For how we live.
For hay fever and year-round allergy, the pill most people reach for is not the strongest option. A meta-analysis found steroid nasal sprays beat oral antihistamines across nasal symptoms — most of all a blocked nose.
The dripping-mucus feeling is one of the commonest causes of a lingering cough. What clears it depends on the cause — and for allergy, steroid sprays beat antihistamine pills for the drip itself.
Saline nasal irrigation has better evidence than most self-care remedies: trials support it for chronic sinus and hay-fever symptoms, and a pilot found it shortened colds. The catch is that the quality is low.
The oral decongestant in most cold and sinus tablets — phenylephrine — works no better than placebo, US regulators now say. Saline and short-term sprays do more.
Most people who presented did not have diagnosed asthma. The investigation into the 2016 epidemic thunderstorm asthma event identified who was at risk, and it was not who health services expected.
A detection-and-attribution study across 60 pollen stations found seasons 20 days longer and concentrations 21% higher since 1990 — and separated how much of that trend is anthropogenic.
Two birth cohorts totalling 9,801 children were sorted into eight developmental patterns. The classic progression was one of them, and one of the smallest.
A randomised trial gave one group unfiltered local honey and found no relief beyond placebo. A later trial found a benefit — using a dose of about 70 grams a day alongside an antihistamine.
A placebo-controlled trial in 164 children reduced fine particles 64% and found no improvement in symptoms. A smaller crossover trial found a benefit, but only in children whose asthma was poorly controlled.
Farm-raised children really are protected from asthma, and the mechanism has been traced to microbial exposure and innate immunity. What has not been shown is that household hygiene caused the allergy epidemic.
A European task force argued the first-generation drugs sold over the counter should not be. On symptom relief the newer ones differ from each other too — and the most familiar performed worst.
A 160-study meta-analysis found real but moderate symptom reductions while patients are on treatment. The evidence for lasting benefit after stopping is much thinner, and rests mainly on grass.
Health agencies conclude there is enough evidence to tie indoor dampness and mould to respiratory symptoms and asthma. Controlling the water source, not identifying the species, is what the evidence points to.