Allergies can be chronic, says Hyderabad doctor

Hyderabad: Many doctors feel that there is a lack of awareness among people on the chronic nature of allergies, on what can cause them and on how to go about addressing them.

According to assistant professor at Chest Hospital Dr Nalini Ghanate, patients are not adequately counselled about allergies being a long-term problem and about the treatment process.

Dr Ghanate operates the allergy clinic at the hospital, the only such government clinic in the state, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

 “The problem with allergies is that like hypertension and diabetes, they can only be controlled. If they are not, they will become severe and the treatment will involve higher doses. Most allergy patients need longer medication. We explain to them that they have to make multiple visits to keep the allergies under control,” she said.

Dr Ghanate said another misconception patients have is a tendency to relate allergies only to itching, whereas it can affect nose, chest and even skin.

“There is definitely a lack of awareness on what all can be allergens, and everything is attributed to food,” she said.

Meanwhile, there has been a rise in the number of patients (80 to 100 per week) visiting the allergy clinic in the past two weeks. She attributes this to the change in weather.

Dr Ghanate said the rise was mainly fuelled by asthmatic patients having flare-ups and asthma attacks. “It happens with change of weather and could be because of pollen load or viral infections,” she said. The most common cases received at the clinic pertain to bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis (running nose and sneezing).