Doctor: Medication adherence is key to preventing allergy symptoms – KSHB

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Ragweed pollen is hitting the Kansas City metropolitan area in high concentrations this fall. For allergy sufferers, the pollen can lead to symptoms like itchy, watery eyes, sneezing, and congestion.

Dr. Selina Gierer, an allergy and immunology physician at the University of Kansas Health System, said she tells her patients to stick with their medications all season long and not just when they feel symptoms.

Gierer suggested setting an alarm and keeping your medication in plain view to help patients remember to take allergy medication before symptoms set in.

Sarah Durall's daughter is a patient of Gierer's. They have developed a regimen of over-the-counter and prescription medications to help 12-year-old Kayden prevent allergic symptoms.

"It's not fun to end up in the ER with a child who can't breathe. Finding that right combo of medications and understanding what she's allergic to and what works for her, makes her daily life normal," Durall said.

For patients who don't respond to traditional allergy treatments, Gierer can use a biologic therapy. This approach involves giving patients a genetically engineered therapy via a shot which targets a part of their immune system which generates the allergic reaction.

Doctors often give this treatment to people who also suffer from asthma and eczema because allergies tend to make those conditions worse.

"By the time patients get to me, oftentimes they are severe enough to get allergy shots, or biologic therapy. In an allergy practice we use a lot of these to help manage patients' symptoms," Gierer said.

Biologic therapy is different than allergy shots, which desensitize a patient to an allergy. The biologic approach aims to eliminate the allergy.

An allergist such as Gierer can conduct skin testing to find out exactly what a patient is allergic to in order to determine whether the patient should take medication just during ragweed season, or also in the spring when flowers are blooming. Allergists require a referral from a patient's primary care physician to schedule a visit.

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Doctor: Medication adherence is key to preventing allergy symptoms - KSHB