The prevalence of effect of smokes to people that suffer from persisten allergic rhinitis is increasing due to the increasing number of smokers, but this issue has not been given much attention. Currently, number of people exposed to smokes at home reach 97 millions.
Although allergic rhinitis basically is affected by genetics and environment, but effect also come through changes in temperature, humidity, allergens and air polution, which is among others, smoke. Research on effect of smoke in patient of persistent allergic rhinitis is not yet reported in Indonesia.
Lecturer at Faculty of Medicine of Universitas Riau (UNRI), dr. Roy David Sarumpaet, Sp.THT-KL, did a research to know the effect of smoke to symptoms of allregic rhinitis, quality of life and response of celullar immune of patients of persistent allergic rhinitis. It involves 63 patients of medium and heavy cases. They are grouped into two.
“The first consists of 32 that are exposed to smokes from 5 cigarettes for two hours in a room. The other 31 people are not exposed to smoke,” said Roy in his doctoral promotion at Faculty of Medicine UGM on Tuesday (11/10).
Roy David Sarumpaet added the cytokine measurement was done by Elisa technique using Quantikine reagent. It resulted that the expose of smoke for 2 hours did not cause change in response of cellular immune, quality of life and symptom of clinical allergy if exposed to patients of persisten allergic rhinitis.
His research is still preliminary that needs further investigation where patients of persistent allergic rhinitis need to have adequate expose to allergen. “Hence, a condition can emerge where more cytokine can be triggered by expose to smoke that contains acrolein,” he said.