Study of the relationship between allergic rhinitis and asthma

OBJECTIVE To study the relationship between allergic rhinitis and asthma. METHODS A total of 1526 cases of allergic rhinitis were investigated to elucidate the relationship between allergic rhinitis (A R )a n d b r o n c h i a l a s t h m a (B A ). T h e allergopharma allergic abstraction was used to detect the allergens with the skin prick test. RESULTS Among the AR patients , 43.8 % were complicated with BA. In patients with AR and BA, 52.3 % suffered from AR initially and 36.5 % suffered from BA initially. 42.4 % of the AR cases and 61.7 % of the AR with BA cases had a positive family history. In addition,30.7 % of the AR cases were complicated with allergic dermatitis. CONCLUSION The results suggested that atopic individuals with asthma or rhinitis had a tendency to develop total airway inflammation. Allergic rhinitis was also related to other allergic diseases. The skin prick test showed that the Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus was the commonest allergen in AR patients.