Allergy News and Research

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The term allergy encompasses a wide range of conditions; it is not a disease in itself. In 1906 Clemens von Pirquet was the first to describe allergies as a changed or altered reaction of the immune system in response to exposure to foreign proteins. These days the term allergy – medically termed hypersensitivity, signifies an exaggerated reaction to foreign substances.

Starpharma reports positive VivaGel clinical study results

Starpharma Holdings Limited today announced positive results of a clinical trial that achieved all its objectives demonstrating that 3% SPL7013 Gel (VivaGel) was safe and well-tolerated in sexually abstinent women when administered vaginally, twice daily for 14 days.

11 May 2008

Link found between birth order and asthma symptoms

Among four year-olds attending Head Start programs in New York City, those who had older siblings were more likely to experience respiratory symptoms including an episode of wheezing in the past year than those who were oldest or only children.

9 May 2008

Role of genetic components of dendritic cells could lead to more effective drugs

For the first time, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified genetic components of dendritic cells that are key to asthma and allergy-related immune response malfunction. Targeting these elements could result in more effective drugs to treat allergic disorders and asthma, according to a study reported in the May edition of the journal Nature Medicine.

7 May 2008

GenVec announces grant for respiratory syncytial virus vaccine program

GenVec, Inc. announced today that it has received an Advanced Technology Phase I Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of the National Institutes of Health, to support the Company's efforts to develop vaccines for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

7 May 2008

Sport and asthma, researchers follow European Olympic athletes to Beijing

The pan-European study will allow scientists to specify the prevalence of asthma, exercise induced asthma and other allergic diseases among European athletes qualified for the Beijing Olympics, while identifying the differences in prevalence between a wide range of sports and between the different European regions.

6 May 2008

Asthma attacks early in pregnancy put baby at greater risk of birth defects, new research suggests

Uncontrolled asthma during the first trimester of pregnancy greatly increases the risk of birth defects in babies, according to new research to be published in the June issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

5 May 2008

Allergy expert says expect cure for peanut allergy in five years

The announcement by an American expert that within the next five years some form of immunotherapy will be available to treat peanut allergy, will bring relief to many concerned parents.

5 May 2008

On the road with allergies and asthma

For millions of Americans with allergies and asthma, summer travel concerns extend far beyond rising gas prices and airline security waits.

2 May 2008

New discoveries in hearing health

Three studies published in the May 2008 edition of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery reveal substantial new findings in several areas of hearing health, including research that indicates that patients with profound hearing loss benefit substantially from having cochlear implants placed in both ears, rather than one, as is the common practice.

1 May 2008

New understanding of how some bacteria survive antibiotic treatment

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered how some bacteria can survive antibiotic treatment by turning on resistance mechanisms when exposed to the drugs.

30 Apr 2008

AstraZeneca submits sNDA for SYMBICORT in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

AstraZeneca today announced that it submitted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval of a new indication for SYMBICORT (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate) Inhalation Aerosol for the treatment of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). SYMBICORT is currently approved for the long-term maintenance treatment of asthma in patients 12 years and older.

30 Apr 2008

ISTA Pharmaceuticals announces new clinical findings to support Bepreve NDA

ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced positive results from the preliminary analysis of its second and final Bepreve (bepotastine ophthalmic solution) Phase III clinical study.

30 Apr 2008

Discovery of quick method for making human monoclonal antibodies against flu

Human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) - highly specific, identical, infection-fighting proteins produced in large quantities in the lab in cell lines that are derived from a single antibody-producing cell - against influenza can be rapidly produced in the lab, according to a new report from scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

30 Apr 2008

Study explains why steroid therapy for sinusitis and asthma loses its punch over time

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have outlined a new path for potential therapies to combat inflammation associated with sinusitis and asthma based on a new understanding of the body's earliest immune response in the nose and sinus cavities.

29 Apr 2008

Human protein may offer novel target for blocking HIV infection

A research group supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has uncovered a new route for attacking the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that may offer a way to circumvent problems with drug resistance. In findings published today in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers report that they have blocked HIV infection in the test tube by inactivating a human protein expressed in key immune cells.

29 Apr 2008

Kids who get down and dirty with the dog have far fewer allergies

The latest research into childhood allergies suggests that having a pet in the home reduces the risk of children being sensitive to allergens.

29 Apr 2008

Biomarkers identified for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

The first evidence of a distinctive protein signature that could help to transform the diagnosis and improve the monitoring of the devastating lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is being reported by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers in this month's edition of PLoS Medicine, an open-access journal of the Public Library of Science.

28 Apr 2008

U.S., British HIV/AIDS researchers pessimistic about prospects of vaccine, survey finds

Leading HIV/AIDS researchers in Britain and the U.S. are pessimistic about the prospects of developing an HIV vaccine following the recent failure of a Merck vaccine candidate, according to a survey conducted by London's Independent, the Independent reports (Connor/Green, Independent, 4/24).

26 Apr 2008

Doctors should consider alternatives to antibiotics for sinusitis

When suffering through a sinus infection, many people ask for an antibiotic to speed their recovery. However, a recent review of clinical trials found that while antibiotics can provide minor improvements in uncomplicated sinusitis cases, most patients recover without the drugs within two weeks.

24 Apr 2008

Researchers unravel heparin death mystery

An international team of researchers led by MIT has explained how contaminated batches of the blood-thinner heparin were able to slip past traditional safety screens and kill dozens of patients recently in the United States and Germany.

23 Apr 2008