Feature Channels: Allergies

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Fall allergies and rapidly changing temperatures send many people reaching for pain relievers or other remedies to deal with runny noses and other symptoms associated with sinus and allergy problems. John Fahrenholz, M.D., assistant professor of Medicine who practices at the Vanderbilt Asthma, Sinus and Allergy Program, says that this time of year can be a real challenge for people with allergies—and for the rest of us, too.

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The scary reality is that food allergies are becoming more and more common in the United States. In the past 10 years there has been an 18 percent increase in children with food allergies. In fact, 6-8 percent of children have at least one food allergy. That means, on average, two students per classroom have a food allergy. Halloween parties and trick-or-treating are just a few of the end-of-fall activities that can heighten the danger for kids with food allergies.

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Indiana University School of Medicine emergency medicine faculty hope to improve the way childhood asthma is medically managed in Marion County through an innovative program that incorporates the skills and flexible schedules of specially trained Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services paramedics.

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Researchers have successfully tested treatments for people with allergies to grasses and to dust mites. The treatments are from a new class of therapy, known as ‘synthetic peptide immuno-regulatory epitopes’, or SPIREs. Positive results, first with a cat allergy therapy and now with house dust mite and grass allergy treatments, suggest that this approach may be used for many common allergies.

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All children should have flu shots, even if they have an egg allergy, and it’s now safe to get them without special precautions. “In a large number of research studies published over the last several years, thousands of egg allergic children, including those with a severe life-threatening reaction to eating eggs, have received injectable influenza vaccine (IIV) as a single dose without a reaction” said allergist John Kelso, MD, fellow of the ACAAI.

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People with asthma who engaged in appropriate exercise programs had improved cardiovascular fitness and an overall improved quality of life, finds a new review in The Cochrane Library.

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The Midwest is experiencing very dangerous levels of mold in the air which will result in headaches, itchy throats and runny noses for those with sensitive respiratory systems. Gottlieb Allergy Count, the official allergy count for the Midwest, reports the mold count today is 125,000, a high for 2013, and well over the 50,000 threshold that signals a dangerous air quality warning.

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A new study confirms the lasting legacy of smoking. In the study, researchers exposed animal mothers to nicotine during pregnancy—a proxy for smoking—and found the grandchildren were also at an increased risk for asthma, despite the grandchildren never having been exposed to nicotine themselves.

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Prepping your yard this fall can give you a head start on spring landscaping, but it can also mean suffering from seasonal allergies. Ragweed pollen and lingering mold can create double the symptoms for some allergy sufferers.

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The overall cost of childhood food allergies was estimated at nearly $25 billion annually in a study of caregivers that quantified medical, out-of-pocket, lost work productivity and other expenses, according to a report published by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.

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If the unseasonable heat that is blanketing the Midwest doesn’t affect area residents, the highest mold count for the 2013 allergy reporting season will. Gottlieb Allergy Count, the official allergy count for the Midwest, reports the mold count today is 85,000, a high for 2013, and well over the 50,000 threshold that signals a dangerous air quality warning.

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As summer comes to a close, kids head back to school and preparation for fall begins, don’t’ forget to consider fall allergies. An estimated 35 million Americans suffer from allergies, which in the fall begin in late August and peak in September. For those with fall allergies, three triggers typically occur – ragweed, indoor allergens and infections.

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New research shows that pregnant women who smoke as well as having asthma are greatly increasing the risk of complications for themselves and their unborn children.

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Asthma is a disease that mostly affects young boys and adult women. And according to a new study, women in their 40s and 50s with asthma are hospitalized more than twice as often as men in the same age group. The 10-year study is published in the September issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

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The Midwest is experiencing dangerous levels of mold in the air as the first dangerous air alert is called for the 2013 allergy reporting season. Gottlieb Allergy Count, the official allergy count for the Midwest, reports the mold count today is 53,000, a high for 2013, and well over the 50,000 threshold that signals a dangerous air quality warning.

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The study, published in the August issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), found there is an increased risk of ADHD in boys that have a history of allergy or asthma. The study also found an even stronger risk associated with milk intolerance.”

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Backpacks. Crayons. Glue Sticks. EpiPen? For more and more school-age children, emergency epinephrine autoinjectors such as the EpiPen or Auvi-Q are becoming a necessity for completing the back-to-school supply list. In fact, allergic conditions are one of the most common medical conditions affecting children in the U.S.

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The Midwest is experiencing the highest mold count for the 2013 allergy reporting season. Gottlieb Allergy Count, the official allergy count for the Midwest, reports the mold count today is 35,000, a high for 2013, but well under the 50,000 threshold that signals a dangerous air quality warning.

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Facial rashes can take on many forms. Whether red, flat, bumpy and dry, or scaly, flaky and itchy, the appearance of a rash on the face can be very distressing. Even more challenging is figuring out what is causing the rash – possibly an allergy to one of the countless products, ingredients and chemicals people are exposed to every day.

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According to a report released today in the August issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), insect sting allergy is increasing, affecting five percent of the population. But what much of the population may not understand is that there is something that can be done about it.

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A University of Iowa-led team has found a promising, new way to treat asthma: Target an enzyme in airway lining cells. The finding could lead to the development of drugs that block the enzyme, CaMKII, from excessive oxidation, which can trigger asthma attacks.

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Newly published research by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and the Johns Hopkins Institute of Genetic Medicine reveals that a faulty genetic pathway already known for its role in some connective tissue disorders is also a potent player in many types of allergies. Scientists have long understood that allergies are the result of a complex interplay between environment and genes, but now, in what investigators believe is a scientific first, a single genetic pathway has been implicated in an array of allergic disorders.

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A rare immune cell and specific molecular reactions to allergenic foods team up – in a bad way – to cause a food allergy-associated disorder, which points to new ways to possibly treat inflammation associated with eosinophilic esophagitis.

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Genes linked to chronic inflammation in asthma may be more active in people who are obese, according to new research that uncovers several biological ties between obesity and asthma.

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A study published in the July issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology highlights the importance of doctors asking both parents and children about asthma symptoms.

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Grass, trees and weeds aren’t the only allergy causing culprits this summer. More than 50 million Americans have allergies and asthma, which can be triggered by things in your backyard you might least expect.

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Montefiore expert provides tips to avoid common summertime maladies.

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Researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL and The University of Illinois at Chicago are using the Internet and motivational multimedia coupled with positive reinforcement via a smartphone application to try to improve asthma outcomes among low-income, minority adolescents with asthma.

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A research team led by UCSF scientists has found that exposure in infancy to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a component of motor vehicle air pollution, is strongly linked with later development of childhood asthma among African Americans and Latinos.

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One reason why obese children and teenagers are more likely to have hard-to-control asthma and allergies may be vitamin D deficiency, a new study finds.

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With temperatures in the 80s, the last thing anyone wants is a runny nose and constant sneezing to put a damper on vacation plans and outdoor festivals. While many blame their symptoms on a summer cold, it could be something much more. Summer allergies can strike at any age, mimicking a cold.

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More evidence has surfaced that supports the war on smoking, especially if smokers have an infant in their household. A study published in the June issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, finds smoke exposure puts infants with family history of allergies at higher risk for severe infection and longer hospital stays.

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As allergy season continues for Middle Tennessee and much of the nation, a largely unknown adage rings true: the uglier a flower or weed, the more allergy-inducing its pollen tends to be. Ragweed, mugwort, plantain and pigweed have more than just their unappealing appearance in common—they’re some of the worst offenders to allergy sufferers, said Robert Valet, M.D., assistant professor of Medicine and an allergist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Asthma, Sinus and Allergy Program (ASAP) clinic.

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An Indiana U. study found that an omega-3 supplement derived from the New Zealand green-lipped mussel improved lung function and reduced airway inflammation in asthmatics with exercise-induced asthma.

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Allergens? No. Inflammation? No. An over-active gene that interrupts lipid synthesis appears to be the cause of 20-30% childhood asthma cases.

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The negative effects of poorly controlled asthma symptoms on sleep quality and academic performance in urban schoolchildren has been confirmed in a new study.

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A novel approach to obstructing the runaway inflammatory response implicated in some types of asthma has shown promise in a Phase IIa clinical trial, according to U. S. researchers.

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Air pollutants from traffic are associated with increased asthma severity levels in pregnant asthmatic women, according to a new study.

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A new study conducted by Boston researchers reports that the link between asthma and early childhood use of acetaminophen or ibuprofen may be driven by underlying respiratory infections that prompt the use of these analgesics, rather than the drugs themselves.

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Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have identified a potential new risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea: asthma.

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Gourmands and foodies everywhere have long recognized ginger as a great way to add a little peppery zing to both sweet and savory dishes; now, a study from researchers at Columbia University shows purified components of the spicy root also may have properties that help asthma patients breathe more easily.

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An estimated 300 million people in the world suffer from asthma. That number is expected to grow to more than 400 million by 2025. While diagnosis and treatment in the United States is accessible, people living in the developing world have a much more difficult time. Thanks to a new product being developed by engineering students at Washington University in St. Louis, those millions of people may have new hope.

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The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has approved a $1.9 million research award to the University of Utah to study asthma in children and how better monitoring of the disease could improve health.

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An estimated 4,837,000 asthmatics with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) could benefit substantially from antifungal treatment, say researchers from the University of Toronto and Manchester University.

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An international team of researchers, led by physician-scientists at Johns Hopkins, reports that a once-daily tablet containing a high dose of a key ragweed pollen protein effectively blocks the runny noses, sneezes, nasal congestion and itchy eyes experienced by ragweed allergy sufferers.

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Data highlights need for more effective, cost-efficient treatment.

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Allergy shots are commonly used to treat children with severe environmental allergies and asthma, but under-the-tongue drops may offer yet another beneficial — and stick-free — option for pediatric allergy sufferers, according to a Johns Hopkins Children’s Center review of existing scientific evidence.

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According to a study published in the May issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), chalk dust can contain the milk protein, casein, triggering respiratory symptoms in milk allergic students.

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The American Thoracic Society has released new official clinical practice guidelines on the diagnosis and management of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB), the acute airway narrowing that occurs as a result of exercise.