Islamabad: Tough time ahead for pollen allergy patients

[Naveed Yaseen]

60,000 paper mulberry trees in capital pose serious threat

Thursday, March 05, 2009
by Noor Aftab

Islamabad

With pollen count increasing with every passing day, pollen allergy patients are heading towards a more difficult period due to absence of any specific medical treatment and presence of over 60,000 fully-grown paper mulberry trees, which are considered one of the biggest sources of pollen allergy in twin cities.

Pollen allergy patients are now seen trying to get back to their homes long before the sunset to avoid any pollen allergy attack or other medical complications. But all are not lucky enough as they have to work till late evening due to nature of their jobs.

Signboards, banners and posters can be seen in many localities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi carrying pictures and names of medical practitioners, homeopathic doctors and ‘hakeems’ who claim to have ‘unique’ remedies for permanent treatment of pollen allergy.

Most of these ‘claimants’ are believed to be merely opportunists who want to cash in on miseries of patients who often do not waste time to go to any place whenever they hear about any person who is supposed to treat pollen allergy.

“Someone told me that there is a homeopathic doctor who runs a private clinic near Kohinoor Mills who claims to have a permanent treatment for pollen allergy. I would certainly go to him because there is no harm in trying any option available to us,” said Mujtaba Haider, a pollen allergy patient living in Islamabad.

Given the expected unprecedented rise in pollen allergy cases, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) has established 150 nebuliser points where inhalers and injections have also been provided for emergency cases.

According to arrangements made at the PIMS, adult patients with mild pollen allergy symptoms are being provided treatment at the Outdoor Patient Department (OPD); patients with severe shortness of breath are treated at the Emergency Department and children suffering from severe pollen allergy are given treatment at the Emergency Department of its children-specific hospital.

The data posted at various health-related websites stated that the preventive medicines to avoid any allergy attack include tablets, syrups and sprays but these medicines have little use in the treatment when the disease starts showing its clear symptoms.

The curative measures, commonly known as anti-histamines, which control the substance in the body widely considered a cause for an allergy episode, mainly focus on injections and inhalers to fight the disease.

Some reports showed that pollen allergy is also surfacing in Attock as paper mulberry trees were planted by the local administration on the outskirts of the city, apparently quite oblivious of its ill-effects.

The data available on the internet also revealed that in various parts of the world the local allergy patients developed immunity against those species notorious for their allergy problems.

Dr Inamul Haq said that it would be a high-risk option to suggest any patient to get fully exposed to pollen grains in order to develop immunity against the disease.

He said “The pollen allergy may turn into asthma if the patient exposes himself or herself to pollen grains, so it should be highly recommended to all patients to avoid visiting places having population of pollen producing plants and, if necessary, then they have to fully cover their mouths and noses with masks or handkerchiefs.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=165733