In a recent study, Japanese researchers indicate that stress and psychological tension represent an aggravating factor for people subject to allergies. According to the leaders of the study, the increase in allergic reactions is linked to a particular hormone.
What if stress favors an increase in allergic reactions? Professor Mika Yamanaka-Takaichi of the University of Osaka (Japan) is of this opinion, as evidenced by the publication of a study in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences on March 9, 2021. The person concerned explains in his report that in his daily practice, he meets many patients who refer to a worsening of allergy symptoms due to psychological stress.
Mika Yamanaka-Takaichi reminds us that any stressful situation is a source of corticotrophin production (or adrenocorticotropic hormone – ACTH). However, the researcher's work establishes a link between this hormone and the proliferation of mast cells. These are oval-shaped cells solicited when it comes to allergies in the nasal cavity. Thus, there is talk of a "mixture" contributing to the appearance of aggravated allergies.
This work could make it possible to better understand the origin of allergies, and therefore to find treatments capable of effectively overcoming them. Mika Yamanaka-Takaichi also mentioned the discovery of promising therapeutic potential in certain candidates such as antalarmin. The latter is nothing more than a drug acting as an antagonist of CRH1, the corticotropin releasing hormone.
According to an Inserm publication, 25 to 35% of the world's population is affected by an allergic disease. Particularly common in children and young adults, anyone can suffer from it, with variations according to country and age. Two conditions are necessary, namely a genetic predisposition and of course, exposure to the allergenic substance.
The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks allergic diseases as the 4th chronic disease in the world. She considers them to be a major public health problem and evokes an impact on the quality of life, the loss of days of work or education, the cost of treatment as well as mortality in certain cases.
These allergies – especially seasonal ones – have a certain tendency to increase. Projections estimate that by 2050, half of the world's population will be "allergic to something", up from less than 5% half a century ago.
