Stress 'delays allergy reactions'
Updated on 15 August 2008
Allergy sufferers who experience a bout of stress can be substantially more likely to suffer a potentially life-threatening reaction a day later, a new study shows.
Research suggests people with hay fever and other allergies may become more sensitive to stimuli like pollen 24 hours after being stressed or anxious.
Scientists warned that these delayed - or "late-phase" - reactions were generally not affected by the most common allergy treatments, such as antihistamines.
The researchers examined 28 seasonal allergy sufferers before and after exposing them to stress.
In skin prick allergy tests they found the participants developed wheals on their arms twice as big when highly stressed as when they were unstressed.
A day later they were still four times as likely to react more violently to the skin test.
Study author Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State University, said allergies were not minor problems and could be deadly. She added: "What's interesting about this is that it shows that being stressed can cause a person's allergies to worsen the next day.
"This is clinically important for patients since most of what we do to treat allergies is to take antihistamines to control the symptoms - runny nose, watery, itchy eyes, and congestion. Antihistamines don't deal with those symptoms on the next day."
Fellow researcher Gailen Marshall, professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics at Ohio State, said the findings should alert doctors and patients to the danger of allergic reactions a day after a stressful situation, "when least expected".
"Late-phase reactions also occur in allergic asthma and can, in the proper settings, be potentially life-threatening," he added. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in Boston.
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