Asthma is a chronic condition affecting the lungs. It causes inflammation of the airways and causes people with asthma to be more sensitive to the particles they breathe in. Symptoms of asthma include wheezing, shortness of breath, coughing, and chest tightness. Symptoms can be mild or they can be severe. Severe symptoms of asthma are…
Archive for June, 2010
Be Prepared to Treat an Allergic Reaction
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
Have your child’s doctor complete a Food Allergy Action Plan (FAAP), providing clear instructions on how to treat an allergic reaction, and distribute copies to school officials. A blank FAAP is available for download in English and seven …
Health Tip: Help Prevent Exercise-Induced Asthma
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
In some people, exercise can worsen or even trigger symptoms of asthma.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine suggests how to help prevent exercise-induced asthma:
Wear a scarf across your mouth and breathe through your nose when exercising outside in cold, dry air.
Avoid exercising when air pollution is high.
Avoid exercising near lawns…
Rare Hybrid Cell Key to Regulating the Immune System
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
A cell small in number but powerful in its ability to switch the immune system on or off is a unique hybrid of two well-known immune cell types, Medical College of Georgia researchers report.
“This is actually the first cell we know of that has this type of appearance in nature,” Dr. Andrew Mellor, molecular geneticist…
Burger Diet Boosts Kids’ Asthma and Wheeze Risk, Study Finds
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
Eating three or more burgers a week may boost a child’s risk of asthma and wheeze — at least in developed nations — reveals a large international study, published in Thorax.
Conversely, a Mediterranean diet, rich in fruit, vegetables, and fish seems to stave off the risk, the research shows.
The research team base their findings on…
No Clear Criteria for Diagnosing Food Allergies, Researchers Find
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
A new study shows that confusion over how to identify and treat food allergies is creating the potential for misdiagnosis of this condition.
In a review of existing literature on the subject, researchers with RAND Corp., Stanford University and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System found differing definitions of food allergy. “There is lack…
Asthma Prevention – Avoiding Certain Foods And Dust Mites During Infancy Might Help
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
British researchers have found that avoiding certain foods and dust mites during our first months of life may help prevent asthma. Professor Syed Hasan Arshad and colleages from the David Hide Asthma and Allergy Centre, Isle of Wight, England have been tracking 120 children since 1990 in the Isle of Wight Primary Prevention Study. The…
How Mast Cells Set Immune Defense On The Right Track
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
In the event of an infection, the immune system releases messenger substances. These molecules can either activate immune cells to defeat invading pathogens, or inhibit them to prevent an excessive immune reaction. For this, the immune system has to decide very quickly what mixture of activating and inhibiting messenger molecules leads to a successful defence….
Better Way to Detect Food Allergies
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
About 30 percent of Americans believe they have food allergies. However, the actual number is far smaller, closer to 5 percent, according to a recent study commissioned by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). That’s due in large part to the unreliability of the skin test that doctors commonly use to test…
Obesity and asthma are linked: study
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
A new study confirms a link between obesity and asthma.
A number of studies have shown an association between obesity and asthma, both of which have become much more common over the past three decades, Dr. Jun Ma of the Palo Alto Medical Research Institute in California note in the medical journal Allergy.
Ma and her…
