Nasal cream ‘could halt hayfever’

Doctors in Russia say they have developed a cream that can stop hayfever in its tracks.

Doctors in Russia say they have developed a cream that can stop hayfever in its tracks.The “pollen blocker cream” is applied to the inside of the nose up to four times a day.Recent tests on patients suggested it could reduce hayfever and other nasal allergy symptoms by up to 60%.Writing in The Archives of Otolaryngology, the doctors said the cream could be an effective treatment for hayfever sufferers.Severe hayfeverThe cream was tested on two groups of patients, one in Russia and one in Germany.All of the patients had suffered from severe hayfever for at least a year.A total of 43 people used the cream while 48 were given a placebo or dummy cream. They applied the cream four times over the course of four days.The creams were then switched so that patients who were using the cream were using a placebo and vice versa. The volunteers rated their allergy symptoms each day on a scale of one to four, with four being worst.Doctors at Moscow’s Federal Scientific Research Centre found that the average score dropped from four to one when they used the pollen blocker cream. It dropped from four to three when they used the dummy cream.”The blocker was significantly more effective than placebo,” said Dr Swetlana Schwetz, who led the study.A spokeswoman from Allergy UK said: “In principle it sounds good, and as we do recommend people to put vaseline inside their nose at hayfever time which acts as a filter, it would seem to operate on the same principle.”Any product that brings relief from hayfever without producing side effects just has to be good news.”The study was funded by German company Phyt-Immun, which manufactures a range of health products. (Source: BBC Health, August 2004)