Allergy Suffering: Physical and Social

Allergy sufferers have more to deal with than just sneezing and itching eyes--they want to be left alone, a new survey says.

A poll of more than 3,200 allergy sufferers conducted by International Communications Research for Schering Laboratories says victims of pollen and other airborne irritants suffer on the social level as well as the physical.

More than 70 percent of those surveyed say they just wanted to be left alone when the allergy is at its worst. And Dr. Marianne Wamboldt of National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver says the poll results are a wake-up call for everyone in contact with allergy sufferers.

According to the survey, 64 percent say they didn't want to go out when suffering from seasonal allergies, 52 percent say they didn't want to deal with family or friends, and 25 percent feel their families and coworkers aren't sympathetic to their plights.