Study of bronchial hyper-reactivity in patients with allergic rhinitis in an urban indian setup

Background The concept of Atopic march was developed to study the progress of Atopic Dermatitis to Allergic Rhinitis to Asthma. Epidemiologic studies have constantly demonstrated strong associations between Rhinitis and Asthma. Bronchial hyper-reactivity is an important component in the definition of Asthma. Many patients with Allergic Rhinitis have lower Airway hyperreactivity or bronchial hyper-responsiveness without obstructive ventilatory defect on PFT indicating that such patients may have a risk of developing Asthma. Most of these studies have been conducted in the Western countries. Our study aimed to detect the presence of Bronchial hyper-reactivity in patients with Allergic Rhinitis with normal lung function tests in our set up.