Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Of the 39 study patients, those who took 100 mg of pycnogenol twice daily for 5-8 weeks prior to allergy season had a 35% decrease in eye symptoms and a 20.5% decrease in nasal symptoms compared to placebo.
Although it is not life-threatening but considered a “trivial health problem”, allergic rhinitis, also known as “hay fever”, produces ” a dramatic impairment” in the 20-40% of the population who are affected by it (1). This dramatic impairment has been found to translate to moderate to severe impairment in 85% of those who suffer from hay fever (2) while also presenting “a major burden” to school children and increasing difficulty with concentration and completing school work in 70% of teenagers suffering from hay fever (3). All of this research and hay fever’s $7 billion cost to our healthcare system each year (1) make helping deal with the symptoms of hay fever a priority.
Now a new study (4) has found that pycnogenol, an extract from French pine bark, may help with allergy health. In the study, 39 patients were given either 100 mg of pycnogenol (one 50-mg tablet in the morning and a second one in the evening) or placebo 5-8 weeks before the start of birch allergy season in 2009. They provided feedback on their symptoms on a scale from 0 (no symptoms) to 3 (severe; symptoms completely prevent normal activity).
By the end of the allergy season, those in the pycnogenol group had 35% lower eye symptoms and 20.5% lower nasal symptoms, compared to the placebo group. At the completion of allergy season, those in the placebo group had a 61% greater increase levels of a protein called IgE compared to the pycnogenol group (19.4% vs. 31.9% increase), indicating that those in the placebo group had a greater allergic response.
The researchers concluded that “Pycnogenol improved allergic rhinitis symptoms when supplementation was started at least 5 weeks before the onset of the allergy season.”
Source: Wilson, Dale, et al. “A randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled exploratory study to evaluate the potential of pycnogenol® for improving allergic rhinitis symptoms.” Phytotherapy Research 24.8 (2010): 1115-1119.
© 2010 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Posted July 30, 2010.
References:
- Laekeman G. Continuous versus on-demand pharmacotherapy of allergic rhinitis: Evidence and practice. Respir Med 2010; 104:615-625.
- Valovirta E, Myrseth SE, Palkonen S. 2008. The voice of the patients: allergic rhinitis is not a trivial disease. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol 2008; 8: 1-9.
- Vuurman EF. Seasonal allergic rhinitis and antihistamine effects on children’s learning. Ann Allergy 1993; 71: 121-126.
- Wilson D. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled exploratory study to evaluate the potential of Pycnogenol for improving allergic rhinitis symptoms. Phytotherapy Research 2010. Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1002/ptr.3232.
