Allergen News and Research

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Keeping asthma under control

A new nationwide telephone survey of 1,001 asthma patients, conducted by AstraZeneca, found that while most patients with asthma understand the risks associated with uncontrolled asthma, they don't always act accordingly.

16 Aug 2009

Outdoor air pollutants at high levels

Higher summertime levels of outdoor ground-level ozone, microscopic particle pollution like smoke and smog, as well as other air pollutants may cause anyone who is sensitive to these airborne contaminants to experience shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing, and may also trigger asthma attacks and cause lung irritation.

12 Aug 2009

Aldose reductase inhibition shows promise for asthma

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have found that a single enzyme is apparently critical to most allergen-provoked asthma attacks - and that activity of the enzyme, known as aldose reductase, can be significantly reduced by compounds that have already undergone clinical trials as treatments for complications of diabetes.

11 Aug 2009

Protein biochips

Biochips carrying thousands of DNA fragments are widely used for examining genetic material. Experts would also like to have biochips on which proteins are anchored. This requires a gel layer which can now be produced industrially.

24 Jun 2009

Microbial and maternal influences on allergic sensitization during childhood

When infected, the body has two types of immune defence to deploy - innate immunity and acquired immunity. In her dissertation, Shanie Saghafian Hedengren studies monocytes, a type of white blood corpuscles that are part of the innate immune system.

23 Jun 2009

Researchers look at eczema asthma link

Many young children who get a severe skin rash develop asthma months or years later. Doctors call the progression from eczema, or atopic dermatitis, to breathing problems the atopic march. In the May 2009 issue of PLoS Biology, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report another step taken towards understanding the process of atopic march.

18 May 2009

Self-management programs for asthma improve drug adherence, disease control

Asthma patients who spend as little as 30 minutes with a health care professional to develop a personalized self-management plan show improved adherence to medications and better disease control, according to a new study by a team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

6 May 2009

Asthma coaching can reduce hospitalizations in some children

Working with an asthma coach helps to significantly reduce hospitalizations of low-income, African-American children with asthma, results of a new, two-year study show.

5 May 2009

A link found between childhood obesity and allergies

A new study indicates there may be yet another reason to reduce childhood obesity - it may help prevent allergies. The study published in the May issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology showed that obese children and adolescents are at increased risk of having some kind of allergy, especially to a food.

4 May 2009

Sublingual immunotherapy for inhalant allergies deserves deeper consideration

Sublingual immunotherapy for the treatment of allergy symptoms caused by a wide variety of environmental inhalants has been effectively used in Europe.

30 Apr 2009

Link found between vitamin D insufficiency and asthma severity

Serum levels of vitamin D in more than 600 Costa Rican children were inversely linked to several indicators of allergy and asthma severity, including hospitalizations for asthma, use of inhaled steroids and total IgE levels, according to a study that will appear in the first issue for May of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

23 Apr 2009

Homeopathy in dogs pilot indicates need for larger clinical trial

Results from a small, rigorously designed, research study at the University of Bristol's Department of Clinical Veterinary Science have pointed the way towards a larger clinical trial of homeopathy for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in dogs.

7 Apr 2009

Allergies may be caused by a malfunction of the respiratory epithelium

One reason for the development of allergy may be malfunction of the respiratory epithelium, which allows allergens to bind to, enter and travel through the epithelium.

6 Apr 2009

Aerovance starts phase IIb clinical trial with Aerovant for uncontrolled asthma

Aerovance Inc. announced that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to initiate Aerovance's Phase IIb clinical trial, AeroTrial, of inhaled dry powder Aerovant in patients with uncontrolled asthma.

2 Apr 2009

Explanation for poor infant immune response to certain vaccines

For years, researchers and physicians have known that infants' immune systems do not respond well to certain vaccines, thus the need for additional boosters as children develop.

1 Apr 2009

Discovery of new role for certain lung cells in the immune response to airborne allergens

Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and at Ghent University in Ghent, Belgium, have identified a new role for certain lung cells in the immune response to airborne allergens.

30 Mar 2009

Enzyme and vitamin define the yin and yang of asthma

The allergen breathed in by a person with asthma triggers a proteinase or enzyme called MMP7 that activates a cascade of events to prompt an allergic reaction, said a consortium of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in a report that appears online in the journal Nature Immunology.

29 Mar 2009

Climate change and its adverse effects on health needs more research funding

Climate change will seriously impact public health, but the United States has yet to allocate adequate research funding to understand and prepare for these impacts, according to a report published in Environmental Health Perspectives, the journal of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

29 Mar 2009

Orexo reports on efficacy study in allergic rhinitis with OX914

Orexo has reported clinical results from an experimental phase IIa safety and efficacy study in allergic rhinitis with OX914, the first compound in its Phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitor program.

24 Mar 2009