How the Patient Can Help Himself

If you or your child suffer from a purely allergic asthma and know from experience or from extensive testing which allergens are involved, then you can easily imagine what the simplest and most effective way of preventing an asthma attack is : simply avoiding the allergens in question as much as possible. such avoidance is the simplest form of allergy treatment. if it were possible to treat each patient in this manner, then it would not be necessary for hyposensitization treatment. Avoidance is impossible in the case of so-called ubiquitous allergens. These substances are everywhere and yet nowhere; only a space suit could provide proper protection against them. 

One such allergen which presents great difficulty is house dust. Today we know that it is the housedust mite (dermatophagoides pteronyssimus) which makes house dust so dangerous for asthmatic patients. As explained further on, this mite is not found at higher altitudes, making it possible for the asthmatic patient allergic to house dust to find considerable relief in the high mountains. Since these patients can usually not simply change their residence or site of work to one with an altitude higher than 5000 feet ( 1,500 meters), they must find other ways to cope with the house dust. Since most patients allergic to house dust develop symptoms associated with asthma while sleeping, they should first of all make every effort to remove the dust in the bedroom. Dust is easily trapped in heavy curtains, rugs and mattresses. The patient should make sure that there is no dust under the beds, in the closets or on the window sills. These household cleaning measures will provide instant and surprising relief for patients at night. 

Other ubiquitous allergens are the spores of mildew. Care should be taken to keep the living quarters as dry as possible. mildew flourishes in old damp apartments. If the patient can afford it, he should move to a dry mildew-free apartment. If moving to a different place does not provide relief, then hyposensitization treatment becomes necessary. Avoidance of allergens is much easier if the patient has an allergy to animal hair. Here again the patient should begin with a close look at the bedroom. Mattresses filled with horsehair must be replaced with those made of foam rubber and feathers in pillows or blankets must be replaced with synthetic materials. A patient who is allergic to sheep wool must also put away his favorite wool blanket. These patients should be particularly careful with domesticated animals such as dogs, horses, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits and hamsters. Although avoidance of these allergens would appear simple, it frequently presents great difficulty since animal hair contains aggressive allergens which can trigger asthma attacks in small amounts. 

I once had a young patient who reacted strongly to extract of dog hair, but completely avoided contact with dogs. It took quite a while to solve the riddle: she had a friend who was an ardent hunter. The dog hairs on his coat were sufficient to provoke an asthma attack in the patient. small children should not be given tiny fur-bearing animals such as hamsters, guinea pigs or rabbits. In recent years we have observed an alarming increase n the rate of allergies in children without regard to their genetic predisposition for allergies. Experience usually shows patients with pollen asthma what the best cure is for their case. One of my patients quickly takes a cable car to a mountain at a height of 5,200 feet ( 1,600 meters) whenever he develops signs of an asthma attack. Since the air at this height is almost completely pollen-free he finds considerable relief from the restlessness. He is, however, an exception because he lives at the foot of a range of mountains and is a free-lance artist who can easily escape the clouds of pollen sometimes found on the plateau. 

Patients who do not have this freedom and who live in a densely populated area have no choice but to remain at home on warm dry days ("pollen days") despite the pleasant weather. Although the downtown areas of large cities are not particularly healthy otherwise, the concentration of pollen is lower in these area.

In England and the United States, pollen alert stations inform listeners of the pollen concentrations when the weather report is made. If no such service is available in your area, you may want to start one together with other patients who have hay fever.