Like most of us, people with asthma may find themselves fantasizing about sipping coffee along the boulevards of Paris or hiking in the Australian Outback. But all too often such tantalizing travel dreams are spoiled by the fear of an asthma attack occurring far from home and emergency medical help. Even if your trip doesn’t…
Archive for August, 2011
Dehydration and Allergies: 6 Simple Steps to Rehydrate Your Body
Friday, August 19th, 2011
I lived with the common allergy symptoms of runny nose, watery eyes, and sneezing for most of my life. In fact, I was pretty miserable during allergy season.
After many years of allergy tests, dietary changes, and natural remedies, I came to the conclusion that I was probably going to have allergies for the rest of…
Study: Living on a farm helps prevent asthma, allergies
Friday, August 19th, 2011
Dirty, dusty farm life appears to be better for your health than sanitized city life, according to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers from Munich University Children’s Hospital in Germany found that asthma rates among farm children was less than half the rate of other children, and experts believe…
Slowing the Allergic March
Friday, August 19th, 2011
A pandemic of ailments called the “allergic march” — the gradual acquisition of overlapping allergic diseases that commonly begins in early childhood — has frustrated both parents and physicians. For the last three decades, an explosion of eczema, food allergies, hay fever, and asthma have afflicted children in the What causes the march and how…
Mold Exposure During Infancy Increases Asthma Risk, Study Finds
Friday, August 19th, 2011
Infants who live in “moldy” homes are three times more likely to develop asthma by age 7 — an age that children can be accurately diagnosed with the condition.
Study results are published in the August issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology…
Prejudice Towards Life-Threatening Nut Allergies
Friday, August 19th, 2011
Parents of nut-allergy sufferers face hostility and scepticism in trying to find safe environments for their children, a new study has found.
Researchers found that parents are routinely made to feel by friends and even family that their child’s nut allergy is a ‘frivolous and self indulgent fad invented and maintained by attention-seeking people.’
Children in the…
Improving Diagnosis And Detection Of Food Allergies
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
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…
What Kids Eat Is Tied to Asthma Risk
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
Eating a Mediterranean diet — one high in fruits, fish, and vegetables and low in saturated fat — is associated with a reduced likelihood of asthma in children, a large observational study reaffirmed.
Overall, choosing foods increasingly similar to a Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower prevalence of both wheeze and asthma (P=0.03 for both…
Gluten Allergy, Gluten Hypersensitivity and Celiac Disease: Are They All the Same?
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
Gluten hypersensitivity is an auto-immune disease that results from eating foods that contain wheat, rye barley and in some cases, oat. People who have this disease make antibodies called IgA which attack the inner surface of the small intestines disrupting its normal function.
Gluten hypersensitivity is also referred to as Celiac Sprue or Celiac disease (CD)….
What Is Occupational Asthma? What Causes Occupational Asthma?
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
Occupational asthma is asthma that is caused by a workplace irritant or activity, or worsened by it. The irritant may be a chemical fume, dust, or a gas. The sufferer has the same symptoms as in non-occupational asthma, which includes chest tightness, wheezing, shortness of breath, and often difficulty breathing out.
Occupational asthma is reversible if…
