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.

Study highlights the need for clearer diagnosis and treatment of preschool wheeze

A study led by Aston University's Dr Gemma Heath and Dr Prasad Nagakumar from Birmingham Children's Hospital, has shown that treatment and diagnosis for preschool wheeze needs more effective evidence-based guidelines.

13 Jan 2025

Inflammasome protects stem cells from becoming cancerous

A group of immune proteins called the inflammasome can help prevent blood stem cells from becoming malignant by removing certain receptors from their surfaces and blocking cancer gene activity, according to a preclinical study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

13 Jan 2025

$20 million grant to explore the role of viruses in human health

For over a decade, scientists have studied the microbiome, the environment of microorganisms that live on and in the body, and how it affects health and disease.

9 Jan 2025

Comorbid atopic diseases affect prognosis of alopecia areata

Asthma, atopic dermatitis or Hashimoto's thyroiditis as concomitant diseases are risk factors for clinical features associated with a poor prognosis in circular hair loss, also known as alopecia areata (AA).

9 Jan 2025

How stress fuels allergic skin inflammation

Researchers investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms through which stress exacerbates immunoglobulin E cutaneous allergic inflammation.

9 Jan 2025

Gut microbes and the body work together to regulate fat metabolism

Beneficial gut microbes and the body work together to fine-tune fat metabolism and cholesterol levels, according to a new preclinical study by investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine and the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University's Ithaca campus.

9 Jan 2025

AI-based method predicts progression of autoimmune diseases

Autoimmune diseases, where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own healthy cells and tissues, often have a preclinical stage before diagnosis that's characterized by mild symptoms or certain antibodies in the blood.

7 Jan 2025

Stress-induced immune dysfunction linked to worsened skin allergies

Psychological stress is known to exacerbate skin allergies, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood.

7 Jan 2025

Early results of doxy PEP rollout show mixed impact on STIs

As health care services begin offering doxycycline to prevent bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs), real-world evidence demonstrates that the postexposure strategy, called doxy PEP, is reducing the rate of syphilis and chlamydia, but has had little to no effect on gonorrhea and needs close monitoring for signals of antibiotic resistance.

6 Jan 2025

Scientists identify novel antibodies for fighting malaria

A novel class of antibodies that binds to a previously untargeted portion of the malaria parasite could lead to new prevention methods, according to a study from researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published today in Science.

3 Jan 2025

Predicting H5N1 disease severity based on T cell responses

New research led by scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) suggests that many people already have immune cells on "stand by" to fight the H5N1 virus, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza.

2 Jan 2025

Public health experts outline critical steps in handling HPAI H5N1 spread

Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza A virus (HPAI H5N1) remains a low risk to the general public, and public health experts in the United States believe that available treatments and vaccines, as well as those in development, are sufficient to prevent severe disease.

2 Jan 2025

New insights into tristetraprolin's impact on basophil-mediated allergic inflammation

Inflammation is a crucial part of the body's defense mechanism, playing a key role in fighting infections and repairing tissue damage.

2 Jan 2025

Skin explants reveal how Ebola virus moves through the body

Ebola is a deadly hemorrhagic disease caused by a virus that is endemic in parts of East-Central and West Africa. Most people are aware that a primary route for person-to-person transmission is through contact with bodily fluids from an infected person.

1 Jan 2025

Immunocompromised adults show weaker response to RSV vaccines

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have shown that people 60 years or older with weakened immunity - primarily organ transplant recipients who take immunosuppressive medications to reduce the risk of rejection and others with immune system disorders - do not respond as strongly to vaccines against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as people in the same age group with normal immune function.

30 Dec 2024

Solving a decades-long puzzle in leishmaniasis drug development

A breakthrough in understanding how a single-cell parasite makes ergosterol (its version of cholesterol) could lead to more effective drugs for human leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease that afflicts about 1 million people and kills about 30,000 people around the world every year.

20 Dec 2024

Kaempferol boosts immune tolerance and fights allergies

Kaempferol's role in Treg development is linked to Aldh1a2 activation in dendritic cells, highlighting its potential in suppressing inflammation and allergies.

19 Dec 2024

Study reveals nasal fungi diversity in allergy and asthma patients

Nearly a quarter of Portuguese adults have allergies that cause a runny nose. This respiratory disease, formally called allergic rhinitis and frequently associated with asthma, is a common problem around the world, and the upper airway is a key target for research into the underlying disease processes.

17 Dec 2024

Collaborative project seeks to close diagnostic gap in asthma care

Asthma affects more than 260M people worldwide and nearly 28M people in the U.S. alone, where, on average, 10 people die from attacks of the chronic disease each day.

16 Dec 2024