Allergies
Allergy season: Cigarettes to the rescue?
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Everyone knows that smoking can kill you, but did you know that it may help with your allergies? A new study shows that cigarette smoke can prevent allergies by decreasing the reaction of immune cells to allergens.
Smoking can cause lung cancer, pulmonary disease, and can even affect how the body fights infections. Along with many harmful effects, smoking cigarettes has a surprising benefit: cigarettes can protect smokers from certain types of allergies. Now, a study recommended by Neil Thomson, a member of Faculty of 1000 Biology and leading expert in the field of respiratory medicine, demonstrates that cigarette smoke decreases the allergic response by inhibiting the activity of mast cells, the major players in the immune system’s response to allergens.
Researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands found that treatment of mast cells with a cigarette smoke-infused solution prevented the release of inflammation-inducing proteins in response to allergens, without affecting other mast cell immune functions.
Peanut recall has U.S. consumers “spooked”: experts
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“We have temporarily discontinued the use of peanuts,” reads a handwritten sign behind the register at Penny’s Noodle Shop in Oak Park, Illinois.
Although the Asian noodle shop did not get its peanuts from the U.S. peanut plant at the center of a widespread salmonella scare, it has stopped using them anyway. “You just don’t want to take a chance,” said manager Louie Paine.
Penny’s is not alone.
The recall of tainted peanut butter and peanut products made by Peanut Corporation of America is reaching far beyond the businesses forced to recall 1,790 potentially tainted foods ranging from ice cream to pet treats.
Oral immunotherapy promising for children with milk allergy
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Oral immunotherapy for cow’s milk allergy appears to effectively desensitize allergic children, a new study indicates, although further work is needed to determine the best dosing, duration of therapy, and whether permanent tolerance can be achieved, the study team emphasizes.
Twenty children, 6 to 17 years of age, with a known history of milk allergy were randomly assigned to placebo or to milk in a three-phase dosing schedule. On the first day, a dose of 0.4 mg milk protein was administered, and escalated about every 30 minutes to a maximum first-day dose of 50 mg.
Home dosing was then initiated at the highest tolerated dosage, followed by 8 weekly in-office dose increases to a maximum of 500 mg. Once a dose of 500 mg (equivalent to 15 mL of milk) was achieved, participants remained on this daily maintenance dose for 13 weeks.
Asthma may boost pneumococcal infection risk
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People with asthma are at increased risk of serious infection with pneumococcal bacteria, according to a new analysis of medical records.
The findings, along with the high fatality rate from such infections, suggest that adults with asthma would benefit from the pneumococcal vaccine, Dr. Young J. Juhn of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and colleagues say. However, the ability of asthmatics to react normally to the vaccine must be determined before such recommendations can be made, they add.
A previous study found that Medicaid patients with asthma were more than twice as likely to contract invasive pneumococcal disease, in which pneumococcal pneumonia develops and the bacteria invades the bloodstream or the membranes surrounding the brain, Juhn and colleagues note.
Obesity, lack of exercise reported in asthmatics
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Study findings suggest less than one quarter of asthmatic adults meet national exercise guidelines and, among this group, obesity may be a greater exercise deterrent actual asthma symptoms.
People with asthma may get caught in a vicious cycle, note Dr. Carol A. Mancuso and colleagues from Weill Cornell Medical College and the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
“Obesity leads to worse asthma, which can be associated with less exercise, which predisposes to obesity and long-term (worsening) asthma,” Mancuso told Reuters Health.
Research Findings in Allergen Immunotherapy Unveiled
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Researchers are presenting more than 450 abstracts on investigational findings in the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases at the ACAAI Annual Meeting in Seattle, Nov. 6-11. Following are highlights of some key studies on allergen immunotherapy.
“Subcutaneous Immunotherapy Reduces Future Sensitization in Allergic Children under Six Years of Age.” (Abstract #18: Nov. 9 at 1:15 p.m.) – Zachary D. Jacobs, M.D., Columbia, Mo., et al – Although controversy exists over the use of allergen-specific subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) among children under six, studies show it is safe and effective in this group and may prevent the development of asthma in sensitized patients. In this retrospective chart review of one Midwest allergy clinic from 1992-1997, investigators identified 59 patients on SCIT aged 18 months to 5 years for analysis. In patients receiving SCIT, sensitivities decreased 10 percent. In contrast, the control group had a highly significant increase of 62 percent in sensitivities. Authors recommend SCIT should be considered in pediatric patients with allergic rhinitis as young as 18 months to reduce future sensitizations.
“CYT003-QbG10, A Novel Allergen-independent Immunotherapy, Shown to be Safe and Efficacious in Placebo-controlled Phase II Study.” (Abstract #19: Nov. 9 at 1:30 p.m.) – Audra Blaziene, M.D., Ph.D., Vilnius, Lithuania, et al – New disease-modifying drug candidate QbG10 significantly reduces allergy symptoms in Phase II clinical trial. Current immunotherapy is based on the repeated application of allergen components, and, with up to 80 injections, it is inconvenient and may cause frequent adverse events due to allergen exposure. Here, the investigators present a completely novel allergen-independent immunotherapy that does not contain any allergen components. QbG10 consists of short stretches of synthetic DNA that are packaged into virus-like particles. In a placebo-controlled phase II study with 80 patients, six weekly injections of QbG10 have been shown to be safe, very well tolerated and efficacious in lowering allergy symptoms in daily life compared to placebo (reduction of total symptom score by -61% for QbG10 versus -32% for placebo, p=0.008). The authors conclude that this new drug candidate has potential as a convenient, well tolerated and disease-modifying therapy able to address a broad range of allergies.
Efficacy, Dosage Concerns Unresolved on Sublingual Immunotherapy
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Although sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is used in Europe and other countries, experts at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Seattle say questions remain unanswered regarding its effectiveness, appropriate use, dosage, and safety of administration.
“Sublingual immunotherapy has gained wide acceptance in the treatment of allergic disease throughout Europe and South America, but the research studies in the United States have yet to show results that will convince the FDA to approve a product,” said Ira Finegold, M.D., clinical professor of medicine at Columbia University and chairman of the R.A. Cook Institute of Allergy, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, New York.
“The main advantage of SLIT over traditional immunotherapy is patient convenience, since it is not an injection but oral drops or tablets that can be administered at home, and it appears to be safer than conventional immunotherapy,” he said.
Probiotic for babies doesn’t ward off allergies
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Giving children a type of “good bacteria” during their first 6 months of life doesn’t reduce their risk of developing allergies in early childhood, researchers from Australia report.
But it’s possible that other strains of probiotics could be more helpful in allergy prevention, Dr. Susan L. Prescott and colleagues from the University of Western Australia in Perth note in the journal Allergy.
Based on the “hygiene hypothesis”—or the idea that children in the developed world are increasingly likely to develop asthma and other allergic conditions because they are living in overly clean environments—probiotics are being investigated both for treating these conditions and possibly preventing them.
Doctors warn of rash from mobile phone use
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Doctors baffled by an unexplained rash on people’s ears or cheeks should be on alert for a skin allergy caused by too much mobile phone use, the British Association of Dermatologists said on Thursday.
Citing published studies, the group said a red or itchy rash, known as “mobile phone dermatitis,” affects people who develop an allergic reaction to the nickel surface on mobile phones after spending long periods of time on the devices.
“It is worth doctors bearing this condition in mind if they see a patient with a rash on the cheek or ear that cannot otherwise be explained,” it said.
Fish in children’s diet cuts eczema risk: study
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Feeding babies as little as one portion of fish before they are nine months old may cut their risk of developing eczema, Swedish researchers said on Thursday.
Introducing fish of any type into the diet curbed the risk of contracting the skin condition by 25 percent compared with children who never ate it, Bernt Alm, a pediatrician at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and colleagues reported in the British Medical Journal.
“The main finding was that early introduction of fish was beneficial,” Alm said in a telephone interview. “There was no link with the amount of fish or type of fish. We think it is more the timing of the introduction.”
Guide helps doctors manage vaccine allergies
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With careful monitoring, even children who have had allergic reactions to a vaccine can still be vaccinated, a U.S. team of experts said on Tuesday.
The team developed a step-by-step guide to help pediatricians quickly identify children with allergic reactions to vaccines and safely immunize them.
“We cannot reiterate enough that the vaccines used today are extremely safe, but in a handful of children certain vaccine ingredients can trigger serious allergic reactions,” said Dr. Robert Wood of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, whose research appears in the journal Pediatrics.
Asthma monitoring on the Web
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An inexpensive web-enabled device for measuring lung function in patients with asthma and other disorders is being developed by researchers at Texas Instruments, in Bangalore, India, and co-workers. Writing in the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, the team explains how the devise could allow physicians to monitor their patients remotely and quickly instigate medical attention in an emergency.
Spirometers are commonly used to measure lung capacity and the response of breathing during therapy. However, the widespread application of spirometers is limited in the developing world and in remote regions because of the high instrument cost of the instrument and a lack of specialist healthcare workers trained in its use.
Texas Instruments researcher N.C.S. Ramachandran is an expert in high-speed and low-power digital design and is working with professor of electrical engineering Vivek Agarwal of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India, on the development of an inexpensive and easy to operate spirometer that can be quickly hooked up to an internet connection through built-in web and data encryption software.
Students with food allergies often not prepared
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College students with food allergies aren’t avoiding the foods they know they shouldn’t eat. Students of all ages are not treated with potentially life-saving epinephrine as often as they should be. And instructors, roommates and friends often are not aware of what to do if a food-allergic student has a reaction.
These are some of the findings of recent studies at the University of Michigan Health System. The research suggests that many college students with food allergies aren’t taking the threat of a reaction seriously enough, or are regularly in environments where they could not be properly treated during an emergency. In addition, grade-school students are often in school environments where there is no food allergy policy, and where instructors are not trained how to treat an emergency food allergy reaction.
In four related studies about food allergies, the researchers found a common theme: “Food-allergic individuals need to increase the awareness of their food allergy among the people around them,” says lead researcher Matt Greenhawt, M.D., MBA, who conducted the research while he was a fellow in the Division of Allergy and Immunology at the U-M Health System and now is an associate at the Allergy & Asthma Center, LLC in the Atlanta metro area.
Special infant formulas cut long-term allergy risk
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Hypoallergenic infant formulas may help lower the long-term risk of allergies in children who are genetically vulnerable to them, a new study suggests.
The products, known as hydrolyzed infant formulas, are designed to lower the likelihood of the allergic responses some infants have to standard formula.
Like standard formula, hydrolyzed products contain cow’s milk proteins; the difference is that the proteins are broken down so that they are less allergenic than the whole proteins in regular formula.
Mediterranean diet in pregnancy may curb allergies
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Women who eat a Mediterranean diet while pregnant could help stave off asthma and allergies in their children, a new study suggests.
The traditional Mediterranean diet is rich in plant-based foods—vegetables, fruits, whole grain breads and cereals, legumes, and nuts—as well as olive oil and fish. Adherents consume low to moderate amounts of dairy products and eggs, lesser amounts of white meat, and infrequently eat red meat.
Some studies have suggested that such eating patterns can lower children’s odds of asthma symptoms and skin and nasal allergies. But it’s unclear whether women can affect their children’s future allergy risks by following a Mediterranean diet during pregnancy.
