More and more Norwegians using antihistamines

influenzainfluenza .Photo: pixabay.com

Last year 875,050 Norwegians used antihistamines, which is 30 per cent more than ten years ago.

– We think this is positive because it means that more people are visiting the doctor and get help against allergies, health care adviser in the Norwegian Asthma and Allergy Association, Anna Bistrup, tells radio P4.

According to the federation more people shows signs of allergies partly because the climate is warmer, and therefore is the pollen season extended. This year the pollen season started in January.

– Many people realize that the spring cold that they experience every year is not a cold, but in fact allergies. Medications can help them, and we encourage all those who suspect they have allergies, to go to the doctor to get a diagnosis, Bistrup says.

In 2016 there was sold over 155 million day doses of prescription allergy medication for a total of nearly NOK 400 million in Norway.

The World Health Organization estimates that about 50 percent of all children will develop some form of allergy by 2030.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today