Dear Dr. K: Dear Dr. K.: My husband and I both have allergies and we are both triathletes. When we exercise my husband’s nasal congestion always improves, while mine seems to get worse. What’s going on? The answer to your question is statistics. Your husband is on the good side of statistics and you are on the bad side. What I mean is that in the majority of people with allergies exercise helps open the nasal passages. It does this…
It has been observed for many years that living on a farm reduces the risk for children to develop allergies and asthma. To better understand this protective effect, researchers at the University of Munich conducted a study of thousands of children from birth to age 6. It turns out that a major protective factor was the consumption of unprocessed cow’s milk, as opposed to pasteurized milk. Before addressing the milk issue, readers should know that growing up on a…
An amazing 96 percent of patients with lung conditions attending a “Singing for Breathing” program in the United Kingdom (UK) report improvement. Research done by UK scientists has shown that singing therapy can improve lung function in a variety of conditions including asthma, COPD and cystic fibrosis. The program consists of six weeks of twice-weekly voice lessons, followed by once-a-week maintenance classes. It is sponsored by the British Lung Foundation and is held at 55 clinics across Great Britain. The…
European offspring of medieval plague survivors have been found to have inherited natural protection to HIV infection. Plague survivors transmitted the CCRS-A32 mutation which prevents HIV virus from infecting cells.
This is ragweed season. Remember that certain foods can boost allergic symptoms to ragweed if eaten during this season: Melons, especially cantaloupe and honeydew; bananas, and chamomile – whether taken in food or drink, or even in personal products such as shampoo.
Poets and philosophers long have argued chicken/egg algorithms. And scientists have argued food allergy/eczema scenarios. For years it was felt food allergy was the seminal event preceding eczema. The natural history and logic of this position are hard to dismiss. Even a 5-year-old who recently completed his allergy testing to better understand his skin rash, (which showed strong positives to both egg white and egg yolk), asked me why he needed to have these tests for his “eggs-ema.” Wasn’t it…
Infants who have food allergy display a pro-inflammatory profile at the time of birth in their umbilical cord blood. So say research scientists at the University of Melbourne. They found that the length of a woman’s labor seemed to lead to greater numbers of white blood cells that produce inflammatory proteins (called cytokines). In other words: short labor also leads to less chance of food allergy; long labor leads to a greater chance of food allergy.
Dear Dr. K: I keep an Epipen for “just in case,” but so far I have never had to use it. I keep replacing it when it expires, but it is expensive. Is it possible to use it past its expiration date? The answer is “yes, probably.” The “probably” is based on the clarity of the liquid. If, when you look through the syringe and the medicine is clear, then it’s both safe and effective. If the liquid is yellow…
Pityriasis rosea is not an allergic condition but is frequently seen by allergists as its main manifestation is a skin rash that looks “temptingly allergic” in nature. This rash is preceded by a single spot called the “herald patch.” This clue is sometimes missed because it appears in a hidden spot on the body such as the back or armpit. Within one to two weeks of the herald, a generalized rash appears. The spots are circular to oval in shape…
The results of a Harvard study done over the past 25 years on childhood asthma are somewhat distressing. The research was published in a recent edition of The New England Journal of Medicine. Known as CAMP – Childhood Asthma Management Program – the study allowed long-term outcomes to be determined. It compared the use of a daily inhaled steroid versus placebo for the first 4.5 years. Then the children were returned to the care of their pediatricians and followed for…