Allergies & Asthma

Questions about whether COVID symptoms are different with Delta compared with earlier variants have been raised again, after a Louisiana public health official recently said patients are presenting with more mild symptoms. Louisiana’s State Health Officer Joe Kanter, MD, MPH, told a local New Orleans radio station that many COVID patients are now developing symptoms

Does the simple thought of fall allergies make you cringe? You’re not alone. Of environmental allergy sufferers, 75% are allergic to ragweed, which is one of the most notorious allergens in the fall. But, ragweed isn’t the only pesky allergy trigger to watch out for during the fall season — mold allergy and allergic asthma

While a completely peanut-free environment is difficult to provide in an open baseball stadium where peanuts are sold and consumed by many of the fans, Major League Baseball (MLB) teams are reaching out to the baseball fans with peanut allergies by providing peanut controlled seating for selected games. Here is a comprehensive list of all

Patients who experienced allergic or potentially allergic reactions to their first dose of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 were able to tolerate the second dose, a retrospective study found. Among 189 patients who had immediate reactions after their first dose of either Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccine, all 159 who received a second dose tolerated it, including

The Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research (FASTER) Act was signed into law on April 23, 2021, making sesame the 9th major U.S. allergen. The Act should help bring relief to the approximately 1.6 million Americans with sesame allergy. Food makers are required to clearly label sesame on food packages beginning Jan. 1, 2023.2

Women continued to be paid less than men in academic medicine, with gender gaps in salary and representation most pronounced in cardiology and other procedural specialties, according to a cross-sectional analysis. In 2018 and 2019, female representation approached 50% at the instructor and assistant professor ranks in internal medicine, but fell to 24% at full

Two questions that come up this time of year – year after year – are: What is Oral Allergy Syndrome How do I manage Oral Allergy Syndrome? OAS is something that’s not well known outside of the allergy community. It can be irritating, and for people experiencing it for the first time, kind of alarming.

WASHINGTON — A coal-powered electricity plant in Puerto Rico that is releasing toxic coal ash should be shut down immediately because it is harming patients’ health, several House members said. “Whether through production or storage, there is no good outcome related to coal ash,” said Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), who is originally from the Dominican

ZED1227, a potential therapeutic transglutaminase 2 inhibitor, reduced mucosal damage from gluten in celiac disease patients, a randomized proof-of-concept trial found. At week 6, the difference in villus height-to-crypt depth average ratio, a measurement of intestinal injury, was significant at three different dosages of ZED1227 (10 mg, 50 mg, and 100 mg) compared to placebo,

It’s all fun and games (and barbecues and boating) until your allergies kick in and put a pause on your Fourth of July celebrations. Whether you struggle with food or environmental allergies, there are steps you can take to help steer clear of reactions this holiday weekend. Avoid environmental triggers In early July, grass and

Note that some links may require registration or subscription. COVID deaths in Brazil surpassed 500,000, and protesters in more than 20 cities are blaming President Jair Bolsonaro for downplaying the pandemic. (NPR) The more contagious and possibly more deadly Delta variant will “probably” become the dominant strain in the U.S. in the next couple of

When most people think of seasonal allergies, they think of itching, sniffling and sneezing. There are other symptoms that can appear seasonally which can be attributed to allergy, too. Since they’re less known allergy symptoms, you may not even notice that they arrive at the same time each year — think throat clearing, dark circles

For patients using allergy immunotherapy — either allergy drops or allergy shots — it can take months to alleviate symptoms and three to five years, and sometimes longer, to build long-term tolerance. While the end result is worth it, getting over the initial hump can be tough as you begin the steps to building tolerance

Among children with uncontrolled, moderate-to-severe asthma, treatment with the biologic dupilumab (Dupixent) was associated with a reduction in exacerbation and improvements in lung function in phase III findings from the international VOYAGE trial. Evidence of lung function improvement occurred within 2 weeks of treatment initiation, and was sustained during the 52-week randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Compared

TTHealthWatch is a weekly podcast from Texas Tech. In it, Elizabeth Tracey, director of electronic media for Johns Hopkins Medicine, and Rick Lange, MD, president of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, look at the top medical stories of the week. A transcript of the podcast is below the summary. This

The 24-hour news cycle is just as important to medicine as it is to politics, finance, or sports. At MedPage Today, new information is posted daily, but keeping up can be a challenge. As an aid for our readers and for a little amusement, here is a 10-question quiz based on the news of the

A first-in-class drug under development for severe asthma passed what its developers hope is the final test: achieving its primary endpoint in a phase III registration trial dubbed NAVIGATOR and now reported in a major journal. Tezepelumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), cut the annualized rate of asthma exacerbations by more than

There are some illnesses that can simply be a tough case to solve, often leaving people bouncing from specialist to specialist to determine the cause. In some cases, allergy might be the key to finding a treatment that really works. In this blog, learn how Irritable Bowel Syndrome, heartburn and headaches can be brought on

You might think that when asthma patients were switched involuntarily from regular insurance to high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), a substantial number would cut corners on their daily controller medications — but you would mostly be wrong, researchers said. In fact, in a study of some 185,000 pediatric and adult patients with asthma spanning 2002 to

The 24-hour news cycle is just as important to medicine as it is to politics, finance, or sports. At MedPage Today, new information is posted daily, but keeping up can be a challenge. As an aid for our readers and for a little amusement, here is a 10-question quiz based on the news of the

Rather than site-wide food bans or allergen-restricted zones, allergy training, action plans, and available epinephrine to treat suspected anaphylaxis are recommended to address allergic reactions to food at child care centers and schools, according to new practice guidelines. Not only has research found little evidence that food bans work, such restrictions can pose monitoring and

Contents of baby’s first stool were a biomarker for early-life allergy risk in a study of 100 infants. Infants who developed IgE-mediated atopy by age 1 showed a significantly poorer environment in their meconium — the fecal matter accumulated prior to birth and typically expelled within a few days of delivery — for microbiotal development

One of the most talked about food allergies is peanut. Though not the most common food allergy, it’s the most common food associated with severe allergic reactions – so it’s an important one to be educated on. Consider this overview on peanut allergy: from symptoms, diagnosis, and avoiding peanuts, to options for treating the cause.

Presentation At her 8-year-old son’s regular check-up, a mother asked the pediatrician to look at a skin condition that developed rather suddenly about a month ago. He had a few groups of follicular scaly papules bilaterally on his knees and elbows. They didn’t seem to bother him at all, but since he is prone to

As the world starts to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, another global — and even more devastating — existential threat persists: climate change. Worldwide, climate-driven disasters including storms, droughts, fires, and floods displaced more than 10 million people since last September. Here in the western U.S., we face increasingly catastrophic wildfire seasons with powerful effects

Note that some links may require registration or subscription. A new coronavirus variant, BV-1, has been discovered in Texas. (Fox News) The European Medicines Agency said it found a “possible link” between the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and blood clots and recommended that a warning be added to the vaccine’s label, but they also

Earth Day is a great opportunity to reflect on our planet and what we can do to make it better. Climate change is a popular topic, especially on and around Earth day — and it may impact your allergies more than you think. A 20-year study looked at how environmental allergy seasons are impacted by

A team of Mount Sinai surgeons in New York City earlier this year performed the world’s first human tracheal transplant surgery, the health system announced this week. News of the procedure’s success already has other patients taking note. To date, surgeons have been unable to transplant the trachea — an organ essential for speaking, breathing,