{"id":28779,"date":"2024-04-05T14:05:23","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T18:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=28779"},"modified":"2024-04-05T12:06:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T16:06:03","slug":"hay-fever-the-nuisance-of-a-new-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2024\/04\/05\/hay-fever-the-nuisance-of-a-new-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Hay Fever: The Nuisance of a New Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Erika Mills ~<\/em><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Hay Fever
Photo by Jean Mohr,<\/em> Courtesy World Health Organization<\/em>
National Library of Medicine #101436937<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now that spring in underway in the Northern Hemisphere, you might be feeling a tickle in the nose alongside a warmth in the air. Around one quarter of U.S. adults suffers from hay fever<\/a>, or seasonal allergic rhinitis. In spring and fall, pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds induces an immune response in us, causing us to experience cold-like symptoms. Though allergies are more prevalent today than in the past, medical literature shows that scientists have sought to understand and develop treatments for allergic rhinitis for centuries. Here is a selection of items from the NLM Digital Collections<\/a> which explores historical strategies to manage hay fever.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Inhaler from Better than Gold; or Light Out of Darkness, <\/i>1887
National Library of Medicine #64530770R<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prior to the 19th century and the period of Industrial Revolution (c. 1760-1840), medical literature on hay fever was relatively sparse. Scientists and physicians studied allergic diseases less during this time than later, and therefore these diseases were relatively less recognized in society. After the 1810s, however, increasing numbers of scientists and physicians published their research data and ideas about the cause of hay fever and treatment protocols. They advocated for therapies based on what they thought the cause of hay fever was; some therapies included medications (antispasmodics, narcotics, expectorants, emetics), rest and isolation, bloodletting, and irrigating nasal passages with caustic substances.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Hay-fever and Its Successful Treatment<\/em>, 1899
National Library of Medicine #101603307<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the book Better than Gold; or Light Out of Darkness<\/a>,<\/i> Dr. E. C. Singer provided instructions for the preparation of an inhaler with herbs like bloodroot and goldenseal (which is still used in some herbal remedies for colds and allergies). Pediatrician W. C. Hollopeter, the author of Hay-fever and its Successful Treatments<\/i><\/a>, believed allergic diseases to be nervous conditions related to neurasthenia and others. He pushed for medicines that included arsenic, strychnine, and quinine.<\/p>\n

By the mid-19th century, hay fever had become associated with the upper classes. Many people\u2014even people of science\u2014believed that only the well off and educated suffered from seasonal allergies. Physicians observed that most of their allergy patients were wealthy and white. Without accounting for the lack of access to healthcare that the poor and people of color faced, they concluded that the moneyed were biologically more prone to hay fever.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A pamphlet about Bethlehem, a “health city” in White Mountain, NH, 1880
National Library of Medicine #101224468<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every spring and fall, rich people with stuffy noses and watery eyes would seek refuge in the mountains or by the shore.\u00a0 A hay fever vacation industry developed for the leisure class, concentrated in areas far away from both the urban masses and the tuberculosis patients at the sanitoriums<\/a> in the countryside. White Mountain, New Hampshire and areas similarly remote became social hubs of the elite.<\/p>\n

Most people with hay fever could not afford a months-long mountain getaway. For them, slick marketing and financial accessibility made patent medicines an attractive alternative. These \u201ccure-alls\u201d had proprietary formulas, making it difficult for the consumer to know the contents of each preparation, as companies weren’t forthcoming with that information. Many of these elixirs were ineffective and some were dangerous.<\/p>\n

Here, we have advertisements for three patent medicines. Dr. Marshall\u2019s Anti-Catarrh Snuff<\/a>, a tobacco preparation, Hakka Cream<\/a>, an antiseptic salve, and Swanson’s 5 Drops<\/a> claimed to cure hay fever and other respiratory issues, as well as sleeplessness, creeping numbness, and \u201cnearly all common diseases of the head, except wrong-headedness.”<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
Advertisement for Dr. Marshall\u2019s Anti-Catarrh Snuff, c. 1850 National Library of Medicine #101703952 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
Pharmaceutical Advertisement for Hakka Cream, ca. 1893 National Library of Medicine #101603996 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"An <\/a>
Gateway to health, 1901 National Library of Medicine #101299202 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Since the 1920s, allergen avoidance has been a major component of hay fever management. People with seasonal allergies are encouraged to limit their exposure to pollen by remaining indoors when the pollen count is high, wearing a mask when doing yard work, keeping car windows closed, and more. Initially, the guidance only advised people to steer clear of outdoor dangers, but during the post-World War II housing boom, messaging expanded to promote creating an allergen-free home environment.<\/p>\n

La Comite\u0301 contre la tuberculose et les maladies respiratoires Martinique (The Committee Against Tuberculosis and Respiratory Maladies Martinique) published this pair of public health posters (below). One highlights activities that may improve asthma and allergies, including getting fresh air, breastfeeding newborns with asthma, playing sports, and getting sunlight on your bedding (presumably, to kill dust mites). The other poster points out common household respiratory irritants that one might remove to breathe easy at home, like cigarette smoke and down feathers.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>
Pour lutter contre l’asthme et les allergies<\/i> poster and Facteurs favorisant l’asthme et les allergies<\/i> poster, c. 1990
National Library of Medicine #101438553<\/em><\/a> and National Library of Medicine #101438548<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The two posters below have slightly stronger messaging. Allergies, the Facts<\/a>, sponsored jointly in 1991 by the Pharmacy Planning Service, the Allergy Council of America, and the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology, gave directives for avoiding allergens and provided a phone number for questions. The other poster, Warning Signs of Allergy Season<\/a>, presents a rogues\u2019 gallery of some of North America\u2019s most prolific hay fever instigators. Chlor-Trimeton, a brand of first generation antihistamine medication, produced the infographic in 1989, which doubles as an advertisement for their guide to seasonal allergies (and for their pharmaceutical).<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
Allergies, the Facts: Do\u2019s and Don\u2019ts for Allergy Victims, c. 1991 National Library of Medicine #101449650 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
Warning Signs of Allergy Season, Pharmaceutical poster published by Schering Corp., Kenilworth, NJ ca. 1989 National Library of Medicine #101449467 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Explore\u00a0NLM Digital Collections<\/a> to find more historical materials on hay fever, and contact us<\/a> if we could be a resource for you in your research on historical aspects of this subject, or any other!<\/p>\n

Erika Mills is an exhibits specialist in the User Services and Collection Division at the National Library of Medicine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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