Allergic Rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis (AR) accounts for 50% of all rhinitis cases.¹ In AR, symptoms are triggered by the body’s inflammatory response to seasonal or perennial airborne allergens. As with other atopic illnesses, symptoms of AR are often triggered only after exposure to multiple allergens.² The patient who is sensitized to more than one allergen crosses the symptom threshold only after a cumulative allergic load has been reached.

In addition to the key symptoms of congestion, rhinorrhea, and increased secretions, other symptoms associated with AR include^3,4:

• Sneezing

• Itching (nose, eyes, palate)

• Watery eyes

• Coughing

• Postnasal drip

• Headache

• Weakness

• Malaise

• Sore throat

AR is often associated with other chronic conditions, including otitis media, sinusitis, sleep disorders, and asthma.⁴ In fact, asthma sufferers have concomitant AR at rates estimated between 60% and 99%.^5,6 Because these conditions so often co-exist, experts recommend testing for and treating concomitant allergic rhinitis to aid asthma management and reduce disease severity.^6,7

AR facts and figures

AR is exceedingly common. According to estimates:

• Allergic rhinitis affects 20 to 40 million people in the US⁸

• At least 35.9 million people in the United States have seasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever)⁹

• Each year, approximately 17 million physician office visits are made due to allergic rhinitis⁹

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2002¹⁰:

• 18.2 million non-institutionalized adults were diagnosed with hay fever

• 7.5 million children were diagnosed with hay fever