Allergy has been determined to be one amongst the myriad negative effects of stress.
A new study conducted at Ohio State University,concluded that stress could cause and aggravate allergies. The results of this study were presented in Boston at the 116th annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

At the American Thoracic Society’s 2008 International Conference in Toronto held in May, a group of researches from Harvard Medical School brought the fact to light that pregnant women under stress are more likely to give birth to babies with high Immunoglobulin E or IgE level which is linked to allergic responses.

Researchers under the leadership of Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, a psychologist and psychiatry professor and stress researcher at Ohio State University,conducted tests on 28 volunteers with a history of seasonal allergies and hay fever.The volunteers were subjected to situations ranging from low stress to highly stressful ones like figuring out mathematical problems without paper or pen in front of a group while their performance was closely monitored.The study established that the volunteers who were subjected to extreme stress conditions had 75% worse allergic reaction as compared with volunteers exposed to low stress conditions.

According to Dr. Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, stress can cause allergies to worsen the next day and the antihistamine that has been taken to control the symptoms like runny nose, watery, itchy eyes, and congestion,fails to be effective the next day. This kind of situation can prove to be potentially serious and deadly for patients who have asthma.

Lauding the findings of the study, Gailen Marshal, a professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Mississippi said, “ The results of this study should alert practitioners and patients alike to the adverse effects of stress on allergic reactions in the nose, chest, skin and other organs that may seemingly resolve within a few minutes to hours after starting, but may reappear the next day, when least expected.”