Most of us who suffer with allergies have a number of strategies to deal with them, from nasal sprays and irrigation to antihistamines and puffers. But did you know that your stress level is affecting your allergies too?

It turns out that stress makes a difference.

This is no surprise to Benjamin Norman, a single father to a teenage son. Norman has year round allergies that plague him with wheezing, runny nose and eye watering. Apparently, Norman’s stress level is contributing to his agony. Ohio State researchers looked into the relationship between stress and allergic symptoms. The results were quite astonishing.

The study looked at hay fever sufferers. Participants were exposed to a stress that many can relate to: public speaking. Each participant was asked to prepare a speech on why they were the best person for a particular job. Afterwards, they had to deliver this speech to a panel of two or three people.

Allergic “wheals”, or hive like reactions, were examined before, during and after the stressful situation. For people who were not very stressed by the request, their allergy reactions stayed the same. However, if participants were moderately anxious, their wheals became 75 per cent bigger. If really anxious, the wheals doubled in size.

Unfortunately, this is not a short term effect either. Researchers found that stress can affect allergies in multiple ways. The stress effect follows the allergic trajectory itself: there is an early event phase, an acute phase and a late phase response to an allergen and the stress can affect the patient at all three phases.

Researchers hypothesize that stress heightens the allergic response, creating symptoms that may be more persistent.

The recommendation comes as no surprise: try to de-stress. Norman, the single father of one, says that he’ll try. He’d never thought of stress affecting his allergies - he’d never developed ulcers for instance, despite everything, so he thought he was doing okay. But - “Maybe it’s affecting my allergies”, he says.

The American Academy of Allergies, Asthma and Immunology says yes. Many allergists have suspected a connection between stress and allergies for a long time.

Source: CBS7