Good news for people with allergies to cedar trees and cedar wood. A new study aims to help cedar allergy sufferers in the short and long term.
According to texasmedclinic.com, “As ironic as it sounds, cedar fever does not actually produce a fever. In fact, cedar fever is a seasonal allergy brought on by an allergic reaction to the pollen from mountain cedar trees. Mountain cedar grows naturally and is the most allergenic tree in Central Texas.”
The study, conducted by the Texan Allergy & Sinus Center, included 26 patients, and the treatment involves a shot of diluted cedar extract into a lymph node.
Cancer.gov says lymph nodes are “A small bean-shaped structure that is part of the body’s immune system. Lymph nodes filter substances that travel through the lymphatic fluid, and they contain lymphocytes (white blood cells) that help the body fight infection and disease.
Patients took three shots over the course of two months, waiting an hour after each shot, just in case of bad side effects. No negative reactions were reported.
“So we are not guessing at how much is going to get into the lymph node — we know exactly how much,” Dr. Christopher Thompson from the Texan Allergy & Sinus Center told KXAN. “The fact that you could get the equivalent of three-to-five years of shot therapy in three injections over two months, it just doesn’t even seem real to me, but the study supports it.”
The solution is FDA approved and is slated to be available by the end of July.
