Alcohol Consumption Inrease Risks of Perennial Allergic Rhinitis

Filed in archive Allergy: Research and Development , Hay Fever on August 1, 2008

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 5936203

If you want to avoid perennial allergic rhinitis, you might want to cut down on your alcohol consumption. A recent Danish study of 5,870 young adult women found that the risk of developing perennial allergic rhinitis increased 3% for every additional alcoholic drink per week. According to the report:

The 5,870 women studied were aged 20-29 years and free of seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis at the start of the study. They were asked about different lifestyle habits including their general alcohol intake, measured in drinks per week (i.e. glasses of wine, bottles of beer). After a time period of seven to nine years, the women were contacted again and 831 women had developed seasonal AR and 523 had women developed perennial AR, 14% and 9% respectively.

The authors observed a general tendency that the more alcohol the women reported they drank, the higher their risk of developing perennial allergic rhinitis. For instance, women who reported drinking more than 14 drinks a week were 78% more likely to develop perennial allergic rhinitis than women who had reported drinking less than one drink a week.

Whether alcohol has the same effect on men, they don't know. Maybe, but perhaps not as bad, as they think women are more susceptible to some of the genetically harmful effects of alcohol than men.