(WXYZ) -Benjamin Norman knows a thing or two about stress. He’s a single father raising a teenage boy
and to add to his anxiety, his allergies leave him hurting year round.
"I’m clogged up, wheezing, runny nose, eyes watering, so that's, it's pretty extreme," he told us.
Allergy stricken and anxious.. what does one have to do with the other? A lot, according to a study from Ohio State!
Researchers set out to show what happens to hay fever sufferers under stress. First they exposed them to the allergens.
Clinical Psychologist, Janice Kiecolt Glaser, PhD explains what happened next, ” To stress these people what we did was bring them into the laboratory and tell them they had five minutes to prepare a speech about why they were the best person for a particular job and then they delivered it to a panel of two or three people."
Researchers compared the size of the wheals --or hive-like reactions-- before, during and after stress. The size of the wheals didn't change with people who were not stressed, but if people were moderately anxious it was about 75% bigger. If they were really anxious, it was about 200% bigger. It doubled in size.
Researchers say the impact can last.
According to Ronald Glaser, PhD, professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics, "Stress affects allergies at least two different ways. There's an early event, acute and up to 24 hours, or late phase response."
It's well documented that stress impacts the immune system.
Researchers now suspect stress causes increased levels of compounds that heighten an allergic response, and the resulting symptoms may be more persistent.
Dr. Glaser says,” One of the symptoms will be perhaps runny nose, or symptoms very similar to having a cold so you can treat with typical types of cold medications but you can't use antihistamines, which is typically one of the most effective drugs to use."
The recommendation: try to decompress so you can stop the sneezing. Ben says he'll try. He never thought about the stress connection.
We talked with a physician at the American Academy of Allergies, Asthma and Immunology. He told us this study provides confirmation of what many who treat allergy sufferers have long suspected--that there is a connection with stress and allergies. He believes this will lead to more studies on the subject.
