Allergy Snapshot - The impact of allergy on the whole airway

"In allergy, when it comes to the interaction between a person's upper and lower airway, there is a lot of data to show that it is more than simply a patient reacting to the environment in two different parts of their respiratory system," says Professor Richard Harvey, Program Head of the Rhinology and Skull Base Program at the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University in Sydney.

"Now we have evidence showing that if you stimulate the lung, you will see a reaction in the nose, and if you stimulate the nose in isolation, you'll see a reaction in the lung.

"So we understand that if you have inflammation happening in one part of your airway that will actually make the other parts of your airway become inflamed too.

"That means the concept of treating both the upper and lower airway together as a condition is not just about getting symptoms under control but it is about employing synergistic treatments that will improve overall allergic disease," he says.