31 Oct 2015

Drugs: Antihistamines

From This Way Up, 12:35 pm on 31 October 2015
John Ashton

John Ashton Photo: Alan Dove Photography

With summer just around the corner about one in three adults and nearly half of all children will be sneezing and scratching from hay fever (aka seasonal allergic rhinitis). One of the main ways to treat allergic reactions like hay fever is to use an antihistamine. John Ashton is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at the Otago School of Medical Sciences. He tells us how antihistamines work, why some of them make you drowsy, and how safe they are to use on a regular basis.