Five things to know about antihistamines – Cosmos

Antihistamines have improved over the past few decades. Credit: Carol Yepes / Getty Images

Antihistamines are one of the most widely taken medications worldwide, used to relieve allergy symptoms such as runny noses, sneezing and congestion.

But new research points out that misconceptions around these common medications abound, leading to both misuse and overuse.

A paperpublishedin theCanadian Medical Association Journallists five facts to know about them:

People need to rethink what they stock in their home cabinets as allergy medicines, what hospitals keep on formulary, and what policymakers recommend, says Derek Chu, a researcher in allergies at McMaster University in Canada and co-author on the paper.

There are new modern second-generation antihistamines that are potent, specific, fast acting and of proven safety which everyone should be using to treat allergic rhinitis and hives, adds Gordon Sussman, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto in Canada and co-author on the paper.

More information can be found onHealthDirectandNPS Medicinewise.

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Ellen Phiddian is a science journalist at The Royal Institution of Australia.

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Five things to know about antihistamines - Cosmos