• ¹ Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Clinic for Dermatology, Venereology and Allergy, Berlin, Germany,
• ² Institut für Pathophysiologie und Allergieforschung, Zentrum für Pathophysiologie, Infektiologie und Immunologie, Medizinische Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria,
• ³ Center for Rhinology and Allergology, Wiesbaden,
• ⁴ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Section of Rhinology and Allergy, University Hospital Marburg, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg,
• ⁵ German Pollen Information Service Foundation (PID), Berlin, Germany

Address

Prof. Dr. Karl-Christian Bergmann, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Klinik für Dermatologie, Venerologie und Allergie, Luisenstraße 2, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Email: [email protected]

Citation