
Two long-acting ß 2 -adrenergic agonists (LABAs), salmeterol and formoterol, have been demonstrated to be safe and effective agents in children, both in terms of bronchodilation and prevention of exercise-induced bronchospasm. Their onsets of action differ, with formoterol having an onset similar to albuterol (3 minutes), while salmeterol has a slower onset of action (10–20 minutes). Following a single-dose administration, both agents demonstrate durations of action up to 12 hours. Following regular twice-daily administration, bronchodilation remains effective; however, a level of tolerance (or tachyphylaxis) (more…)
For most patients, asthma is not controlled as defined by guidelines; whether this is achievable has not been prospectively stu ...
This study evaluated budesonide formoterol efficacy and safety of a novel asthma management strategy for both maintenance and s ...
Asthma control is improved by combining inhaled corticosteroids with long acting beta-agonists but patients still require relie ...
Regular use of ß-agonists has been known to lead to tolerance to their bronchodilator effects. It is not known how quickly toleranc ...
Current internationally recognized guidelines indicate that symptomatic asthmatics using a low to medium inhaled corticosteroid ...

Allergic rhinitis and asthma are common comorbidities. Like asthma, the presence of a genetic component in allergic rhinitis has been well established. To identify genetic linkage regions unique to allergic rhinitis, as well as those shared by allergic rhinitis and asthma, a genome screen study was conducted. A total of 295 families in the French Epidemiological Study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma (EGEA) containing 1317 subjects were genotyped for 396 microsatellite markers. The families included had two siblings with DNA available and at least one asthmatic subject. Three definitions of allergic rhinitis were used, two binary and one categorical. To investigate linkages specific to allergic rhinitis (without asthma), linkage analyses were also conducted in 185 families with at most one asthmatic sib. (more…)
This study sought to determine the influence of passive exposure to tobacco smoke during childhood on the results of genetic linkag ...
This study examined the genetic basis of sensitization to house dust mite allergy allergens. A genome scan was conducted usin ...
About twenty percent of patients who have common allergic rhinitis are also having perennial allergic rhinitis symptoms. This f ...
A previous genome-wide screen for mite-sensitive atopic dermatitis asthma in Japanese families indicated linkage to chromosome 5q33 ...
Asthmatic children who also have Allergic Rhinitis seem to have higher morbidity and to use more healthcare resources. This was fur ...

Anti-IgE therapy could be particularly beneficial for patients with concomitant asthma and rhinitis as it targets a common factor in the two diseases. Omalizumab is significantly more efficacious than placebo in preventing asthma exacerbations and in improving disease-related quality of life scores when added to standard asthma and rhinitis therapies. (more…)
Patients with severe persistent asthma who are inadequately controlled despite Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) 2002 step 4 ther ...
Treatment with omalizumab has been shown to reduce serum free IgE concentrations and to have beneficial effects on allergic airway ...
IgE plays an important role in allergic asthma. Reducing IgE in the airway mucosa should reduce airway inflammation. Omalizumab has ...
Allergic rhinitis is a very common problem associated with poor quality of life, reductions in social and work activities and p ...
This study evaluated budesonide formoterol efficacy and safety of a novel asthma management strategy for both maintenance and s ...

Allergic rhinitis is a very common problem associated with poor quality of life, reductions in social and work activities and poor interpersonal relationships. The main goal of the management of allergic rhinitis is to improve the quality of life. Immunotherapy is a specific therapy for allergic rhinitis and several reports have documented the safety and efficacy of this treatment . Safety has been a key issue in immunotherapy and various modalities are being investigated to make allergy immunotherapy more tolerable and safe to administer. (more…)
The safety of immunotherapy has been a constraint on this form of treatment for allergic disease. Although retrospective survey ...
Specific immunotherapy has been widely used to treat allergic rhinitis symptoms. As with any other form of specific immunotherapy, ...
Allergen-specific immunotherapy aims to correct the underlying immune imbalance associated with specific immunotherapy allergic rhi ...
It is now almost a century since the pioneering work of Noon and Freeman was used to successfully treat hay fever symptoms usin ...
Allergen immunotherapy has proven to be effective in the management of allergic disease and is the only treatment that is able ...

Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) is a major therapeutic target in a range of chronic inflammatory disorders involving neutrophils and its excess production is characterized by a Th1-type immune response. Asthma is regarded as a Th2-type disorder when associated with atopy, (more…)
Tumour Necrosis Factor is a pro-inflammatory cytokine implicated in the pathogenesis of asthmatic airway inflammation, hyper-react ...
Roflumilast is an oral, once-daily inhibitor of phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) that prevents the breakdown of cyclic adenosine ...
IgE plays an important role in allergic asthma. Reducing IgE in the airway mucosa should reduce airway inflammation. Omalizumab has ...
Lidocaine is a local anaesthetic that possesses the ability to potently shorten eosinophil survival. This study assessed the sa ...
An emerging concept is that pro-inflammatory signals lead to loss of Regulatory T Cells (Treg) function. Pasare and Medzhitov ( ...
Over the last 5 years some studies have suggested that the atopy patch test (APT) may be a useful test in atopic dermatitis children who have suspected food hypersensitivity and may even obviate the need for oral challenges. An alternative test to oral allergy challenges with high sensitivity and specificity would be helpful in the diagnosis of food hypersensitivity. (more…)
One of the popular allergy testing besides food allergy testing is skin allergy testing. Allergy patch test is the most commo ...
Diagnosis of food hypersensitivity is a clinical challenge and the only current definitive test is the Double Blind Placebo-Control ...
This population-based cross-sectional study, funded by a UK government agency, aimed to establish the rate of sensitization to food ...
The diagnostic approach to allergic food reactions comprises three steps. The first step includes the medical allergy history, ...
The food eating challenges materials used at different centers vary considerably. Some centers use freeze-dried foods, some use con ...
This population-based cross-sectional study, funded by a UK government agency, aimed to establish the rate of sensitization to food allergens, reported food hypersensitivity, food avoidance and objectively assessed food hypersensitivity in 11- and 15-year-olds living on the Isle of Wight, UK. The researchers approached the teenagers via their schools, and a questionnaire completed by the parents and children formed the basis of capturing data to determine the prevalence of current reported food hypersensitivity and rates of food avoidance. This information was available on 775 individuals aged 11 years and 757 aged 15 years. (more…)
The food eating challenges materials used at different centers vary considerably. Some centers use freeze-dried foods, some use con ...
Over the last 5 years some studies have suggested that the atopy patch test (APT) may be a useful test in atopic dermatitis childre ...
Diagnosis of food hypersensitivity is a clinical challenge and the only current definitive test is the Double Blind Placebo-Control ...
The literature on the prevalence of latex allergy in the general population is unclear. The prevalence has been estimated as ra ...
The diagnostic approach to allergic food reactions comprises three steps. The first step includes the medical allergy history, ...
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 is considered to be one of the first manifestations in the atopic march. The aim of this study was to investi ...
In the Tucson CRS study, about 50% of young children experienced a period of recurrent wheezing and/or coughing in the first 6 ...
There is much controversy as to the role of allergen exposure for the development of atopic sensitization towards this allergen. Wh ...
Sensitization to pets remains a risk factor for asthma and rhinitis, and can occur in people who have never lived with a pet. S ...
Avoidance of any one of the individual risk factors associated with childhood asthma has not been successful in preventing its deve ...

No cure is available for food allergy and food-allergic patients and their families are therefore burdened with the need to constantly avoid allergenic food while worrying about the potential effect of any accidental exposure. Living with food allergy can therefore be expected to impair the quality of life of the sufferer and their family. Until now, this issue has only been explored in food allergy with generic quality of life questionnaires such as the Child Health Questionnaire Parent Form 50 (CHQ-PF50). Disease-specific health-related quality of life questionnaires focus on areas that are most relevant to a specific disease and can therefore be expected to be more sensitive. Until now, there has been no validated health-related quality of life questionnaire for food allergy diagnosis. (more…)
If someone has allergies, and it is particularly food allergies, does it change his or her quality of life? The effects of a ...
Families frequently do not use their self-injectable adrenaline device, even when their kids is experiencing a potentially life ...
Allergic rhinitis is a very common problem associated with poor quality of life, reductions in social and work activities and p ...
The most important aspect of managing food allergies in children and babies is to be sure that the developing child has each an ...
Oral allergy syndrome is one form of allergy that body have allergic reaction to fruits and vegetables. Based on statistics fa ...

The protective effect of breast-feeding on asthma and allergy has been debated for more than 60 years without any hope of a consensus. A major problem is the lack of randomized controlled trials. However, breast-feeding has a number of other benefits and should be recommended irrespective of any effect on asthma or allergy. This is why randomized trials are not considered ethical. Thus, we have to rely on observational studies, which have produced conflicting results. Mothers who do or do not breastfeed differ in several environmental exposures, including socio-economic class, smoking and area of living, which influence indoor and outdoor exposure to pollutants. Despite statistical adjustment for these confounding factors, the evidence is never as robust as it would be with an randomized controlled trial. (more…)
Breast milk contains a variety of bioactive substances, among them soluble CD14 (sCD14), which plays an important role in innat ...
The prevalence of atopic dermatitis is increasing in Western societies. The hygiene hypothesis proposes that this is due to red ...
The prevalence of asthma increases with increasing levels of Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE). However, the effect of early-l ...
If the breast-fed baby is lactose intolerant (usually a temporary condition following intestinal infection at this age), moth ...
Avoidance of any one of the individual risk factors associated with childhood asthma has not been successful in preventing its deve ...