RESEARCH - Good news about allergies and arthritis

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Good News About Allergies and Arthritis

By Anne Dunkin

Arthritis Today

Seasonal allergies may be a good thing if you have rheumatoid arthritis.

Cold and flu season is finally behind us, but for the 36 million

Americans who have seasonal allergies, or hay fever, sniffing and

sneezing season is in full bloom. There’s good news, though, behind

that cloud of pollen. A small study from the Netherlands published in

the ls of the Rheumatic Diseases suggests that having rheumatoid

arthritis (RA) may make you 50-percent less likely to have hay fever.

But if you do have rheumatoid arthritis and seasonal allergies, the

allergies may make your rheumatoid arthritis less severe.

Seasonal allergies occur when your body develops antibodies pollens

released by trees, grasses or weeds. When you’re exposed to the

offender, these antibodies trigger the release of chemicals such as

histamine, which cause mucous membranes in your nose, sinuses and eyes

to swell, resulting in cold-like symptoms, says Mark son, MD, a

Hinsdale, Ill., allergy and asthma specialist and president of the

Illinois Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

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Read the full article here:

http://www.arthritistoday.org/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/better-living/arth\

ritis-allergies.php

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