6 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Hay Fever

As pollen levels begin to rise, we ask: why is it called hay fever? How did people in the past treat the condition? And why was it originally known as a disease of the upper classes?

- 

TWO HUNDRED YEARS 1 HEARD OF HAY FEVER...

That is not to say that people didn't suffer from the condition - it just wasn't medically recognised yet. The English physician John Bostock (1772-1846) was the first person to accurately describe the malady. In 1819, he presented a study called Case of a Periodical Affection of the Eyes and Chest to a group of physicians and surgeons at the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London. In his talk, he described a patient with a "rather delicate" constitution who suffered from sneezing and itching during the summer months. Bostock referred to the patient using the initials "JB", but the person he was describing was himself.

Bostock, who was 46 at the time, had been suffering from allergic rhinitis - hay fever since the age of eight. He had tried a number of home remedies over the years, including opium; purging; "topical bleeding" and - rather horrifyingly "courses of mercury". None of these 'cures' had any "distinct or permanent benefit," but Bostock did discover that confining himself to his house for six weeks eased his symptoms.

2 'HAY FEVER' IS A MISNOMER