Allergy News and Research

RSS

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.

Caring for our Children

A new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study shows that parents, pediatricians and child care providers are equally unknowledgeable about guidelines that recommend whether children should be excluded from child care due to particular illnesses.

28 Nov 2005

New European Union directive on food labelling

Safety for people with food allergies will be boosted later this month when new European laws will force manufacturers to label their food more accurately, but the laws do not offer full protection, says an editorial in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

26 Nov 2005

Who gets bird flu vaccine first when there's not enough to go round?

According to the top health official in the U.S., it will be three to five years before the United States can produce enough bird flu vaccine to inoculate its population against a potentially deadly outbreak in humans.

21 Nov 2005

Allergists help manage asthma better

Compared to patients receiving care from primary care physicians, asthma patients who are under the care of an allergist report fewer asthma control problems and less sever asthma symptoms, according to new research in the December 2005 Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (JACI).

20 Nov 2005

Antibiotics overprescribed for sore throat

Physicians prescribe antibiotics for more than half of children with sore throat, exceeding the expected prevalence of strep throat, and used nonrecommended antibiotics for 27 percent of children who received an antibiotic prescription, according to a study in the November 9 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

13 Nov 2005

Nine percent of children allergic to almonds, pecans, cashews and other tree nuts outgrow their allergy over time

Their study, reported in the November issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, also found that clinicians can use blood levels of tree nut antibody (TN-IgE) as an accurate guideline in estimating the likelihood that a child has outgrown the allergy.

10 Nov 2005

Xolair (omalizumab) brings new hope for severe asthma sufferers

The launch of a new drug to treat asthma has given new hope to people with severe asthma.

8 Nov 2005

Approximately 9% of children with an allergy to tree nuts will outgrow their allergy

...including children who have previously experienced a severe allergic reaction, according to a study in the November 2005 Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (JACI).

7 Nov 2005

Hormonal clue to higher asthma rates in women

According to experts hormone fluctuations resulting from life cycle changes are a factor in higher rates of asthma, more frequent emergency department visits, and higher hospital admission rates in women than in men.

7 Nov 2005

Hurricane Katrina leaves behind a cough as well as destruction

In the wake of hurricane Katrina some survivors have developed a cough now dubbed 'Katrina Cough'.

7 Nov 2005

New findings on bacterial vaginosis

Despite being one of the most common infections among women, scientists and doctors know little about the causes of bacterial vaginosis (BV), a usually benign disease that is also linked to serious health problems including pelvic inflammatory disease

3 Nov 2005

Vaginal gel shown to protect female monkeys against an HIV-like virus

Research with female monkeys at the Tulane National Primate Research Center has for the first time shown that three different anti-viral agents in a vaginal gel protect the animals against an HIV-like virus.

1 Nov 2005

New vaccine that targets avian flu

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is enrolling volunteers in a study to test a new vaccine that targets avian flu, the first such vaccine against the virus.

30 Oct 2005

Cesarean births not linked to childhood asthma

The theory that whether a child born by cesarean section or in the normal way, via the birth canal, could affect his or her chances of developing asthma later in life, has been laid to rest.

27 Oct 2005

Complete control - new guidelines for asthmatics

A Mayo Clinic allergist and his colleagues have announced that they are revising the old classification of asthma patients by disease severity to determine treatment, and moving to a new expectation for all asthma patients: excellent symptom control.

27 Oct 2005

Comprehensive home-based environmental intervention results in decreased asthma symptoms

Through efforts to limit exposure to environmental irritants, health workers and municipalities can cut illness generally among inner-city children with asthma and also the number of clinic visits for those young patients by at least 19 percent, a new study concludes. The cost can be as low as $1,469 per affected family.

25 Oct 2005

New whooping cough vaccine for adolescents and adults

In the first study of its kind, researchers at Saint Louis University have demonstrated that immunization with a new vaccine could potentially prevent more than a million cases of pertussis (whooping cough) each year in adolescents and adults.

24 Oct 2005

People with asthma can expect to control the asthma: not to have the asthma control them

A Mayo Clinic allergist and colleagues representing the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology announce they are revising the old classification of asthma patients by disease severity to determine treatment and moving to a new expectation for all asthma patients: excellent symptom control.

24 Oct 2005

Traditional medical treatment of persistent cough may not be the most effective

The reviews appear in the current issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.

23 Oct 2005

Diet rich in fruits and vegetables could be a good defense against prostate cancer

Previous studies have suggested that increased intake of flavonoids which are common in fruits and vegetables may be associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer, according to Sanjay Gupta, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Case School of Medicine Department of Urology.

20 Oct 2005