Many of us who suffer from nasal allergies have long known that even the simple act of kissing can be compromised by sneezing, a bunged-up nose, or, worst of all, post-nasal drip. Now, at last, research has finally caught up with reality and confirmed our experience.

When polled for this new study, 83 percent of people with allergic rhinitis said it affected their sexual activity at least sometimes, with almost 18 percent of those affected saying that their allergies nearly always got in the way of a satisfying sex life.

Itchy eyes and other allergy symptoms can be extremely distracting and make a person feel less than sexy and, if embarrassment caused by many of the other aspects of rhinitis doesn't cramp one's style, tiredness from chronic loss of sleep, induced by nasal blockage, almost certainly will.

A friend of mine who spent many years trying unsuccessfully to get help from the UK medical profession for his rhinitis and the problems that it caused, finally found that the only solution was a small dose of tiny worms!

Dave (not his real name) had had rhinitis from childhood, but had managed to live with it well into adulthood before it began to have a major impact on his life. His nose would physically swell up and block, and this prevented him from sleeping and left him extremely exhausted.

He tried everything that his GP offered, but the latter finally told him he would just have to live with the problem! Only after constant baggering of the GP was an appointment arranged for Dave to see a specialist, but this proved to be just another dead end, as did several further consultations with private specialists.

Dave struggled valliantly to hold down his job, although his work inevitably suffered because of his constant tiredness. His performance in other areas also suffered, and his wife eventually left him. At that point, he felt he had nowhere to turn and nothing left to live for, so took an overdose. Fortunatley, this was discovered in time and, as this type of acute problem is something the medics are good at dealing with, he survived.

Shortly after this, I told Dave about my recent therapeutic inoculation with hookworm and how this had completely cleared my own nasal congestion. He didn't hesitate, despite the significant cost of the treatment, and promptly ordered a dose of hookworm from Autoimmune Therapies.

"Anyone who doesn't try this," he said, "isn't suffering enough!"

After the few weeks that it took for his worms to mature, he began to improve, and I began to get almost daily excited phone calls with updates about his progress.

To cut a long story short, his life has been transformed. He can now once again breathe freely through his nose and he sleeps like a baby - right through the night. His job is going really well and he also now has a new girl friend. In short, he's 'full of the joys of Spring', and all thanks to a few little gut buddies living in his tummy!

This remarkable new treatment which can turn lives around, but which most doctors still know nothing about - and a few are violently opposed to - is called Helminthic Therapy, and involves aquiring a small, controlled dose of tiny (less than a centimetre long), harmless intestinal worms that have co-evolved with our own species for millions of years and which are therefore fully adapted to us - and we to them - but which our modern sanitation practices effectively banished from our lives several decades ago.

Dave and I have both found that having these amazing little creatures back inside us is a simple but very effective long-term solution to nasal problems as well as other forms of allergy, with none of the harmful side effects of regular medical treatments, which, in both our cases, had proved ineffecitve anyway. Now that we have realised the remarkable benefits of hosting a few carefully selected beneficial organisms, neither of us will ever willingly be parted from our new 'old friends'.

The un-sexy effects of hay fever have again been highlighted in a new survey which found that, due to hay fever symptoms, many sufferers miss out on favourite summer activities, with more than half of those polled saying they would most miss picnics in the park, summer barbeques and leisurely walks.

Four per cent even admitted to missing out on outdoor sex, so they obviously haven't read John's post above.

If you want to join in the conversation about helminthic therapy, here's where to go:

Yahoo Helminthic Therapy forum (this has an archive of over 8,000 posts) Click on the "Join This Group" button.

Facebook Helminthic Therapy Support group Click on the "Ask To Join Group" button.