Overview

An antihistamine is a drug used to counteract the effects of histamine, the chemical released by certain cells in the body during an allergic reaction. Although antihistamines do not change the cause of the allergic reaction, they do suppress the symptoms associated with allergy. The groundwork for the development of antihistamines was made in the first half of the twentieth century by Swiss-Italian pharmacologist Daniel Bovet (1907-1992). Bovet's work led to the discovery and production of antihistamines for allergy relief and earned him the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine in 1957.

Background

In some humans, the immune system perceives irritants such as pollen or animal dander to be foreign substances dangerous to the body. When these are inhaled into the body, antibodies seek out the irritant and combine with it. A large blood cell known as a basophil, or mast cell...