A summer cold?

 

A summer cold?

Achoo!

Joy, from‘Diary of a (retired) teacher,’ mentioned that she was suffering from hay fever, and it made me think about this affliction. Barry used to get hay fever every summer and was tested for all sorts of allergies. One year, he gave up drinking milk and his hay fever abated and has never returned – so far . . .

Hay fever is the body’s overreaction to pollen, the immune system mistaking it for a virus.

My father had a ‘summer cold’ every year. I realised some years ago that it must have been hay fever and wondered when the term came into being. I was surprised to learn that it was first used in the early 19^th century. John Bostock (1772-1846) wrote a paper on ‘summer catarrh’, described as ‘Case of a periodical affection of the eyes and chest.’ This eventually became known as hay fever and was considered an illness.

He had used his own experience as a case study, recording that in June each year, from around the age of 8, he suffered, ‘a sensation of heat and fullness in the eyes, first along the edges of the lids, and especially in the inner angles, but after some time over the whole of the eyeball; a slight degree of redness in the eyes and a discharge of tears; worsening of this state until there was intense itching and smarting, inflammation, and discharge of a very copious thick mucous fluid. To these symptoms were added sneezing, tightness of the chest and difficulty in breathing, with irritation of the fauces (the opening at the back of the mouth leading to the pharynx) and trachea.’

The true cause of hay fever was diagnosed in 1859 by another afflicted British scientist, Charles Blackley (1820-1900). Popular theories suggested that it was the smell of new-mown hay and excessive summer heat that gave rise to the condition, but Blackley conducted many experiments, finally narrowing the culprit down to grass pollens.

The season starts in March when tree pollens are released and ends in late summer, with the wild flowers, but the most common form of hay fever, or allergic rhinitis, is caused by an allergy to grass pollens. Grass pollens are most prevalent from the middle of May to July and affect 90% of sufferers.

Hay fever was not common before the 19^th century and the start of the Industrial Revolution. In UK now, 1 in 4 people suffer from it. Obsessive hygiene, destroying our bodies’ abilities to build up immunity, and excessive use of antibiotics, are thought to be two of the major contributors.

One last, happy thought – hay fever can start at any age, and there is no cure, though there are plenty of natural remedies, some more effective than others. A daily teaspoon of locally produced honey may help, as may probiotics in foods like sauerkraut and kimchi. Quercetin, an antioxidant found in onions, apples, berries and capers, acts as a natural antihistamine. Finally, a herbal tea, like chamomile, can soothe sore throats. If you add your daily honey to it, it might be even more efficacious.

😉