Nose Cream for Hayfever

Posting Date: 08/17/2004

On day two, patients applied either pollen blocker cream or placebo, and the nasal provocation test was performed again. The rate of airflow in the nasal passageways was measured, and the patients' symptoms were scored. On days two through five, the patients applied their products four times per day. On day six, the study was repeated, with patients who received the pollen blocker cream given placebo, and patients who had received placebo for the first part of the study switched to pollen blocker cream.

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The researchers found that the median symptom score decreased from four to one after application of the pollen blocker cream and from four to three in the placebo group. They also found that the increased improvement in airflow in response to treatment was roughly 20 percent in the pollen blocker group and only about 10 percent in the placebo group.

"The blocker was significantly more effective than placebo and reduced the typical symptoms of allergic rhinitis in response to nasal challenge with allergen by nearly 60 percent (placebo reduced symptoms by 25 percent)," the researchers write. "The pollen blocker cream did not produce any adverse effects. Therefore, the efficacy of the investigational product can be rated as good."

(Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2004;130:979-984. Available post-embargo at archoto.com)