Word: feverently
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...malady afflicting these people is allergic rhinitis, more commonly called hay fever. It has nothing to do with hay and rarely produces a fever, but the Medical Gazette used that term in 1829, and the name stuck. The years since have produced no vaccine, no guaranteed cure and ever rising numbers of sufferers. In the U.S. alone, the sneezing, wheezing, teary-eyed multitudes are now estimated at 22 million...
Those allergic to pollen are only the most numerous group in a much broader class of people who react badly to invisible tormentors usually in the air. In a sense, hay fever sufferers are among the lucky ones, since they have at least some idea of what is bothering them, how to minimize the problem and when it will stop. Millions of others are vulnerable all year round and unexpectedly come down with a dismaying variety of symptoms. They swell up, - break out in hives and blisters, develop eczema or upset stomachs, and have breathing difficulties. After the initial reaction...
Allergies, like autoimmune diseases such as arthritis and lupus, result from aberrant functioning of the human immune system, the body's remarkable defense against dangerous invaders, including viruses, bacteria and parasites. In the case of hay fever, the immune system perceives the fuzzy grain of pollen as a threat. The cause of the confusion, explains botanist Walter Lewis of Washington University in St. Louis, is a chemical message encoded by proteins in the pollen grain's cell wall...
...next time similar pollen grains are detected, the antibodies signal the mast cells, which release a flood of chemicals, including histamine, against the harmless intruder. It is histamine that causes swelling, itching and other irritations all too familiar to hay fever sufferers. At the same time, additional IgE antibodies are produced and placed in position on mast cells, so that the next exposure to the pollen may produce a more severe response...
...particular area swells, reddens and itches, the patient more often than not is allergic to the substance placed there. Ordinary citizens wondering whether their clogged nasal passages and sneezes are signaling an allergic attack or simply a cold can perform their own quick diagnosis. If there is no fever, if the mucous secretions are clear and if sneezes occur in rapid, multiple sequence, an allergy is almost certainly involved...