Flip! Survey: Number of allergy medical visits dropped by 10%

As the seasons change, people with allergies may experience sneezing, runny nose, or even atopic dermatitis attacks. All kinds of allergic symptoms are very disturbing! Logically speaking, people with allergy symptoms should seek medical treatment. However, according to a survey on "Changes in Anti-Allergy Behaviors of Two Generations of Allergy Families" in the past ten years, among the proportion of parents who are willing to choose anti-allergy methods, the proportion of seeking medical treatment has increased from 84.8% to 84.8%. dropped to 73.9%, and medical treatment dropped slowly by 10.9%. Anti-allergy methods have shown a reversal gap in the past ten years. The anti-allergic behavior survey found that the proportion of anti-allergic people at home has increased significantly, and the consumption of probiotics has increased by 26.2%. (Photography/Huang Manying)

Dr. Zhang Qizhen, director of the Department of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, Taipei Medical University Affiliated Hospital, said that after actually asking parents about the reasons for the decrease in the number of medical visits, it was found that 36.2% of parents believed that the home environment and dietary anti-allergy can assist in seeking medical treatment. The main reason for the slow decline in the proportion is the fear that long-term medication will harm the body (32.3%).

The willingness to seek medical treatment for allergies has declined, and people with allergy problems have turned to other methods to continue the anti-allergy battle. This survey found that in the past ten years, home allergy prevention has increased by 9.8%, and medical treatment has declined by 10.9%. There is a reversal gap, in which the proportion of purchasing over-the-counter medicines has dropped by 5%, and the consumption of probiotics has increased by 26.2%. Chinese people have moved from treatment to active prevention, demonstrating the establishment of new and effective anti-allergy knowledge.

There are nearly two million allergic children in Taiwan, 90% of which are related to genetic allergies. In addition, the century-old dragon wave is expected to reach 200,000 people. How to fight against it? Allergies have become an important issue in the healthy growth of children. Dr. Zhang Qizhen said that allergy treatment in the medical field can be roughly divided into "prevention", "mild attack" and "severe attack", and correct prevention should be given for the three different stages.

Comparing the anti-allergy behaviors before and after ten years, it was found that the proportion of purchasing patent medicines dropped by 5%, and the proportion of traditional Chinese medicine dropped by 9.6%. The consumption of probiotics has increased by 26.2%, which has also caused a significant increase in the proportion of home allergy prevention. Further analysis of the sources of parents who choose probiotics found that as many as 60.2% of parents did not choose any home allergy prevention actions 10 years ago, which shows that within ten years Many parents start to pay attention to anti-allergy at home from probiotics.

Dr. Zhang Qizhen reminded that the purpose of each anti-allergic method is different. Although Chinese people prefer anti-allergic methods that are mild and have no side effects, they still need to choose different methods according to symptoms. For example, in terms of prevention, try to be gentle. , methods to improve daily life without side effects, but once symptoms are severe, medical treatment is still an effective way to quickly reduce allergic reactions.

Apple’s mother, who both herself and her children have allergies, said that when she was a child, she didn’t think her allergies needed treatment. She had difficulty falling asleep every time she had an allergic reaction. She didn’t go to the emergency room until the symptoms started, and she couldn’t sleep well all night. After giving birth to Apple 5 years ago, I discovered that she also had allergies. After receiving advice from experts, she chose to drink probiotic yogurt that has received national health certification to adjust her body and increase her immunity. She doesn't have a stuffy nose or sneezing when she wakes up in the morning. It is common in two-generation families where both parents and children have allergies. It is important to have a correct understanding of allergy-related knowledge at home. (Photography/Huang Manying)

Dr. Zhang Qizhen also suggested that probiotics are a mild anti-allergic method for the body without side effects. There are many dosage forms on the market including capsules, yogurt, fermented milk, etc. Parents should check whether the probiotic strains are proven to be able to adjust allergies and whether they should choose products with national health certification. In addition, vitamin C and Omega3 are also excellent dietary sources for adjusting the body's constitution in daily life. In daily life, we first stay away from allergens, and then help the body improve its immunity, which can effectively fight against the invasion of foreign allergens.

The "Survey on Changes in Anti-Allergy Behavior in Two Generations of Allergic Families" was conducted by Uni-President LP33 and Dr. Zhang Qizhen, Director of the Department of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, Taipei Medical University Affiliated Hospital, to investigate 532 two-generation families where both parents and children have allergies. , to learn about the differences between parents themselves and their children’s anti-allergic methods now, and to understand the changing trends in anti-allergic methods in the past ten years. The survey method was nursery school interviews and street convenience sampling. A total of 600 samples were issued, 540 samples were recovered, and 532 valid samples were obtained.