Allergen-Specific Immunotherapy Mechanisms & The Involvement Of Treg Cells

allergen specific immunotherapy
Allergen-specific immunotherapy is highly effective in the treatment of IgE-mediated allergy diseases such as rhinitis, conjunctivitis, asthma, and venom allergy hypersensitivity. It is the only treatment that leads to lifelong tolerance against previously disease-causing allergens due to restoration of the normal immunity. (more…)

Dietary Fatty Acid Modification in The Childhood Asthma Prevention Study

Two factors thought to influence the risk factor asthma are the promoting effect of sensitization to house dust mites and the preventive effect of increased omega-3 fatty acids. Although the avoidance of house dust mites allergen has been used as a preventive strategy in several trials, the effect of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in the primary prevention of asthma and allergic disease is not known. (more…)

Allergen Avoidance and Environment Control: Management of Allergy & Asthma

Allergen Avoidance
Asthma and allergic diseases are common in both children and adults. Their development depends on an interaction between asthma genetic and asthma environmental risk factors. Genetic manipulation in multi factorial diseases such as asthma is not feasible in the foreseeable future. However, theoretically, environmental exposures can be controlled in an attempt to stem the rising prevalence of these diseases (primary prevention). Environmental exposures may also influence the frequency of symptoms and the requirement for medication in those with established disease. (more…)

Allergic March of Childhood and Allergen Sensitization

Natural history studies with the following design features provide a firm epidemiologic foundation for risk factor assessments and etiologic hypotheses:
(1) long-term cohort studies of a prospective design minimize biases resulting from poor parental recall;
(2) multiple evaluations over time provide important checkpoints during the dynamic period of childhood growth and development; and
(3) the inclusion of objective disease measurements strengthens these studies by validating subjective disease assessments (i.e. questionnaire data). (more…)

Atopic Dermatitis in Children: Triggers and Treatment

atopic dermatitis
Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory condition of the skin which usually starts in infancy. It is sometimes called ‘atopic eczema’ or even simply ‘eczema’. Recently, the term ‘atopic eczema dermatitis syndrome’ or eczema symptoms or infantile eczema has also been proposed to indicate the varied nature of this disease. The diagnosis is based on clinical features of a chronic itchy dermatitis with typical morphology and distribution and a relapsing and remitting course. (more…)

Allergy Testing: Physical Examination Allergic Patients

An allergic patient’s history may point the clinician’s assessment to a specific area or organ system during allergy testing. In general, physical examination may be standard; shortage of findings isn’t going to rule out allergy.

Essential indicators are a starting point in any physical examination of allergic patients. Respiratory rate is essential as well, but hyperventilation is more a representation of minute ventilation (respiratory rate × tidal volume) than respiratory rate on it’s own. (more…)

Leukotriene Receptor Antagonist and Antihistamines for Asthma Treatments

Leukotriene Receptor Antagonist
Antihistamines have been shown to be effective in seasonal allergic rhinitis and chronic idiopathic urticaria. They improve quality of life scores, acute inflammatory response markers in atopic dermatitis asthma and symptom scores. Newer histamine H1-receptor antagonists may also have an antiplatelet-activating factor effect and are equally effective in seasonal allergic rhinitis. The antileukotrienes were developed in the 1980s. The first compounds of this novel class of anti-asthma drugs were registered in the second half of the 1990s. The mechanism of action of the cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRAs) is based on counteracting the effects of cysteinyl leukotrienes at their receptor site (CysLT1 receptor) within the airways. (more…)

10 Important Allergy Facts You Should Know

allergy facts allergy reaction
The incidence of allergy and asthma is rising. On the other hand, primary care physicians have dealt with allergic conditions far more often than they may expect even before the recent increase in allergic reactions and conditions. Some examples of immunological disease that the primary care physician sees include asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis.

Bellow are 10 important facts about allergies, common symptoms, treatment and specific allergen.

  1. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) estimates that 40 to 50 million people in the United States suffer from allergies.
  2. Many plants carry pollens that can trigger allergies, but ragweed is the most common. In fact, 75 percent of people with seasonal allergy symptoms are allergic to ragweed, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA).
  3. The primary treatment for any allergy is avoidance, or refraining from contact with the triggering allergen. Though many allergy drugs can help alleviate the symptoms of an allergic reaction, only avoidance can completely prevent an allergy from occurring.
  4. While indoor allergies and allergens are not usually seasonal like many types of outdoor allergens, late summer usually sees higher levels of dust mites (due to higher humidity), molds and some pollens (which can be tracked indoors or brought in on clothes).
  5. The airborne waste created by dust mites is the source of most dust allergies. Dust mites are microscopic arachnids (spiders) one-third of a millimeter long that live indoors in household dust. Between 100 and 500 dust mites typically inhabit a single gram of dust, though in some cases the number can soar to 19,000.
  6. (more…)