Allergic rhinitis affects sleep quality

Allergic rhinitis (AR) can affect the social life and lead to significant sleep disturbances. Researchers from the Centre du Sommeil et de la Vigilance, Paris, France found that allergic rhinitis has been shown to impair social life and sleep. Patients with severe symptoms may have more sleep disturbances than those with a mild form of the disease. The researchers studied 591 patients who had allergic rhinitis for at least a year and a comparison group of 502 unaffected "control" subjects. Overall, 85 percent of allergic rhinitis patients were being treated for their disease. Twenty-four percent of patients had asthma, compared to less than 2 percent of controls. Compared to people with mild allergic rhinitis, those with severe allergic rhinitis had significantly impaired sleep. The subjects with allergic rhinitis used significantly more sleeping pills and alcohol than controls. A total of 44 percent of patients with allergic rhinitis reported a feeling of fatigue on awakening despite a normal night's sleep. Headache at awakening, anxiety, and depression as contributing factors of sleep problems and daytime somnolence were significantly more frequently reported by patients with allergic rhinitis than by the controls. The findings suggest that health care professionals have to establish a link between allergic rhinitis and sleep problems in their patients. Treating allergic rhinitis or other nasal symptoms may dramatically improve the quality of sleep.