 | | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Sneezing, itching and watery eyes. Allergies can do more than just make you feel lousy physically -- they can also take their toll on you emotionally.
A new Harris Interactive phone survey finds 62 percent of allergy sufferers say their allergies affect their mood. Results also show 51 percent of sufferers feel annoyed, 48 percent are irritable, and 42 percent feel frustrated.
Text Continues Below
Besides affecting their mood, the survey shows allergies make 22 percent of patients feel less attractive and 19 percent feel self-conscious.
The survey polled 1,000 allergy sufferers, 1,000 consumers -- both allergy sufferers and non-sufferers -- and 300 physicians.
Other results include:
Consumers surveyed say diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis are more serious than allergies
Forty-eight percent of allergy sufferers think their spouse or significant other does not think their allergies are a serious health condition
Seventy-eight percent of consumers feel sorry for people with allergies, but 36 percent think allergy patients overstate the severity of their symptoms and 30 percent believe they use them as an excuse to get out of something
Thirty-four percent of allergy sufferers go to the doctor to get treatment for their symptoms
Sign up for a free weekly e-mail on Medical Breakthroughs called First to Know by clicking here.
SOURCE: Attitudes About Allergies, 2008
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
|
.gif)
