On October 15, Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump offered shall we say a rather rash assessment of the health of his Democratic opponent Vice President Kamala Harris. Three days prior, Joshua Simmons, MD, the physician to the Vice President, had released a letter listing his medical assessment of Harris. In response to this, former President Trump posted the following on Truth Social: “I have just seen Kamala’s Report, and it is not good. According to her Doctor’s Report, she suffers from ‘urticaria,’ defined as ‘a rash of round, red welts on the skin that itch intensely, sometimes with dangerous swelling.’” Yep, Trump was buzzing about Harris having hives, which is basically what urticaria is.
Trump’s reaction ran on with something that hit right on the nose (and eyes): “She also has ‘allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis,’ a very messy and dangerous situation. These are deeply serious conditions that clearly impact her functioning.” You can see the rest of his Truth Social post here:
Yikes, a very messy and dangerous situation? Deeply serious conditions that clearly impact her functioning? Should all of this cause concern? It’s gotta be truth, right, because it is on something called Truth Social. Well, let’s take a medical, scientific look at what these conditions really are.
OK, no one can deny that having a runny nose can be a very messy situation. You’ve got to get tissues, sometimes a lot of tissues. And if you leave these tissues crumpled up all over the place like on the floor, then it could get messy and dangerous as someone could slip and fall.
Allergic rhinitis is basically when you have an irritated—often red, itchy and runny— nose from allergies. Rhinitis starts with the Greek root “rhino,” which in this case is not a political term but rather stands for “nose” as in that thing in the middle of your face. It ends with the suffix “itis,” which stands for inflammation. Therefore, rhinitis simply means inflammation of the nose, meaning the inside of the nose.
Allergic rhinitis a very common condition. It typically results from an allergic reaction to something floating in the air like pollen, dust, mold, skin flakes from different animals or some kind of cologne like one branded by a Presidential candidate.
Is this a “deeply serious condition” like, oh, how about Covid-19? You know, that thing that some politicians were trying to minimize in 2020. Umm, you don’t often hear someone say, “We took her to the hospital but she didn’t make it because her nose just kept running form allergies?” Sure, allergic rhinitis in some cases can cause result in symptoms that impeded daily activities. But in many situations, people can make lifestyle modifications to avoid the allergens like buying an air purifier. They also may use some combination of over-the-counter medications like antihistamines, decongestants and nasal corticosteroid sprays to manage the symptoms. If symptoms remain unmanageable, they may see a doctor for more involved treatments such as allergy shots.
The same kind of medical management applies to allergic conjunctivitis. That’s also an allergic reaction, except the eyes have it. The conjunctiva is a thin and clear membrane that lines the inside of your eyelid and the white part of your eye. Conjunctivitis is the inflammation of this membrane, which can lead to red, itchy and watery eyes.
You know what else can result from allergies? Urticaria, which is a medical term for hives. Around 20 percent of people will suffer urticaria at some point in their lives, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Hives are when you develop red or skin-colored rashes that are itchy and raised. They can have little bumps, otherwise known as wheals. These rashes tend to blanch—meaning turn white—when pressed.
Now, while urticaria can be “whealy” uncomfortable, you don’t tend to hear people say, “Oh, she can’t do that job because of urticaria,” unless the job is something like working in a latex factory or modeling latex outfits when the allergic trigger is latex. Typically, people will deal with urticaria by avoiding what happens to be triggers for them such as foods like peanuts, eggs, nuts and shellfish, medications, insect stings or bites, temperature changes, physical activity, sun exposure, infections, pet dander or pollen. Anti-histamines and steroid cremes may help too. As with allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis, a doctor can help identify the triggers and determine how to best manage symptoms.
One thing that’s clear from Simmons’ letter is that Harris has had a history of allergies. The letter indicated that, “Her allergic symptoms primarily consist of allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis and have previously been well-managed with over-the-counter and prescription medications such as Allegra (fexofenadine), Atrovent (ipratropium bromide) nasal spray and Pataday (olopatadine) eye drops.” He also wrote, “The urticaria are sporadic and transient and do not seem to be triggered by a particular exposure nor are they associated with other symptoms.” The letter emphasized that these symptoms have responded well to common medications and that “she has never experienced severe symptoms, angioedema, or anaphylaxis.”
Moreover, the letter stated that Harris underwent immunotherapy for her allergies, which has reduced her need for medications. Immunotherapy for allergies is when you get gradually exposed to whatever is triggering your allergies to allow your immune system to better adapt to such allergens.
So all in all, it looks like calling Harris’s allergies “a very messy and dangerous situation” and “deeply serious conditions” may be kind of an overreaction, so to speak. Now the Harris campaign has been asking Trump to release more medical information about his health. It will be interesting to see how the Trump campaign continues to react to these requests.
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