Paul Szmal: Tis the season for pollen flying through the air, which means you might be reaching for the claritin off the Walmart shelf, but sometimes those allergies could be an indication of something else or could lead to something else. And here to talk about that with us is Dr. Ansvar Ahmed from Finger Lakes Community Health. Dr. Ahmed, welcome. How are you?
Guest: Thank you. Good to be here. Good morning.
Paul Szmal: Let's start with the first element here, which is allergies. A lot of people have pollen allergies, but sometimes people have food allergies and other different types of things. What are some of the warning signs that you're dealing with a potential allergy problem?
Guest: So besides the usual symptoms of having itchy eyes or runny nose, a chronic dry cough can oftentimes also be a sign of worsening allergies. And a lot of the things that can trigger that are more than just things like pollen and dust, but mold, pet dander. We mentioned certain foods, even smoke can actually trigger an allergic reaction in people.
Paul Szmal: That's correct, Paul. So even your bonfires in the backyard, things of that nature can actually start to trigger an allergy-like symptom. And there are those seasonal allergies, but then some of these, like a food allergy, these can happen any time of year.
Guest: That is correct. Yes. Yes, absolutely. And do sometimes the food allergies present a different set of symptoms?
Paul Szmal: So food allergies, unfortunately, can be quite bad. It can actually show up as a full-blown, what we call an anaphylaxis-type reaction. You break out in hives, you have difficulty breathing. So unfortunately, those can be quite dangerous.
Guest: Now there's allergies and then there's asthma. What's the clinical definition of asthma compared to an allergy?
Paul Szmal: So without getting into really the medical jargon, the best way to explain it is asthma is in fact an end symptom of uncontrolled allergies, is really the best way to put it. Your lungs start to react to the allergen by producing mucus, resulting in a chronic cough. And that's if an allergy goes untreated, it becomes more than just itchy eyes or a runny nose. Your lungs start to have such a bad reaction, they start producing chronic mucus, which is what then results in this chronic, non-remaining cough, shortness of breath.
Guest: We're talking with Dr. Asfar Ahmed here on FLX Morning on Finger Lakes Newsradio. So there is a definite connection then between allergies and asthma as one could lead to the other.
Paul Szmal: Absolutely. One of the treatments for asthma is a medicine called monolucast, which by definition is an anti-allergy medication. What are some of the common allergy medications that people take either over-the-counter or in more severe cases that are prescribed by a physician?
Guest: So oftentimes it's really what we call an antihistamine medication. You know it as Zyrtec or cetirizine, loratadine, they're all basically the same. It's an allergy medication designed to prevent histamine release in the body, fairly common over-the-counter. And then there's another one, it goes by the name of monolucast, which works in a different pathway. But again, the idea is to decrease an allergic response. One is by prescription monolucast, the other one, loratadine, Zyrtec, those are over-the-counter, but they do also work.
Paul Szmal: When it comes to asthma, I know inhalers are pretty common. Are there other asthma medications that are available?
Guest: Sure, yeah. Well, if things get worse enough, there is inhaled low-dose steroid medication, goes by several names. But it's a powder you breathe in every day, and it's designed to calm the lungs down.
Paul Szmal: Is there a significant difference? How do you tell if your allergic reaction may be going into an asthmatic reaction?
Guest: So you start to have a cough to the point that you cannot complete a sentence without going into a coughing spell. So those are the warning signs that this is in fact asthma. Every time you try to speak, you start to cough. That basically means your lungs are so irritated that any deep breath results in a coughing spell.
Paul Szmal: When it comes to the allergy medications, there are some different treatments that you can take besides the over-the-counter medicine or some of the prescribed medicine. I guess that depends on the reaction that your body is having, because I know people that have allergies that take nasal drops. Some take eye drops.
Guest: Yeah. So that's correct, Paul. So those are essentially brand names like Flonase are, again, a steroid-type medication which is designed to help decrease inflammation in the lungs, or rather the nose. And then you have anti-allergy eye drops, which are just designed to help decrease that itchy eye sensation. Ultimately, if things get bad enough, we have patients see an allergist immunologist, which will sometimes come up with a serum, a cocktail, and then give injections on a monthly, quarterly basis. If things get bad enough and prescription medicines don't work, we have them see an allergist. They do a full battery testing and then start giving them serum injections.
Paul Szmal: So we've established what the symptoms are for both asthma and allergies and what some of the potential triggers are. So I guess the next question would be, what kind of changes can you make in your environment to lessen or minimize the possibility of these?
Guest: Yeah. It's a good question. So Paul, really the object here is to decrease exposure to allergens. So we ask folks in the summer months, open the windows in the house, get some fresh air. If you can, to buy a room air cleaner. These are air filters that have a HEPA air filter that traps allergens like pollen, pet dander, things of that nature. When having fires, bonfires, so on, try not to stand so close that you're going to start breathing in the smoke. These little changes can actually help decrease your allergy response.
Paul Szmal: I want to shift the focus here from adults to children. I know so many families that have kids that grow up with, you know, having peanut allergies or they're allergic to certain food dyes. Do children grow out of these allergies?
Guest: So to be honest, Paul, not necessarily, no, unless they are specifically treated by an allergist. So if you have a peanut allergy, unfortunately you will not grow out of it. It actually specifically does have treatments for it, decreasing the immune response, but that does require seeing a specialist and getting treatment. So we do not recommend if somebody had a peanut allergy as a child to try peanuts as an adult. Unfortunately, they may still get a reaction.
Paul Szmal: And there are some, though, allergic reactions, though, that children could grow out of?
Guest: So oftentimes if a child has severe asthma as a child, as they get older, that actually can get better with time. The body gets used to some of the allergens, the lungs mature, and sometimes, yes, as an adult you have less of a response than you did as a child for your asthma.
Paul Szmal: The best course of action if you're suffering from an allergy symptom and you're noticing like the running nose and the stuffy nose and that cough, things of that nature. Is it a good idea to first consult a physician before you consider just running into the local grocery store and grabbing an over-the-counter antihistamine?
Guest: Absolutely, Paul. We recommend highly to see your physicians and get fully evaluated because sometimes you can take medicines which are, in fact, not correct. The symptoms you may be having may not be what you think you have. So it's really best to see a physician rather than attempting over-the-counter treatments. And one of the things I want to point out, referencing back to children, we've mentioned smoke from bonfires, campfires, things of that nature. Secondhand smoke can be a big trigger for both children and adults, but especially for kids because their bodies aren't still developing.
Paul Szmal: That is correct, Paul. One thing we do want to mention is that oftentimes individuals will say that they smoke tobacco outside the home and when they come back in, you know, they're not smoking, therefore their reaction, the problem is hair, skin, clothing absorb all that tobacco smoke, cigarette residue. When you come back in and you pick up your child and hold them, they will, in fact, get triggered. Their allergies will get triggered from that tobacco smoke residue. And because many smokers start to lose their sense of smell, they probably don't even realize that they smell like smoke when they come in.
Guest: That is correct. Yes. Yes, and a lot of folks don't quite realize that how much allergens they're now carrying back into their home just on their skin, hair, and clothing.
Paul Szmal: Now, we've covered what I would consider to be, you know, mild to moderate allergy symptoms or asthma symptoms. But there is that element where things could be more severe and that would be a time that perhaps there's a trip to an emergency care center in order.
Guest: That's right, Paul. If for any reason, God forbid, you start to have a full-blown attack of hives, your skin breaks out, and you're having a difficult time breathing in the sense that you feel your throat is closing, that is immediately a medical visit to the ER. It's a medical emergency.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. I think that's referred to as anaphylactic shock, right?
Guest: That is correct. Yep. Yes. Yep.
Paul Szmal: Okay. So, if you want to find out more about what might be triggering your allergies and maybe you want to get diagnosed and see if maybe those allergies are going over to asthma, excellent idea to make an appointment with your physician, talk about it, talk about the available treatments, and get everything properly diagnosed so that you're taking the right medicine for the right reasons. Dr. Ahmed, as always, we appreciate having folks from Finger Lakes Health on with us, Finger Lakes Community Health. If people want to reach out to their local Finger Lakes Community Health office and maybe make an appointment, what's the best way of doing that?
Guest: So, Paul, you can go to our website. It lists all our different offices, and we would love to have folks come and see us, but yes, we have different sites, and we're kind of scattered over the Finger Lakes, Penan, Geneva, Dundee, Bath, Sotus, even Port Byron. So, yes, if you just go to our website, Finger Lakes Community Health, it lists all our contact info plus offices. So, yes, we'd love to see folks come down and get evaluated.
Paul Szmal: Excellent. Dr. Ahmed, thank you so much for filling this in this morning. We appreciate it.
Guest: Thank you all. Thank you. Have a great morning.
