What complications can there be?
- Increased susceptibility to other diseases of the airways
- Ear infections
- Difficulty sleeping and insomnia
- Worsening of asthma, and even the possibility of suffering a severe asthma attack.
What provisions are there for me?
The pet owners should know that it is important to avoid the allergens that cause it increases the risk of developing or worsening asthma. The symptoms can be controlled with medication, but the allergy itself can not be made to disappear.
For people who are only allergic to an allergen is possible a vaccine treatment for desensitization to the allergen. Replacement may be necessary to maintain the treatment over a period of five years.
The main recommendation is to avoid animals.What medications are prescribed?
- Antihistamines: allergy in the form of tablets or syrup (loratadine, cetirizine), which reduce the allergic reaction to neutralize histamine.
- Nasal Spray: alone or with other medications, used in case of mild to serious symptoms: cromolyn (an allergy), antihistamines (azelastine, levocarbastina) and blocking of mucus secretion, corticosteroids (anti-inflammatory hormone).
- Eye Drops for the eyes alone or in combination with other drugs, used in case of mild to severe symptoms, nedocromil (allergy), corticosteroids (anti-inflammatory hormone), antihistamines (allergy).
- Allergen Vaccines: to achieve tolerance to substances known to cause allergies (allergens). Applied by injection or topical drops of increasing amounts of the substance. This prevents the immune system to develop the amount of histamine that causes the symptoms. This treatment takes several years.
When you have symptoms of asthma, may be prescribed any of the following medications:
- Medicines for inhalation: effect of short-acting bronchodilators such as salbutamol. Alone or with other medications.
- Medicines for inhalation: long-acting bronchodilators such as salmeterol and formoterol. Normally associated with inhaled corticosteroids.
- Medicines for inhalation, to counteract the allergy cells (cromolyn and nedocromil) can prevent moderate symptoms and some attacks.
- Medicines for inhalation, corticosteroids (anti-inflammatory hormone), when symptoms are almost daily and require bronchodilator medications.
- Oral medication during periods of worsening: bronchodilators and corticosteroids.
- Other: oral, along with the inhaled, long-term treatment: anti-leukotrienes (montelukast, zafirlukast), xanthines (theophylline).
The best way to control most cases of asthma is allergic in origin with an inhaled corticosteroid (beclomethasone, budesonide, fluticasone), taken at regular intervals as a preventive measure. Sometimes adding an inhaled bronchodilator. For patients who also suffer from allergic rhinitis, it is often useful to an antihistamine (eg cetirizine).
credit to: Dr. Flemming Andersen, Dr. Paul Klenerman, Dr. Brian Lipworth