Spring has suddenly broken through the icy winter and the trees are covered in blossom this April. But this is a time of discomfort and suffering for those tree pollen allergic hay fever sufferers who will experience itching, sneezing, watering nose and irritatingly painful eyes. Silver birch pollen will be pouring from dangling catkins suspended from dormant trees coming back to life again after the long cold winter. Silver Birch pollen contains a particulary potent allergy provoking substance called Bet V 1 otherwise known as Profilin, which is curiously also contained in fresh apples, pears and stone fruit such as peaches, nectarines, cherries and plums. In addition, Profilin is found in hazelnuts and walnuts as well as vegetables such as celery, carrot, potato and tomato. Fortunately most afflicted will only experience itching of the mouth, palate and throat if they eat these foods in the raw form. Cooking these foods damages the Profilins and makes them less allergy provoking. These pollen-food cross reactions are usually irritating but rarely ever lead to more serious allergic reaction such as anaphylaxis and will respond promptly to antihistamine medication such as cetiriizine, loratadine and fexofenadine.
Visit our webpage on hay fever and oral allergies for more information
www.allergy-clinic.co.uk/airway-allergy/hayfever
http://www.allergy-clinic.co.uk/airway-allergy/oral-allergy-syndrome
