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American Morning

Spring Allergies

Aired April 29, 2003 - 08:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it happens every spring, temperatures rise, along with the pollen count.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with us in New York this morning with some advice about combating those spring allergies.

Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Yes, it's not SARS. We've talking a lot about SARS lately. But certainly allergies can be a very big deal. If people have them, they know what I'm talking about. And this time of year can be particularly bad. There are some allergens that crop up this time of year, trees tend to be one of the first ones. If you take a look at the most common allergens -- weed, grass, trees and mold. And the symptoms -- again, if you have them, you're going to know what these symptoms are -- runny or stuffed nose, sneezing and wheezing, watery and itchy eyes. And the symptoms linger, and that's important, Daryn, because you know, people want to distinguish this from the common cold. The common cold symptoms usually go away seven to 10 days. These allergies can last a an entire season, unless you get them treated.

KAGAN: The good news is there's lots of medication out there to get them treated. But how you do that and how you pay for that is changing.

GUPTA: It really is. And we'll talk about that. Some of most common medications first, and the people that have been taking for years really to treat all sorts of allergies, talking about antihistamines, decongestants. Now the antihistamines typically will make you a little sleepy unless you get the nonsedating kind. Decongestants, cortical steroids, these are going to be the best sort of antiinflammatories. In fact, the nasal sprays with steroids in them are going to be some of the most effective against hay fever. There's eye drops and there's allergy shots as well, which can be very effective, but you've got to obviously go to the doctor to get the shots.

KAGAN: Right, for the shots. Now a lot of the medicine, you used to have -- all of it was prescription. Now a lot of it is over- the-counter, which you think that is great, you don't need to go the doctor, but if you're trying to get your insurance to pay for it, that could be a problem.

GUPTA: This is one of the most interesting things, because people know the medication Claritin, and this is going to be the first allergy season where Claritin is now over the counter. You don't have to get a prescription for this. And people, at first blush, this may seem like a pretty good idea. But it is a pretty good idea, mainly for the insurance companies. If you're used to your $10 co-pay to pay for this particular medication, no more -- it's going to cost you $30 to get this medication over the counter.

In fact, some of the insurance companies have gone so far as to say even before they will let another drug be prescribed for you for these particular medications, such as Allegra or Zyrtec, you got to try the Claritin first, and make sure that it doesn't work, before you can even get a prescription. And to take it even one step further, because this gets a little complicated, insurance companies want to make Allegra and Zyrtec also over the counter. They're pushing for that. And the FDA is starting to consider that as well. So a really new sort of thing there.

KAGAN: Hit you in the pocketbook there.

GUPTA: Exactly.

KAGAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.

GUPTA: Good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired April 29, 2003 - 08:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it happens every spring, temperatures rise, along with the pollen count.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with us in New York this morning with some advice about combating those spring allergies.

Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Yes, it's not SARS. We've talking a lot about SARS lately. But certainly allergies can be a very big deal. If people have them, they know what I'm talking about. And this time of year can be particularly bad. There are some allergens that crop up this time of year, trees tend to be one of the first ones. If you take a look at the most common allergens -- weed, grass, trees and mold. And the symptoms -- again, if you have them, you're going to know what these symptoms are -- runny or stuffed nose, sneezing and wheezing, watery and itchy eyes. And the symptoms linger, and that's important, Daryn, because you know, people want to distinguish this from the common cold. The common cold symptoms usually go away seven to 10 days. These allergies can last a an entire season, unless you get them treated.

KAGAN: The good news is there's lots of medication out there to get them treated. But how you do that and how you pay for that is changing.

GUPTA: It really is. And we'll talk about that. Some of most common medications first, and the people that have been taking for years really to treat all sorts of allergies, talking about antihistamines, decongestants. Now the antihistamines typically will make you a little sleepy unless you get the nonsedating kind. Decongestants, cortical steroids, these are going to be the best sort of antiinflammatories. In fact, the nasal sprays with steroids in them are going to be some of the most effective against hay fever. There's eye drops and there's allergy shots as well, which can be very effective, but you've got to obviously go to the doctor to get the shots.

KAGAN: Right, for the shots. Now a lot of the medicine, you used to have -- all of it was prescription. Now a lot of it is over- the-counter, which you think that is great, you don't need to go the doctor, but if you're trying to get your insurance to pay for it, that could be a problem.

GUPTA: This is one of the most interesting things, because people know the medication Claritin, and this is going to be the first allergy season where Claritin is now over the counter. You don't have to get a prescription for this. And people, at first blush, this may seem like a pretty good idea. But it is a pretty good idea, mainly for the insurance companies. If you're used to your $10 co-pay to pay for this particular medication, no more -- it's going to cost you $30 to get this medication over the counter.

In fact, some of the insurance companies have gone so far as to say even before they will let another drug be prescribed for you for these particular medications, such as Allegra or Zyrtec, you got to try the Claritin first, and make sure that it doesn't work, before you can even get a prescription. And to take it even one step further, because this gets a little complicated, insurance companies want to make Allegra and Zyrtec also over the counter. They're pushing for that. And the FDA is starting to consider that as well. So a really new sort of thing there.

KAGAN: Hit you in the pocketbook there.

GUPTA: Exactly.

KAGAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.

GUPTA: Good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com