Stress Makes Allergies Worse

Stressing out can actually make your allergies worse, according to a new study.

The study explores the link between asthma and stress, finding that allergy sufferers with greater stress levels experience more severe allergies.

It is common medical knowledge that allergies occur when an immune system overreacts to the presence of a foreign substance, causing the body to exhibit symptoms similar to those of when the body is fighting off a cold or infection.

Sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, and even skin rash, are all symptoms cause by an allergic reaction and are caused by the immune system mistaking a harmless substance -- referred to as an allergen -- as a serious threat to the body.

Of course, these symptoms can prove stressful for allergy sufferers. It is no doubt stressful to have a runny nose and puffy eyes every time a common allergen like grass pollen is on the wind.

However, new research indicates that this relationship between allergies and stress may be a two-way street, where stress can in fact lead to more severe allergy symptoms.

In an observation of 179 men and women for more than 12 weeks, 39 percent of the participants were found to experience the occasional flare-up of elevated allergy symptoms. An analysis of this group resulted in researchers concluding that these participants were more regularly stressed, compared to other allergy sufferers.

According to the study, although it could not be proved that symptom flare-ups occurred immediately following elevated stress, the participants who experienced these flare-ups consistently reported that elevated allergy symptoms occurred directly soon after what they would deem as stressful events.

Stress is undeniably harmful to the human body. It has been determine that increased stress levels result in loss of sleep and a degradation of heart health. The authors of the study argue that stress could likewise have negative effects of the immune system, aggravating allergic reactions.

Similarly, allergic reactions could lead to greater levels of stress, resulting in a endless cycle of allergic reaction, or at least, the standard adverse reactions to stress.

Because of this, the authors urge allergy sufferers to work to reduce daily stress levels.

The study was published in The Annals of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology.