The respiratory allergies, and in particular their severe forms, are constantly increasing and represent a real handicap for people who suffer from them. This is why patient associations and the French Federation of Allergology have just published a White Paper “which proposes concrete measures to improve the care of people with allergies” explain allergists.
“Respiratory allergies are at the forefront of chronic diseases in children and adolescents. Their prevalence has tripled in 30 years in France and Europe. However, genetics cannot explain the increase in asthma, rhinitis and associated allergies in general: more atopic people are not born from one generation to another. What has changed is the environment, the number and nature of the allergies encountered, whether they come from food, indoor air or pollen” writes MP Gérard Bapt, in the preamble to this white paper which calls for a national plan for severe respiratory allergies to be put in place.
The White Paper proposals
• Labeling respiratory allergies as a “Great National Cause”.
• Engage in collective reflection to determine the impact of environmental change on the complexity of respiratory allergies.
• Create reference centers dedicated to asthma and severe allergies.
• Include allergology modules in the initial training of medical students and in the continuing education of health professionals.
• Accelerate referral of allergic patients to allergists.
• Ensure optimal management of allergen immunotherapy treatments.
• Improve the accessibility of allergic patients to therapeutic education programs.
A chronic disease like diabetes
Considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a chronic disease in the same way as diabetes, respiratory allergy can be particularly disabling
in some patients and considerably impairs their quality of life: deterioration of sleep, intense fatigue, concentration disorders, school and learning difficulties, deterioration of social and professional life.
“The people with severe asthma are three times more likely to be life-threatening than non-asthmatic patients. In France, 15,000 people are hospitalized every year
for an asthma attack and 1,000 people under the age of 65 die from it. So many deaths that could be avoided by early and appropriate treatment” say allergists.
Read also :
What treatment for asthma?
The best foods to fight pollen allergy
