Quick Tips: Smoking
Doesn’t take much: people who only smoke one cigarette a day still incur 48% increased risk for heart disease, according to a recent British study.
Quick Tips : ocular allergy
Certain antihistamines such as Benadryl can worsen ocular allergy because of their drying effect on the eyes.
Quick Tips: Sjogren’s Syndrome
Another recent study from that publication found that people with the chronic allergic “triad” of rhinitis, asthma and eczema have a much greater risk of developing Sjogren’s Syndrome (an auto-immune condition causing dry eyes and mouth) than the general population.
Quick Tips : milk allergy
Twenty percent of children with milk allergy will also be allergic to beef, according to Allergy and Asthma Proceedings.
Celiac disease needs two genes and virus to switch on
It has been known for some time that two HLA genes (DQ2, DQ8) predispose to celiac disease. What was recently discovered, and reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, is that is seems to take a virus to activate these genes that leads to the disease. The research focused on the interplay between viruses and genes causing celiac disease, with its gluten sensitivity. The genes alone don’t cause celiac disease. The virus that appears to be the culprit is…
Mighty mites proven peskier
Dust mites have long been known as the No. 1 cause for allergic asthma around the world. They are the “perfect respirable particle” – at only seven microns in size – and thus, easily inhaled into the lungs. Based on this information it has long been assumed that the development of dust-mite allergy must occur via breathing in the particles. Well, new research at the Pasteur Institute in Paris has found otherwise. It seems that the early development of dust-mite…
Pets in home: many allergy studies, mixed results
By Sasha Klemawesch, MD Finally, scientific proof of dogs’ superiority! Research studies have reported a variety of health benefits provided to owners by their dogs; perhaps most pertinent to this newsletter being those related to allergies. A trio of studies in 2003, ’04 and ‘05 in various allergy journals (Current Opinions in Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and Current Allergy Asthma Reports) all reported that children who had dogs in their homes as infants were…
Selfies
Dear Dr. K: Among the many challenges and downsides of our smartphones, can you point to any not-so-obvious upsides to these instruments we glue our eyeballs to? As it turns out, today’s craze in smartphone selfies may have some medical value that extends beyond vanity. To date, three medical conditions have been diagnosable from selfies: pancreatic cancer, skin cancers and oxygen desaturation. It seems other people’s scrutiny of selfies posted on social media can lead to changes being noticed….
Q – Tips: Vitamin D and pregnancy
• Harvard researchers have confirmed that Vitamin D supplements in pregnant women significantly reduce the chance for their children of developing asthma. It seems that this benefit is conferred primarily in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Q – Tips: Don’t get burned…
If you are going to get cut or burned, do it during daylight hours. Scientists have discovered a marked circadian (body clock) difference in healing from injuries. Wounds incurred at night take 60% longer to heal than those incurred during daytime hours. There is slower growth of skin cells and collagen when injuries occur at night.