Common houseplants may trigger allergies
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-09-20 11:13 NEW YORK - Houseplants could
be the source of many an allergy sufferer's misery, a study from Belgium
suggests.
Symptoms of up to 20 percent of people with allergic rhinitis, meaning runny
nose and sneezing, may be due to exposure to these plants, Dr. Olivier Michel of
the Free University of Brussels told Reuters Health.
It's estimated that up to 40 percent of people in the Western world suffer
from allergic rhinitis, he and his colleagues point out in a report in the
journal Allergy. A 1985 study suggested that the weeping fig tree, a type of
ficus tree that exudes latex, could be a source of inhaled allergens. Decorative
plants are becoming increasingly common in public spaces, workplaces and homes.
Michel and his team tested 59 allergic rhinitis sufferers and a control group
of 15 healthy individuals for sensitization to ficus, yucca, ivy, palm tree and
other common ornamental plants using a skin prick test.
Seventy-eight percent of the allergic rhinitis patients were sensitized to at
least one of the plants. No one in the control group was sensitized to the test
plants.
Sensitization doesn't necessarily mean a person's allergic symptoms are due
to a particular substance, Michel noted in an interview, adding that a person
must then see if symptoms disappear if exposure to the substance stops.
For two patients in the study who were allergic to ficus, removing the plant
from their environment stopped their symptoms completely.
Additional studies are needed to confirm the findings, the researchers say.
Nevertheless, says Michel, makers of allergy testing products should begin
producing tests for identifying sensitization to common houseplants such as
ficus.
SOURCE: Allergy, September 2006.
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