What Are The Different Kinds of Allergy Medications

What Are The Different Kinds of Allergy Medications?

Allergy medications are provided in the following forms: oral antihistamines, decongestants and combinations, eye drops, nasal and injections.

Antihistamines are used to relieve or prevent the symptoms of hay fever and other types of allergy. Histamine can cause itching, sneezing, runny nose, and watery eyes.

Antihistamine and decongestant combinations are used to treat the nasal congestion, sneezing, and runny nose caused by colds and hay fever.

CAT ALLERGY AND CHILDREN

An animal allergy usually means sensitivity to proteins found in a cat, horse or dog’s saliva and dander (flakes of skin). Some people are also highly sensitive to proteins in the urine of rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters. People with the worst animal allergies can have a reaction from dander off an article of clothing, when they are nowhere near the pet. Cats have the biggest potential for allergic reactions.

Parents who worry that their household cat might trigger asthma in their children shouldn't be too quick to get rid of the cat, according to a study that appears in The Lancet. The study shows that high levels of cat allergen in the home decrease the risk of asthma, apparently by altering the immune response to cats. The study, funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), begins to uncover the immune system processes behind this phenomenon. This work was also supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).

Children allergic to cats are told to avoid felines or suffer the consequences - sneezing, runny eyes, and itching. But does exposing young children to cats influence the chances the children will develop allergies later? Beginning in 1982, researchers in Australia followed 224 children, looking at their exposure to cats at home. For 20 years, the children were regularly tested for cat allergies. Fifty of the children had cats when they were under 18 years old, 14 after age 18, and 70 in both periods. Those who acquired cats after age 18 were more likely to be allergic to them than those who were exposed to cats as youngsters. This study adds support to the "hygiene hypothesis" - early exposure to microbes and potential allergens lessens the chances of developing allergies later in life. Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but too much cleanliness may result in more allergies.

The following represent the families of eye drops used as allergy medication: Azelastine ophthalmic solution is used to treat itchy eyes caused by allergic conjunctivitis by preventing the effects of allergic reactions. Cromolyn and Lodoxamide ophthalmic solution are used to treat certain disorders of the eye caused by allergies by acting on mast cells, to prevent them from causing the allergic reaction. Ophthalmic ketorolac is an anti-inflammatory medicine used in the eye to treat itching caused by seasonal allergic conjunctivitis. Naphazoline is used to relieve redness due to minor eye irritations, such as those caused by dust and pollen. Ophthalmic phenylephrine in the strength of 0.12% is also used to relieve redness due to minor irritations of the eye, such as those caused by allergy, dust, and other irritants.

The nasal family of allergy treatments are the following: Azelastine nasal solution which is used to help treat the symptoms (runny nose, sneezing, itching) of seasonal allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis. Nasal corticosteroids are cortisone-like medicines. They belong to the family of steroids. These medicines are sprayed or inhaled into the nose to help relieve the stuffy nose, irritation, and discomfort of hay fever, other allergies. Cromolyn nasal solution is used to help prevent or treat the symptoms of seasonal or chronic allergic rhinitis. Oxymetazoline and Phenylephrine are used for the temporary relief of nasal congestion or stuffiness caused by hay fever or other allergies.

There are two types of injected medications: The first being adrenergic bronchodilators which are medicines that stimulate the nerves in many parts of the body, causing different effects. Epinephrine injection is used in the emergency treatment of allergic reactions to insect stings, medicines, foods, or other substances. It relieves skin rash, hives, and itching; wheezing; and swelling of the lips, eyelids, tongue, and inside of the nose. The next is Omalizumab is used to treat moderate to severe persistent allergic asthma, it is a shot given under the skin. Omalizumab is a medicine called an IgE blocker. When people with allergic asthma breathe in a year-round allergen, such as cat or dog dander, their bodies make more IgE which causes a series of reactions in your body that can lead to asthma attacks and symptoms.

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