How to prevent your nasal allergy?

Do you know why and how your nose could feel itching and sensitive? The substance that causes itching and sensitive of your nose is called allergen. These include pollen, mold, dust mites, certain foods, latex, animal dander, and others. These allergens sensitize the nasal mucosal membrane through a sensitization process, which typically involves a few types of cell in our body, such as macrophage, lymphocyte and mast cell. In the beginning of the sensitization, allergens penetrate through the mucosal surface in our nasal passage. The easiness of the allergens penetrate through the mucosal surface is due to the deficiency of IgA antibodies, which main function is eliminating micro organisms that adhere to the mucosal surface. Usually, patients, who allergic to the allergen, have lower level of IgA antibodies.

The second step of the sensitization process is scavenging of the allergen by the macrophage cell. Macrophage cell is the large scavenger cell in the blood, whose function is eating up antigen, which is from outside of our body. During the scavenging process, macrophage cells also pass information about the invasion of foreign antigen to the lymphocyte cell, which involves several enzymes. Lymphocytes are stimulated by this information and multiplied to transform into plasma cells, which would synthesize IgE antibodies. IgE antibodies move to the mast and basophil cells around the eye, mouth and nose via tissue fluid and blood where they bind to the mast and basophil cells. When an allergen forms a bridge between two IgE molecules on the mast or basophil cells surface, histamine, which is a primary chemical mediator, will be released. This chemical will stimulate exocrine glands, contract smooth muscles in the bronchi, dilate blood vessels and increase their permeability and cause itch. Second chemical; prostaglandin, which is a secondary mediator, is synthesized in all types of cell and this chemical will cause inflammation around the mucosal surface inside the nostril.

How to avoid nasal allergy? We knew that nasal allergy is caused by the allergen; therefore, the first method to avoid nasal allergy is eliminating the allergen in our house or room. People who are allergic to house dust may not have allergy to the road or field dust. This is because house dust containing house dust mite, which is the major allergic component. Mites like to live in mattresses and box spring that containing cotton fillers or kapok. So, we should replace this thing to foam rubber encased with durable impervious material. Besides, we also should replace eiderdown, blankets and pillows with the one that are less hospitable to mites. In addition, dust-collecting upholstered furniture and carpets should not keep in the room because it accumulates dust mites. To keep the house dust mites low in our house, we should vacuum-clean our house frequently.

Allergy condition for the people who are allergic to animal dander can improve quickly if they remove their animal from the house. However, if the particular person