Q: My son who is 5 years old sneezes consecutively along with irritation in nose and throat and has watery eyes whenever he gets up from sleep. As a result of all this he has cold and cough almost 15 to 20 days in a month. The doctors have advised not to give him anything to eat that contains preservatives. Also he was nebulised for 10 to12 days three times a day after which the frequency of sneezing has reduced. He has been taking homeopathic treatment for this for the last seven months but with no results. Please advise how to cure him of this problem?

A:Your son is probably suffering from "allergic bronchitis". As your doctor has rightly advised you, the ideal treatment will be prevention. This prevention includes 1. Not giving him any cold items, 2. Not giving any food items containing any preservative, 3. Protect him from dust and vehicle fumes, 4. Keeping away from pets, etc. This list can go on endlessly. Adherence to this long list of preventive measures is impossible. However, avoidance of dust, removal of unnecessary furniture and curtains from the bedroom and keeping the child away from cold water and ice creams, staying away from household pets like dogs and cats might be possible. Several times, these kinds of allergy disappear in the next season. Hence, this sort of prevention may become unnecessary after a few months. Whenever there is an acute episode, we have to tide over the episode with antihistamines, steroids, nebulisation and perhaps antibiotics. The one thing you have to rule out is a persistent bronchitis. Your doctor can do some tests and advise you accordingly.