Internet review: hayfever

Citation

(2006), "Internet review: hayfever", Health Education, Vol. 106 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/he.2006.142106eag.001

Internet review: hayfever

For people who don’t suffer from this condition, hayfever may seem like a rather trivial condition, running nose, a few sneezes, why should it be of concern? For some people, hayfever is a far from trivial condition, it can result in sickness absence, poor exam results, problems with driving or operating machinery, and deteriorating relationships with family and friends. As with many allergies there is copious amounts of information available on the Internet much of it from extremely dubious sources. For the lay person sorting out the wheat from the chaff is not always easy, but with care the Internet can be a useful resource for people with this type of allergy.

Allergy Matterswww.allergymatters.com/acatalog/Hay_Fever.html

This commercial web site provides useful information on a number of different allergies, including asthma, eczema, dust mite allergy as well as hayfever. The proprietors of this web site have backgrounds in fashion and software development and appear to have little or no qualifications in the treatment of allergies. What they do claim to have is personal experience in treating allergies in a family member and to have used or tested many of the products that they are selling via this web site.

From a health education perspective the Allergy Learning Centre is probably the most interesting section of this web site. There are eleven different types of allergy discussed here and each section has a similar format. After a brief introduction to the condition, the symptoms are described in detail, followed by information on triggers and treatment. From a self-help point of view the section dealing with Tips for Success is probably the most relevant. Here the user will find a checklist of self-help suggestions, most of which are simple and easy to follow. For example hayfever sufferers are advised to keep windows closed during high pollen count days, dry clothes in a tumble drier and avoid hanging clothes outdoors during the pollen season. If none of this works then the user can move on to the next section where they can choose from a number of items that are offered for sale through this web site. Some of these items seem quite reasonable, for example the air purifiers, others, e.g. the Nettle Blend Syrup, sound rather more suspect! There is also an “In the Press” listing which users may believe offers some positive support for this web site. In fact this listing seems to be links to various publications that carry advertisements for the products that this company wishes to sell. Generally though, this is a well designed web site with content that most users, especially those who suffer from hayfever, will find of interest.

NetDoctorwww.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/hayfever.htm

Netdoctor is a web site provided through a collaboration of doctors, health professionals, information specialists and patients and it has as its main aim the breaking down of the language barrier between patients and doctors. Over 250 health professionals from the UK and across Europe provide the content. Although the web site is heavily sponsored through advertisements, the editors make it clear that sponsors are not allowed to influence the content provided.

The section dealing with hayfever is provided by professor Brian Lipworth, a specialist in allergies and respiratory medicine, so the user knows the content should be fairly reliable. Professor Lipworth begins by pointing out that the name hayfever is misleading because the symptoms don’t just occur in autumn, when the hay is being gathered, and never include fever. The content goes on to provide a little epidemiological data, a basic description of the symptoms, and an explanation for why some people suffer from it and others do not. The advice on how to minimize the symptoms is straightforward, keep windows and doors closed, check pollen counts before venturing outdoors, and let someone else mow the lawn!

Although the stated aim of this web site is to simplify the language used, in the section discussing different types of treatments, some of the medical terminology is quite complex. To help with this the web site designers have provided links from these technical terms, to other pages where more detailed explanations of the terminology can be found. This section is extremely comprehensive and though some of it might go over the heads of many lay users, unfortunately the nature of the content provided makes this almost inevitable. For people who want a good summary of the condition and the treatments available to deal with it, this web site provides a good place to start.

AAIR (Asthma and Allergy Information and Research)www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~aair/grass.htm

AAIR is an organisation based in the UK that seeks to provide information on a variety of allergies including asthma and hayfever. This web site has an interesting way of introducing the topic of hayfever by showing the user lots and lots of pictures of grass! These pictures have been taken at different places and at different times of the year since June 1997. They are all carefully documented, including the Latin names of the various types of grass on display. These pictures, and what they imply, is really all this web site has to say about the causes of hayfever, nothing about pollen counts, or closing windows to avoid pollen and so on. This information can be found with diligent searching but only after clicking on the link that deals with hayfever treatments. Now this section is actually rather good. It starts by asking whether hayfever should be treated at all, and assuming it should then goes on to provide a comprehensive account of the many types of treatment available. It not only explains what the various treatments are and what they do, it also discusses possible side effects and the compatibility issues, for example are these treatments safe to take during pregnancy. This very detailed discussion might be of only minor interest to some users, for example there is a section dealing with the use of decongestant sprays by scuba divers, which if you are a scuba diver might be of interest, but only marginally so for the rest of us. Perhaps this is the main criticism of this web site. It has a wealth of information but the user often has to plough through masses of material on the off chance that they might find something of interest. The web site needs better organisation, indeed any organisation would be am improvement and make it more accessible for the average lay person who might come across this site. Most users should probably ignore the pictures of grass and delve straight in to the main content where they will certainly find nuggets of interest.

Consumer Health Information Centre (CHIC)www.chic.org.uk/chicmco/healthInformation/indeptharticles/hayfever.htm

The Consumer Health Information Centre (CHIC), in its own words, is “an advice service that aims to help you understand and over come everyday healthcare problems”. It is unclear who owns this web site or how it is funded but it has an advisory panel of two GP’s and a pharmacist. There appears to be great deal about medicines and other pharmaceutical products and the suspicion must be that the pharmaceutical industry probably has some role in the funding of this web site. That aside, the content is rather good. Within the Health Information section the user will find a link to “In-depth articles on common conditions” and within this is the section on hayfever. After some introductory material on the nature of hayfever, the content quickly moves on to treatments. Four types of treatments are discussed, oral antihistamines, nasal preparations, oral decongestants, and eye preparations. Good summaries of how these medicines should be taken, and what they will do, are provided. There is also a brief section on self-help which as well as the usual suggestions offers sunglasses as a way of reducing some of the symptoms; holidays near the sea or in the mountains are also recommended. It is possible to download a nice coloured leaflet should you want a hard copy of the information provided or perhaps use it in a display. The links page provided is quite useful although it tends to restrict itself to health and consumer groups, there is nothing here that deals specifically with hayfever. Perhaps they don’t want to promote the competition.

Allergy UKwww.allergyuk.org

Allergy UK is a national medical charity whose aim is to represent and promote the interests of people with allergy, food intolerance and chemical sensitivity. The web site certainly gives the impression that it has a lot to offer and the home page is liberally distributed with boxes and links to a variety of information sources. In the centre of the home page is a search box but unfortunately it is only of limited value. After typing in hayfever and hitting the search button, the user might assume that they would be taken to a section dealing with this condition. In fact what appears is a page of links to news articles, press releases, allergy articles, there is even a link to the Ford Focus car, but very little on what hayfever is and how it should be treated. One of the boxes on the home page is labelled Factsheets, perhaps this is where the user can find some useful information. Well almost, but not quite. Although the fact sheets are described as being “online”, to access them the user has first to provide name, address and all the usual registration details. Only then will a chosen fact sheet be emailed to the user, in other words they are not available online at all. Many people will find this frustrating and just won’t bother, which is a pity because it is so unnecessary and the factsheets are actually quite good. What the charity is seeking to do in this rather convoluted way is to get users to make donations but this isn’t a good way to go about it. The fact sheets are free anyway whether the user makes a donation or not. The charity should make them more accessible, truly online, and then ask people to give donations if they find the information of help; I am sure this would be much more productive.