Asthma & Allergies

UK trainee doctors on the frontline of care seem to be no better at recognising and treating the potentially fatal allergic reaction, known as anaphylaxis, than they were 10 years ago, reveals a small study published in Postgraduate Medical Journal. This is despite major changes to medical education, designed to equip trainees with the core knowledge and skills needed to … [Read more...]

The American Academy of Dermatology's (Academy) newly updated guideline of care for the management of adult and pediatric atopic dermatitis focuses on the management and control of the condition, the co-existence of allergic disease, and the use of alternative approaches to supplement medical therapies. Published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, this … [Read more...]

Older patients with asthma are at increased risk for treatment failure, particularly those patients being treated with inhaled corticosteroids, according to a new study. "Asthma morbidity and mortality are known to be increased in middle-aged and older patients, and gender may also affect the incidence and course of the disease, but the impact of age and gender on asthma … [Read more...]

The American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery Foundation addresses quality improvement opportunities in the diagnosis and management of allergic rhinitis in a new multi-disciplinary, evidence-based clinical practice guideline, published today in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. "Allergic rhinitis occurs when you inhale something that you're allergic to, … [Read more...]

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with collaborators in Korea and Scotland, have identified a novel signaling pathway critical to the immune response of cells associated with the initiation of allergic asthma. The discovery, they say, could point the way to new therapies that suppress the inflammatory allergic response, offering … [Read more...]

An updated clinical practice guideline from the American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery Foundation published in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery identifies quality improvement opportunities and explicit actionable recommendations for clinicians managing adult sinusitis, including a greater focus on patient education and patient preference. "More than … [Read more...]

Certain topics are difficult to discuss with your doctor -- work-related asthma is apparently one of them. Identifying a health issue related to your job is scary because you don't want a doctor telling you things may have to change -- maybe even how you earn a living. And often, doctors don't bring it up with their patients. According to a new study published in the Annals … [Read more...]

Current asthma medications, which work by suppressing inflammatory signaling by immune cells or by dilating the airways, can stop working over time. A study from Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School supports a surprising alternative approach to controlling asthma: targeting certain sensory nerve endings in the lungs that help … [Read more...]

Children are more likely to have a repeat, delayed anaphylactic reaction from the same allergic cause, depending on the severity of the initial reaction. The first pediatric study to look at the predictors for this phenomenon was published today in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Anaphylaxis is a severe, allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and can result in … [Read more...]

Its name is daunting. It's the hottest topic among allergy experts. It's showing up more and doctors don't yet know why. Allergy specialists at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are seeing more people with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), an inflammatory response in the esophagus that makes it hard to swallow food. "It's considered a newer medical diagnosis, … [Read more...]

Low flu vaccination rates, medication compliance and limited access to primary care providers have contributed to the high pediatric asthma rates in California, say UC Davis pediatricians Ulfat Shaikh and Robert Byrd, who have published an extensive study describing the challenges faced by children with asthma in California. Analyzing data from the 2011-12 California Health … [Read more...]

Children who develop asthma in Toronto are more likely to have been born in a neighbourhood that has a high level of traffic-related air pollution, new research suggests. Researchers identified a number of "clusters" where higher numbers of children who developed asthma were born, including Parkdale-Little Portugal, west of downtown Toronto; the neighbourhood where the Don … [Read more...]

The immune response that occurs in patients with severe asthma is markedly different than what occurs in milder forms of the lung condition, according to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Those unique features could point the way to new treatments, they said in an article published online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI). People … [Read more...]

Researchers in the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden and Canada report in Nature that they have discovered more than 30 genes that have strong effects on Immunoglobulin E (IgE), allergies and asthma. IgE is the antibody that triggers allergic responses. Among the genes are promising novel drug targets for treating allergies and asthma. Allergies affect 30 percent of … [Read more...]

Scientists from the CNRS, INSERM and Université de Limoges, working in the Laboratoire Contrôle de la Réponse Immune B et Lymphoproliférations (CNRS/Université de Limoges)[1] have demonstrated that the production of type E immunoglobulins (IgE)[2] by B lymphocytes induces a loss in their mobility and the initiation of cell death mechanisms. These antibodies, present in small … [Read more...]

Research led by Charles Nichols, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, has found that a psychedelic drug, (R)-DOI, prevents the development of allergic asthma in a mouse model. The effects are potent and effective at a concentration 50-100 times less than would influence behavior. The research … [Read more...]

Pediatric otolaryngologists and surgeons are concerned with parents getting the wrong message regarding the safety/desirability of letting babies and young children eat peanuts to prevent them from developing peanut allergies. Last week's news coverage of a scientific article published February 26, 2015, in the New England Journal of Medicine, (reference below)  "Randomized … [Read more...]

The JRC has validated and recommended a new method which is not based on animal testing, to identify chemicals that can trigger skin allergies, estimated to affect already 20% of the population in Europe. The human Cell Line Activation Test (h-CLAT) has been developed by industry and validated by the JRC managed European Union Reference Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal … [Read more...]

Current peanut allergy tests are not very reliable when it comes to diagnosing the severity of an individual's allergic reaction, which can range from hives to life-threatening anaphylactic shock. With an estimated three million people in the United States allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, having a more precise and reliable allergy test could prevent hospitalizations and … [Read more...]

Researchers have pinpointed a region in the human genome associated with peanut allergy in U.S. children, offering strong evidence that genes can play a role in the development of food allergies. But in an additional finding that suggests genes are not the only players in food allergies, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research team found there may be … [Read more...]

Growing up, you may have been given reasons for not smoking marijuana. What you may not have heard is that marijuana, like other pollen-bearing plants, is an allergen which can cause allergic responses. A new article published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the scientific publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), summarizes … [Read more...]

The American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery Foundation addresses quality improvement opportunities in the diagnosis and management of allergic rhinitis in a new multi-disciplinary, evidence-based clinical practice guideline, published today in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. "Allergic rhinitis occurs when you inhale something that you're allergic to, … [Read more...]

A new blood test promises to predict which people will have severe allergic reactions to foods according to a new study led by Mount Sinai researchers and published online in the The Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. To detect food allergies, physicians typically use skin prick tests or blood tests that measure levels of allergen-specific IgE (sIgE), a protein made … [Read more...]

A pair of air pollutants linked to climate change could also be a major contributor to the unparalleled rise in the number of people sneezing, sniffling and wheezing during allergy season. The gases, nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone, appear to provoke chemical changes in certain airborne allergens that could increase their potency. That, in combination with changes in … [Read more...]

Researchers trying to understand wheat-related health problems have found new clues to how the grain's proteins, including gluten, change when cooked and digested. They report in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that boiling pasta releases some of its potential allergens, while other proteins persist throughout cooking and digestion. Their findings lend new … [Read more...]

A growing body of evidence in the medical community holds that greater diversity of bacteria and even worms in the digestive tract offers protection against a variety of allergic and autoimmune problems. Germs from healthy people can be used to heal people with digestive disorders and other conditions caused by the loss of their own germs, and worms that live in the gut, … [Read more...]