Dr Amir Khan has warned people suffering with a cold that they may have winter hay fever without realising it. The doctor, who makes regular guest appearances on ITV’s Lorraine, told today’s host Christine Lampard patients are telling him they have been fighting a cold for three months – when this is not actually what it is.
He told viewers: “So many people come and see me and say I’ve had a cold for three months. This cold has not gone away, but actually they haven’t got a cold, they’ve got winter hay fever – an allergic reaction.
“So instead of to pollen they’re allergic to things in their home, so things like house dustmite, mould, that kind of thing that’s around the house. And so they get the symptoms of what feels like a cold but is slightly different.
“The mucus is clear rather than this kind of pale green or yellow colour. They may still get sinus pain, they may still get a runny nose – that tickly cough because the mucus drips back – but it’s actually this winter hay fever.”
However, he warned it could instead be another condition. He told viewers: “The other thing it could be, and this is really common, is silent reflux, and we’ve mentioned this before, but this is where acid manages to get all the way up to your throat and irritate your airways and your mucus membranes and make you produce more mucus, cough.
“It feels like a cold, it doesn’t feel like acid reflux. You don’t get any of those heartburn symptoms up here [points to throat].
“It feels like a cold. So is it winter hay fever or is it silent reflux? Let us do some detective work as your doctors and we can figure that out.”
He went on to warn hay fever sufferers who get issues in the summertime that now is the time to start taking their medication. He said: “And the other thing I will say to you is if you do suffer with hay fever in the summertime, now is the time to start taking your antihistamines. Don’t wait until your immune system ramps up – it’s much harder to bring it down.
“Start it now, stop that ramp up, take it regularly, reduce your symptoms in the summer.”
What is hay fever and what are the signs?
According to the NHS, hay fever is “a common allergy that causes sneezing, coughing and itchy eyes. You cannot cure it, but there are things you can do to help your symptoms, or medicines you can take to help.”
The NHS says hay fever can last for weeks or months, unlike a cold, which normally goes away after 1 to 2 weeks. That echoes what what Dr Amir Khan said today.
The NHS says that symptoms are “usually worse between late March and September, especially when it’s warm, humid and windy. This is when the pollen count is at its highest.”
The main symptoms are:
- itchy, red or watery eyes
- headache
- sneezing and coughing
- a runny or blocked nose
- pain around the sides of your head and your forehead
- itchy throat, mouth, nose and ears
- feeling tired
- loss of smell
Unfortunately there is no cure for hay fever and you cannot prevent it, the NHS advises. Yet you can do things to ease your symptoms when the pollen count is high. See the NHS website for more.