The first 5,000 years of allergy care

For as long as recorded human civilization has existed, people have had allergies. Allergy treatment is almost as old as both. How has it developed into what you can get at CEENTA today? Today’s blog offers a glimpse into the long history of allergy care.

The BC Era of Allergy Care

Allergy treatment has been traced back as far as 3000 BC, according to the book Ancestors of Allergy. In China, herbs were used to treat asthma-like symptoms such as bronchospasms. In Egypt at the same time, treatments for asthma were first developed.

Sometime before 377 BC, Hippocrates – the father of medicine and the man for whom the Hippocratic Oath was named – was the first to recognize a link between asthma and respiratory ailments. Sometime before 79 AD, Pliny the Elder – the man wrote the first natural encyclopedia – identified pollen as a source of respiratory issues.

Allergy Care During the Renaissance and Middle Ages 

The middle ages saw further developments. Sometime before 932 a Persian doctor was the first to note seasonal allergic rhinitis.

During the middle ages, doctors noted that some flowers, especially roses, cause sneezing or allergic attacks.

By the time of the Renaissance, doctors began to focus on preventing allergies, not just treating them. For example, an Italian doctor named Gerolamo Cardano recommended that the Archbishop of Saint Andrews in Edinburgh sleep on a silk bed instead of one stuffed with feathers. This helped his respiratory ailments and showed he was likely allergic to feathers.

Allergy Care From the 17th Century to the 19th Century

Around 1600 the term “summer asthma” was first used, which was further acknowledgment that allergies could be seasonal.

In the late 1700s the term “hay fever” was first used.

In the mid-1800s an American doctor named Morrill Wyman sniffed ragweed pollen to intentionally trigger an allergy attack. He also hypothesized that dust and train smoke could cause allergic symptoms. This was done to disprove the previously-held notion that allergies struck just the upper classes, and to show they were instead conditions that could affect people of all societal levels.

In 1869 the first skin test was performed, when Dr. Charles Blakely applied pollen through a small break in his skin.

Allergy Care in the 20th Century

In 1906 the word “allergy” was used for the first time.

In 1937 the first antihistamines were developed. Not only did they block histamines, but doctors saw they protected against some symptoms of anaphylaxis.

In 1948, doctors Philip Hench and Edward Kendall discovered corticosteroids, and saw they were effective in treating asthma as well as allergic reactions.

Allergy Care Today

Today, CEENTA’s allergy specialists provide top-quality care to patients in North and South Carolina, and will continue this 5,000-year history of allergy care for many years to come.

To make an appointment with a CEENTA allergy specialist, call 704-295-3000. You can also schedule an appointment online or through myCEENTAchart.