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Dander and dung can apparently be brought under control -- although in each case the victory may not be worth the trouble. In the midst of experiments with cat dander, allergist Wedner made a serendipitous discovery. "If you wash cats once a month," he says, "then over a period of three to eight months they will stop making Fel d1. In essence, you've created a nonallergenic cat." To nail down his findings, Wedner now has his cat-owning patients experimenting with the technique on their pets.
For those allergy sufferers unconcerned with domestic decor, the National Institutes of Health recommends the following steps to achieve a dust-free, and therefore dust-mite-free, bedroom: Get rid of carpeting, upholstered furniture, heavy curtains, venetian blinds, fuzzy wool blankets and comforters stuffed with wool or feathers. Empty the room, scrub it and everything that is to be returned to it, and thereafter thoroughly clean the room every week. If replacing curtains, hang some that are lightweight and can be laundered weekly. Replace the comfortable chairs with wooden or metal ones that can be scrubbed, keep clothing in plastic zippered bags and shoes in closed boxes off the floor. Talk about suffering!
Most people use the term allergic freely, but often confuse allergies with other conditions that produce similar symptoms. Surveys have shown that as many as 70% of Americans believe they are allergic to at least one particular food. "That's absolute nonsense," says Columbia Presbyterian's Davis. "The actual number is less than 10%."
To determine if a reaction is allergic, Davis and other reputable doctors use a rather crude but effective technique. They combine a careful study of a patient's medical history with tests that involve injecting bits of suspected allergens, each in a different place under the skin, or applying them to scratches on the arm or the back. If a particular area swells, reddens and itches, the patient more often than not is allergic to the substance placed there. Ordinary citizens wondering whether their clogged nasal passages and sneezes are signaling an allergic attack or simply a cold can perform their own quick diagnosis. If there is no fever, if the mucous secretions are clear and if sneezes occur in rapid, multiple sequence, an allergy is almost certainly involved.
For temporary relief of mild allergies, doctors usually prescribe antihistamines, drugs that block the action of histamine, which is responsible for allergic symptoms. The antihistamine drugs in use for decades reduced swelling and other symptoms but led to drowsiness, an inconvenience in the office and a clear danger behind the wheel. But a newer antihistamine, terfenadine (trade name: Seldane), does not induce the need to nod. Other drugs helpful to allergy sufferers are cromolyn sodium, which in nasal-spray and eye-drop forms suppresses the release of histamine, and beclomethasone, triamcinolone and flunisolide, cortisone-based preparations that some doctors find to be even better inflammation fighters.