Are you an allergy sufferer forever?

Gleams of hope for all allergy sufferers: an allergy can actually go away on its own. As sudden as it sometimes appears, it can also recede over the course of a lifetime. Hormonal changes during puberty, pregnancy or menopause can have an effect on how pronounced the allergy is.

In many cases, children in particular who grow up with an allergy no longer have symptoms as adults. Presumably, the immune system recognizes over time that the substances to which it has previously overreacted do not actually pose a danger. This phenomenon of spontaneous tolerance induction can be observed particularly in food allergies but also in allergy to pollen and the possible cross-allergies associated with it. The aging process can also have a positive effect on allergies in adults.

There is no complete all-clear, however, because an allergy can return years later. In addition, no one should rely on the fact that hay fever and Co. disappear again by itself. Anyone who waits too long to treat allergy symptoms risks a floor change from the upper to the lower airways and thus allergic asthma, which is not curable.

Doctors call spontaneous tolerance induction the independent disappearance of an allergy. Because sometimes it happens that the immune system develops further and recognizes at some point by itself that a flower pollen is not a serious attacker for the body. Then a change takes place in the body's defenses, which leads to the fact that on contact with the former allergen no allergic reaction occurs any more.

The sensitization to the allergens remains, however, and can be detected by the antibodies in the blood. Only the allergic reaction suddenly stays away - a great relief for allergy sufferers. In children with food allergies, spontaneous tolerance induction is definitely more common. Over 50 percent of cow's milk allergies and as many as 30 percent of peanut allergies disappear before puberty.

However, you should never try it on your own to see if the allergy may have regressed, as eating the food can be life-threatening for allergy sufferers.

Unfortunately, spontaneous tolerance induction does not occur in every allergy sufferer and is not a guarantee that the allergy problem will eventually resolve on its own. Therefore, allergies should always be treated by a doctor - if only to prevent a floor change to allergic asthma. Through specific immunotherapy (SIT), also known as hypo- or desensitization, an allergy can even be cured or at least the occurrence of the symptoms can be permanently prevented.

In hypo- or desensitization, the cause of the allergy is eliminated by accustoming the immune system to the allergen over a period of usually 3 years and developing a tolerance to the supposed enemy. As a result, the intensity of the symptoms can be significantly reduced. In many cases, the symptoms even disappear completely after the end of therapy.

Whether hypo- or desensitization is an option for you, discuss directly with your doctor. An insect-sting-allergy can be treated very successfully by this, which can even be life-saving for those affected. Specific immunotherapy (SIT) also shows a lasting effect in most other forms of allergy. However, the success depends on individual factors, which you can clarify with an allergist before starting therapy.

For mild hay fever, treatment with antiallergic nasal sprays and antiallergic eye drops is usually sufficient. Medications containing mast cell stabilizers or antihistamines are used for this purpose.

Nasal sprays containing the active ingredient cromoglicic acid, such as Pollicrom® Nasal Spray, should be used early on to stop the allergy mechanism. The active ingredient azelastine, contained in Pollival® Nasal Spray, on the other hand, relieves acute symptoms and prevents further inflammatory reactions from developing.