Hay Fever

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Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Randomised Controlled Trial

Acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis, significantly improving symptoms without needing relief medication or causing side effects.

2022 The American Journal of Chinese Medicine Effect of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial
Xue CC, English R, Zhang JJ, Da Costa C, Li CG

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Review Article

Allergic rhinitis in children, according to traditional Chinese medicine, is interrelated with the functionality of lungs, spleen, and kidney and can be treated with combined Western and Chinese herbal medicines.

2021 Translational Pediatrics Current status of Chinese herbal medicine to treat allergic rhinitis in children: from the perspective of Western medicine—a narrative review
Liang J, Gu Q

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Systematic Review

Our findings revealed that all acupuncture methods are effective and safe for allergic rhinitis. Acupuncture plus conventional medicine are potentially the most effective treatment strategies for allergic rhinitis.

2020 Chinese Medicine Acupuncture methods for allergic rhinitis: a systematic review and bayesian meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Yin, Z., Geng, G., Xu, G. et al.

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Meta-Analysis

Consumption of raw milk early in life appears to provide protection against asthma and allergies, regardless of whether children live on farms or in rural, non-farm areas.

2020 The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice The Beneficial Effect of Farm Milk Consumption on Asthma, Allergies, and Infections: From Meta-Analysis of Evidence to Clinical Trial
Brick T, Hettinga K, Kirchner B, Pfaffl MW, Ege MJ

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Randomised Controlled Trial

Acupuncture appeared to significantly reduce the number of days of antihistamine use while improving rhinitis-specific quality of life and seasonal allergic rhinitis symptoms

2018 Acupuncture in Medicine Impact of acupuncture on antihistamine use in patients suffering seasonal allergic rhinitis: secondary analysis of results from a randomised controlled trial
Adam D, Grabenhenrich L, Ortiz M, Binting S, Reinhold T, Brinkhaus B

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Systematic Review

There are high-quality randomized controlled trials that demonstrate efficacy and effectiveness for acupuncture in the treatment of both seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis.

2015 Current Opinion in Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery Acupuncture and allergic rhinitis
Malcolm B. Tawa, William D. Reddyb, Folashade S. Omolec, and Michael D. Seidmand

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Meta-Analysis

Our meta-analysis suggests that that acupuncture could be a safe and valid treatment option for allergic rhinitis patients.

2015 American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy Acupuncture for the Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Feng S, Han M, Fan Y, Yang G, Liao Z, Liao W, Li H

Executive Summary

Write an executive summary in the form of a blog article on the topic of "Research into Chinese medicine treatment for Hay Fever" summarising the research below and using language that can be easily understood by patients and avoiding medical jargon using a professional and caring tone of voice.

Write an executive summary in the form of a blog article on the topic of "Researched Chinese medicine treatments for Hay Fever" summarising the research below in an objective and easy to understand way, and using language that can be easily understood by patients. Group the article into Chinese medicine treatments first, followed by nutrition and other treatments. Avoid using medical jargon and use a professional and caring tone of voice.

Write me a concise but easy to understand executive summary on the topic of "Chinese medicine treatments for Hay Fever" based on the following research that I will give you. Your summary should be 2 paragraphs long in Australian English spelling and include references to the studies.

A Randomised Controlled Trial published in 2022 in the journal The American Journal of Chinese Medicine found that Acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis, significantly improving symptoms without needing relief medication or causing side effects. The study was a two-phase, single-blind, crossover clinical trial where randomly assigned subjects, split into two groups, were treated with either real or sham acupuncture. All participants received treatment thrice a week for four weeks straight before being flipped onto the other form of treatment for another four uninterrupted weeks without a washout period. The real acupuncture treatment plan was guided by Chinese Medicine Theory. The subjects' responses were measured at various stages - before, during, and after the trials. In the study, significant improvement was marked in the subjective symptom scores, both nasal and non-nasal, between the group that received the genuine acupuncture and the sham treatment. It was noteworthy, however, that no marked differences were found in the relief medication scores between the two groups. There were also no recorded side effects from either the real or sham acupuncture groups. This suggests that acupuncture proves to be a safe and effective alternative for managing Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis.

A Review Article published in 2021 in the journal Translational Pediatrics found that Allergic rhinitis in children, according to traditional Chinese medicine, is interrelated with the functionality of lungs, spleen, and kidney and can be treated with combined Western and Chinese herbal medicines. The methodology of this study was based on a review of both traditional Chinese and Western medical theories and practices. Chinese theory postulates that BiQiu, or allergic rhinitis in children, is primarily related to a congenital deficiency in vital qi, dysfunction of the lungs inhibiting nose orifices, and a deficiency of spleen and kidney leading to lung qi deficiency. The review looked into herbal monomers and compounds of Chinese herbal medicines as potential treatments for allergic rhinitis, while also considering the impact of external factors like the cold and inadequate diet. The review highlighted some of the effects and shortcomings of Chinese herbal medicines used alongside Western medicines for treating allergic rhinitis. Particularly, it focussed on how the unique perceptions of life science of the human body from both Eastern and Western cultures can be brought together for a comprehensive method of treatment. The study also outlined future trends of research to enhance this combined treatment approach.

A Systematic Review published in 2020 in the journal Chinese Medicine found that Our findings revealed that all acupuncture methods are effective and safe for allergic rhinitis. Acupuncture plus conventional medicine are potentially the most effective treatment strategies for allergic rhinitis. Our findings revealed that all acupuncture methods are effective and safe for allergic rhinitis. Moreover, either moxibustion or manual acupuncture plus conventional medicine are potentially the most effective treatment strategies for allergic rhinitis. Based on these findings, it is evident that acupuncture therapy is not inferior to pharmacologic therapy. Therefore, for allergic rhinitis patients who are either unresponsive to conventional medicine or are intolerant to adverse events, acupuncture therapy should be administered. However, the quality of these included trials was mainly ranked as moderate quality, we recommend additional well-designed RCTs with larger sample sizes to validate these findings.

A Meta-Analysis published in 2020 in the journal The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice found that Consumption of raw milk early in life appears to provide protection against asthma and allergies, regardless of whether children live on farms or in rural, non-farm areas. Whoever did the research carried out a comprehensive literature review, identifying twelve relevant publications from eight unique studies. Their approach involved a meta-analysis to substantiate the protective effect of raw milk consumption in early life, particularly for ages ranging from less than one year old to five years old. They further analyzed the impacts of raw milk on not only asthma but also other ailments such as wheezing, hay fever, allergic rhinitis, and atopic sensitization. Moreover, evidence was provided about the beneficial effects of raw milk for children, both living on the farms and those in rural sectors but not on farms. Moreover, in the interpretation of results, it was clearly evident that the consumption of raw milk had an independent effect, separate from other farm exposures. In essence, even children not residing on farms theoretically can still gain from the benefits of raw milk consumption. However, they express a strong sense of caution, advocating against the consumption of raw milk due to the possibility of life-threatening infections. Furthermore, the distinction between raw farm milk and industrially processed milk was underlined to highlight differences in cellular components, fat fraction, and heating degrees. Preliminary findings link these characteristics and attributes of raw milk to heat-labile molecules and components found in its fat fraction.

A Randomised Controlled Trial published in 2018 in the journal Acupuncture in Medicine found that Acupuncture appeared to significantly reduce the number of days of antihistamine use while improving rhinitis-specific quality of life and seasonal allergic rhinitis symptoms The data from 414 patients were analysed. The acupuncture group used antihistamines significantly less often compared with the other groups (acupuncture vs sham acupuncture: mean difference −4.49 days, p=0.01; acupuncture vs RM: mean difference −9.15 days, p<0.001). Approximately 38% of the acupuncture group did not use any antihistamine in contrast to only 16% in the RM group. The pre-post comparison suggested that the acupuncture patients did not need to increase the days of antihistamine use to alleviate their symptoms, unlike the other groups. Acupuncture appeared to significantly reduce the number of days of antihistamine use while improving RQoL and SAR symptoms; it can therefore be considered a valuable, additional treatment option for patients with SAR.

A Systematic Review published in 2015 in the journal Current Opinion in Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery found that There are high-quality randomized controlled trials that demonstrate efficacy and effectiveness for acupuncture in the treatment of both seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis. Our review of the medical literature from January 2013 through December 2014 revealed that there is research demonstrating efficacy and effectiveness for acupuncture in the treatment of allergic rhinitis, as well as improvement of quality of life and quality-adjusted life-years.

A Meta-Analysis published in 2015 in the journal American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy found that Our meta-analysis suggests that that acupuncture could be a safe and valid treatment option for allergic rhinitis patients. Because acupuncture may modulate the immune system, it has been proposed as a useful treatment for patients with allergic rhinitis (AR). Here, we assessed the evidence for the clinical efficacy of acupuncture for the management of AR patients by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis of the published literatures. Thirteen full papers that met our inclusion criteria were included, and a total of 2365 participants, including 1126 as treatment group and 1239 as control group, were enrolled. Compared with control group, acupuncture treatment group exerted a significant reduction in nasal symptom scores (weighted mean difference [WMD]: -4.42, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -8.42 to -0.43, p = 0.03), medication scores (WMD: 1.39, 95% CI: -2.18 to -0.61, p = 0005), and serum IgE (WMD: -75.00, 95% CI: -91.17 to -58.83, p < 0.00001). Data relating to Rhinitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) and 36-Item Short-Form (SF-36) component score in included studies were analyzed, which ultimately point to the efficacy of acupuncture treatment in improving quality of life in AR patients. No fatal events were reported in any of the included studies, and no serious systemic reaction, which needed treatment in the hospital, was related to the acupuncture treatment.

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