Birch trees, hornbeams, ash trees, they are making a lot of people with allergies right now. The pollens spread like Easter eggs. Attention to the risks of drugs or food supplements available without a prescription in pharmacies.
It’s the height of pollen allergy season, and when your eyes and throat scratch too much, you look for a solution in the pharmacy, where many antiallergics are available without a prescription. Except that they are not all without risk, in addition to being sometimes ineffective. Adelaïde Robert, head of the health and hygiene section, conducted the survey for the magazine 60 Million consumers.
franceinfo: Your magazine has compared 22 products, drugs, food supplements, delivered without a prescription. When we talk about dietary supplements, what are we talking about?
Adelaide Robert: We are talking about products that contain nutrients, plants, considered as food, but which do not exert a therapeutic action. They therefore do not have to provide proof of efficacy, and they do not have the right to claim a therapeutic effect.
So if we are to believe your study, they are all ineffective. Tell us why?
Precisely because the effectiveness, they do not need to prove it in this test, the notes reflect the quantity of studies bringing the proof of effectiveness, against placebo, of the products included, and there are few of them. They’re rated poorly because there’s no evidence to back them up, and the ones we compared also sometimes have caveat flaws.
After that does not prevent these supplements from having an effect on some of us, and in this case so much the better, as long as they are not dangerous. The only ones not recommended in the case of a pollen allergy are those made from bee products, which may themselves contain traces of pollen.
If it comes to drugs, when we think of antihistamines, in general we think of Zyrtec, and if I believe your study, it remains the most effective, it has few competitors?
Zyrtec is one of the trade names for cetirizine, which is generic and available in over-the-counter versions. Cetirizine is indeed effective, and it is tied in the lead with loratadine. They have both largely supplanted Polaramine, a first-generation antihistamine, because they have far fewer side effects.
Exactly what side effects are we talking about?
First-generation antihistamines made you drowsy, dizzy, dry mouth, etc. Cetirizine and loratadine much less. They are less dangerous at the wheel, even if they require to be vigilant.
There are also contraindications to be observed. Finally, it’s all pretty obvious, but we tend to consider that self-medication drugs are safe, while there are precautions for use and contraindications to respect.
If we look at nose sprays or eye drops, are the results better?
It’s true for eye drops, the four that are compared are effective and risk-free, even if there are still contraindications for some. In products for the nose, there are indeed effective products, such as corticosteroid sprays (here Humex hay fever) but we must remain vigilant with products containing essential oils.
What is interesting is to see in any case that everyone can find a shoe that suits them. Children, pregnant women: the offer is sufficiently diversified for everyone to find a suitable product.
And there are things without risk, very useful like saline, to clean the eyes or Sterimar-type manganese sprays, to clean the nose: it’s also very practical in relay of drugs in drop or spray.
If the discomfort lasts, what should push us to go to the doctor? When should you go there?
When self-medication treatments are not enough, when the quality of life is impacted, you have to go for it. Pollen allergies are allergies that last. With birch, we leave for at least two months. You have to find the right treatment, and not miss another diagnosis.
And what can this doctor offer? Long-term treatment?
He can already identify the allergen, which is important for the future, and to monitor his risk of daily exposure on sites like pollens.fr or dedicated apps.
And then the doctor can suggest more effective treatments or combinations of treatments or desensitization by immunotherapy, which indeed can have interesting long-term effectiveness, because it treats the cause, by teaching the immune system to tolerate the allergen, and not not just soothing the symptoms.
We end with some preventive measures, some advice to avoid increasing the risk of allergy at home?
Yes, you must rinse your hair before going to sleep, do not dry your laundry outside, air out very early in the morning or late at night, when there is less pollen, put on protective glasses when you go gardening outside , do not open the windows in the car, these are small details that can make the difference too.