Q – Tips: Sinuses and flying
• If your ears and sinuses block while flying, try pre-medicating with oral Mucinex and nasal Afrin decongestant spray. Also keep yourself well-hydrated (water, not alcohol) during the flight.
Q – Tips: Vaccines
• Updating your international vaccination record? Recommended adult vaccines: Flu, pneumonia, shingles and whooping cough.
Q – Tips: Oak Season
• This is oak season, so these are timely reminders: keep windows and doors shut. Leave your shoes outside. Wipe off pets’ paws before they return inside.
Asthmatics more at risk for related diseases
The Mayo Clinic recently completed a long-term study of asthma and other inflammatory illnesses, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBS), rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and coronary heart disease. They found that asthmatics had a greater incidence of these other four inflammatory conditions than non-asthmatics in their study. There was roughly a 20 percent greater likelihood for these other four illnesses in asthmatics. This is a very strong association that had only previously been suspected. The Mayo study done in thousands of people…
Q Tips – Allergy Friendly Toys
• Toys that bear the asthma- and allergy-friendly certification have actually undergone scientific tests to demonstrate their safety for children with asthma and allergic rhinitis. Most of these toys are either washable (to remove offending allergens) or constructed of allergy-free materials.
Q Tips – Breastfeeding and IQ
• Apparently it “pays” to breastfeed your infant. A recent analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency found that breastfeeding leads to an increase in IQ by six points. They then correlated this with a known ratio between lifetime earnings and IQ and determined that a breastfed child should earn $65,000 more than a bottle-fed companion.
Q Tips – Mistletoe
• Mistletoe has potential to cause contact dermatitis akin to poison ivy. It generally requires repeated skin contact to elicit this response. Note: Kissing underneath it is still medically safe.
‘Allergic’ to bath water? Time to rule out disease and test various solutions
Dear Dr. K: My cousin who lives in New Hampshire has developed an allergy to water. For the past two years she gets extremely itchy every time she showers, or whenever water touches her skin – but there is no rash. She has seen an allergist, but the various prescribed antihistamines haven’t helped. Do you have any suggestions? Yes, I do. First of all it sounds as if your cousin has idiopathic aquagenic pruritis. Usually, this condition just develops out…
‘Grout’ proteins: more is better of these gatekeeper cells
A recent breakthrough in understanding people with chronic rhino-sinusitis was made at the University of Zurich. Scientists there found that patients with severe nasal allergy, especially those with nasal polyps, have a defective epithelial cell barrier lining their nose. The normal epithelium of the nose has tight junctions between the individual cells consisting of trans-membrane scaffolding cells. This can best be visualized as being like the grout between individual floor tiles in your home. The Zurich researchers found a direct…
Pre-medicating can head off injected contrast reaction
The Mayo Clinic Proceedings recently had a review of adverse reactions to the various types and routes of injection of the most common iodinated contrast agents used in obtaining X-rays. Contrast media are usually safe, but severe reactions can occur. The injection sites – in order of increasing risk for reaction – include into tissue spaces or cavities, into an artery and into a vein. The two main causes for acute reactions are allergic and anaphylactoid, with the latter accounting…