Treating allergic rhinitis may have a downstream effect on concomitant asthma and this may be due to attenuation of the underlying inflammatory process.
Fexofenadine and montelukast exhibited additive effects to moderately high doses of inhaled corticosteroids when used as add-on therapy in the treatment of patients with persistent atopic asthma. (more…)
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…)

The two strongest risk factors for asthma in childhood are a family history and immediate hypersensitivity to common allergens. This immune response includes both IgE antibodies and helper T cells type 2 (Th2), both of which are thought to contribute to the inflammation in the respiratory tract. Children with asthma who mount an immune response to inhalant allergens have an increased risk of developing asthma because of this combination of genetics and exposure. However, it is sensitization to indoor allergens (e.g. dust mites, cats, dogs, and cockroaches) that is strongly associated with asthma. (more…)
As a person who suffered form allergies and have a profession as family physician, I have much sympathy for those struggling with itchy, watery eyes, coughing, stuffy nose, postnasal drip, or allergies hay fever and cough. Like spring and summer that can take months, allergies patients have to find a way on how to survive in this season. (more…)
About ninety percent of Americans spend most of their time indoors, not knowing that the air inside your home can contain potentially harmful airborne contaminants as well as the air outside the home. These contaminants, more accurately called allergens, can aggravate asthma or allergy symptoms and cause damage to health. (more…)

It is now almost a century since the pioneering work of Noon and Freeman was used to successfully treat hay fever symptoms using a low-dose incremental schedule of pollen injections. Noon based his doses of pollen extract on a pollen weight unit that remained in use for over 70 years; (more…)
Specific immunotherapy has been widely used to treat allergic rhinitis symptoms. As with any other form of specific immunotherapy, careful patient selection is crucial. The diagnosis of allergic rhinitis needs to be secure, especially in those with perennial symptoms, and should be based on a careful clinical history supported by documentation of IgE-mediated sensitivity by skin prick test or blood tests. (more…)