Description
Rhinitis is defined as “an inflammation of the nose characterized by nasal discharge, blockage, sneezing and itching; two or more symptoms occurring or more than one hour on most days.1 There is a marked geographical variation in the prevalence of rhinitis but it is remarkably under-diagnosed, affecting between 10-40% of the population. Symptoms occur on a perennial basis for a large majority of rhinitic patients. In London, it has been shown that 50% of patients with rhinitis will have only perennial symptoms, 38% have both perennial and seasonal symptoms and only 12% have purely seasonal rhinitis.2 There is evidence that the prevalence of perennial rhinitis is increasing but the hypothesis that this is due to an increase in atmospheric pollution remains to be proven.
