Pine Bark & Hayfever

After 20 years I´ve cured my hayfever—thanks to Pine Bark

A pill made from the bark of a pine tree could help hayfever sufferers cope with the annual misery of runny noses and itchy eyes. The pill appears to block the release of histamine in the body.

Histamine is a chemical pumped out in large volumes by the immune system when it suspects it is under attack. But when the body´s defences come into contact with allergens such as pollen, they can produce too much histamine, triggering the symptoms of hayfever.

The pine bark pill, called pycnogenol, is believed to have a powerful antioxidant effect that halts the rush of histamine and prevents symptoms developing.

Cilla Kyranios from High Barnet, Hertfordshire, has been taking the pine bark pill since January after 20 years of suffering with hayfever problems. Doctors had diagnosed allergic rhinitis, a hayfever like condition that can affect people all year round.

“Within a week of taking the new pill, my itchy eyes had cleared up. I was also breathing more easily and sleeping better,” she says.

In the United Kingdom, around 13 million people suffer from hayfever symptoms, enduring an annual misery that ranges from mild symptoms, such as a runny nose and itchy eyes, to more severe complications, such as asthma attacks.

Most people with hayfever rely on over the counter medicines such as eye drops and antihistamines to relieve symptoms. Prescription only steroid nasal sprays also help. Severe cases can be treated with immunotherapy, where doctors inject tiny amounts of pollen to help build up immunity.

But antihistamine pills do not work for all patients and the long term use of steroid sprays is not recommended because of potential side effects. As a result many sufferers end up searching for more natural hayfever cures.

Pine bark is made from the French maritime pine tree, found in the south-west of the country. Recent scientific studies have confirmed anecdotal evidence that it can help a range of conditions.

Tests have shown pine bark is effective in treating pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS), deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and even asthma. One study shows it lowers glucose levels in patients with diabetes.

Its secret is thought to be its powerful antioxidant properties, which give it the power to combat free radicals- the oxygen rich cells in the body that can destroy other cells in much the same way as rust rots a car.

Bristol GP Dr Donald Grant, who has an interest in natural hayfever cures, said pine bark could be working by mopping up free radicals, thereby preventing the inflammation and irritation.