Litchfield Hills Today

• The 26th annual Allergy & Asthma Day Capitol Hill will take place in Washington, D.C., on May 3.

• People with allergies and asthma will have the opportunity to meet with lawmakers.

• The event is free, but registration is required.

According to the Allergy & Asthma Network, allergy and asthma sufferers can take part in the 26th annual Allergy & Asthma Day Capitol Hill (AADCH) on May 3, where they may ask lawmakers to support health-centric legislation, share their personal stories and struggles, and learn about the latest research and what it may mean for public health policy.

The itinerary includes an advocacy training session and breakfast, in-person advocacy meetings with Congress members and their staff, and a lunch briefing with members of the Congressional Asthma & Allergy Caucus, for which both allergists and federal agency representatives will take part. While no entry fee is required, attendees must register.

CT ENT Sinus Center's Dr. Robert Weiss discussed the multiple treatments available for allergy sufferers, as well as how newer treatments are becoming more efficient and less time-consuming.

"A lot of our patients we treat with immunotherapy. So what does that mean? Immunotherapy is desensitizing someone to all the things they're allergic to," Weiss told Litchfield Hills Today. "Most of us are familiar with allergy shots. You go to the allergist once a week, and they're giving you a shot of a small concentration of many of the things that you're allergic to. If you do this once a week and it takes a few years, this is a long-term treatment. Your body will start to ignore those allergens and stop reacting to them, stop making you sick. It desensitizes."

Weiss explained the two options for immunotherapy.

"The shots have been around for 75 years or more," Weiss said. "What's been very popular in the last 20 or 30 years is we use something called allergy drops, which is sublingual therapy, meaning you put in a drop of all the things you're allergic to under your tongue. It's just as effective as the shots, and we've seen some very good results from using the drops."

The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology says that over 50 million Americans suffer from allergies every year, with allergies also serving as the sixth-most-common cause of chronic illness in the U.S. Allergic rhinitis, otherwise known as hay fever, can be either seasonal or perennial, and symptoms include sneezing, a stuffy or runny nose, watery eyes and an itchy nose, mouth or eyes.

According to MBG Health, allergy symptoms, such as itchy eyes, can be caused by inflammation, which is caused by the body working to protect itself from allergens. When someone is exposed to an allergen, the body's natural stress response is to secrete hormones like cortisol and chemicals like histamine, but research has shown that such secretions can lead to inflammation, which can potentially make both allergy symptoms and asthma worse.

If you're interesting in learning more about sinusitis and allergy symptoms, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.