There are many people who have a pollen allergy. Coping with pollen symptoms can be difficult and requires multiple different types of testing in order to figure out the exact problem. The process can be lengthy due to the number of different types of pollen and the myriad of symptoms that result. But it is helpful to determine in order to improve a person’s quality of life.

Pollen describes a group of different plant products. Pollen is actually spread in order for the plant to reproduce. Therefore there are many types of pollens, one for each type of plant. It is important to know the specific type of pollen so that a person can avoid that plant. Certain types, such as ragweed and others, are very common causes of symptoms. If the specific type is known, therapy can be directed at each one in order to desensitize the person towards that type of pollen.

The effects of pollen tend to be clustered around an allergic phenotype. Most people develop problems such as allergic rhinitis, which is an inflammation of the nasal mucosa. Because people breath pollen in through their nose, it tends to be deposited in the nose and nasal turbinates. There, it is absorbed and detected by immune cells in the nose. These cells detect specific types and become activated. When activated, they recruit other cell types to release inflammatory mediators such as histamine.

Histamine is responsible for many of the pollen symptoms that people describe. Histamine is produced by mast cells that have been activated by antigen producing cells that originally pick up the pollen in the circulation or the skin. When histamine is released in the nose, it tends to cause itchyness and a production of a clear, watery discharge. People with this discharge will have to blow their nose frequently or sniff regularly to clear their nose. This allergic rhinitis can be improved with medicines that reduces the inflammation or prevent the effects of the histamine.

The typical class of medicines that are used to treat pollen related diseases are called antihistamines. The most common one is called Benadryl and is also known by its generic name, diphenhydramine. This class is called the first generation histamine agents and they are very active in both central and peripheral sites. The central sites cause a person to be drowsy and sleepy an, the newer agents, the second generation antihistamines, have less of a sedative effect. These medicines include loratadine and fexofenadine, also known as Claritin and Allegra. Another drug that has mild sedative effects are called cetirizine, or Zyrtec. All of these medications can be effective in reducing the symptoms of a pollen allergy and allow someone to go about their daily lives with few impairments.