If you suffer from seasonal allergies (sneezing, weepy eyes and other nasal / facial symptoms), you may have noticed that during periods of stress, your allergy symptoms can get worse. If you operate under high stress, you also may find yourself experiencing allergy symptoms, even if you haven't been officially diagnosed with allergies.
That's because the two common health woes appear to be connected. In a sense, that's good news, because addressing one may address both, as a new study suggests.
The study found that increased allergic reactions may be associated with excess production of "corticotropin-releasing stress hormone," a peptide hormone released in response to stress. In turn, this stress hormone stimulated production of mast cells, which are known to cause nasal allergy and affiliated symptoms via inflammation. Findings appear in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
Stress is bad enough on its own, but if you suffer from allergies, your inability to manage or reduce that stress can only make your allergy symptoms worse.