Category: Humans

Tags: science, humans, biology, allergy, allergies, hay, fever, hayfever, women, health, summer, olympics, allergy, keystage2, keystage3, keystage4

Feeling irritable? Grumpy? Unattractive? It can only mean one thing -- the hay fever season is back and ready to cause many women a summer of misery! According to research conducted by Prevalin, a new hay fever treatment launched in pharmacies, symptoms such as teary and itchy eyes, sneezing and a runny nose cause women to feel irritated (61%), grumpy (33%) and unattractive (27%).1 16% of women sufferers went as far to say that they pack their mascara wand away; missing out on wearing eye make-up during the hay fever season, while a quarter said that their symptoms caused them to feel like their nose was going to explode!1 According to the Prevalin survey, the impact of hay fever symptoms mean many sufferers will miss out on favourite summer activities with more than half of those polled saying they would most miss picnics in the park, summer barbeques and leisurely walks with a risqué 4% admitting to missing out on outdoor sex! A number of women feel their hay fever symptoms have also ruined important events, including weddings, summer parties and summer holidays.1 Olympian Denise Lewis, OBE, who suffers from hay fever says: "Hay fever is really irritating and makes me feel drowsy and unattractive -- streaming eyes doesn't make it easy putting make-up on! When I was competing in the heptathlon, hay fever would make me feel lethargic and swollen sinuses made it hard to breathe properly. Obviously as an athlete you want to be able to take in as much oxygen as possible to deliver your best performance. I can remember times when I'd be preparing to compete in the javelin and they'd be cutting the grass which didn't help matters! Nowadays, hay fever gets in the way of doing normal things like gardening, cycling and playing outside with my kids. My daughter suffers from hay fever too so I was interested to hear about the launch of Prevalin, which is drug free and suitable for children, pregnant women and sports people like me as it has no side effects." Symptoms also affect the sense of smell and taste for over half (52%) of female sufferers which may prevent them from enjoying women's top rated smell of the summer (freshly cut grass) and taste (strawberries).1 Nearly half (48%) of female sufferers also say their hay fever has had a detrimental impact on their work life with a quarter stating that their symptoms have caused embarrassment and problems at the work place.1 Furthermore, sufferers are potentially being confined to the office all day with hay fever symptoms reportedly at their worst during lunch time (12-3pm)! Women who participate in sporting activities, particularly running and jogging, said their symptoms cause them to feel physically weaker/drowsy (61%) and have a negative impact on their sporting ability (52%).1 Allergy expert Andrew Williams comments, "The number of hay fever sufferers in the UK is on the increase and we are seeing a trend of people who are developing hay fever for the first time as an adult. Interestingly, this could be attributed to the hygiene hypothesis where stringently clean lifestyles and lack of exposure to generally harmless bacteria has left our immune systems in a hyperactive state, causing a reaction to normally harmless things such as pollen. In today's fast paced world, sufferers want to take control of their symptoms from the very first tingle -- limiting the impact on work and personal life." Despite a range of hay fever solutions available, nearly a quarter of women said they were not satisfied with their current treatments. Prevalin™ is a new kind of microgel spray designed to provide immediate relief of all symptoms experienced in the nose and eyes. Prevalin™ tackles the root cause of hay fever by deactivating the pollen inside the nose and creating a barrier that prevents further pollen from infecting the nasal mucosa. The drug free nasal spray (free of anti-histamines and steroids) can be used by everyone, including pregnant and breast feeding women, and has no reported side effects.

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