Month: June 2007
Have You Subscribed to Allergy Consumer Report Yet? (It’s Free!)
Web traffic here at the Allergy Relief Blog has increased dramatically over the past couple of months. Welcome, newcomers! In light of all the new visitors, I'd like to take this opportunity to let all the ‘newbies’ know about Allergy…
Ozone & Smog Exacerbate Asthma, Lead to Attacks
CBS News reports that ozone pollution (smog) is making breathing difficult for children who have asthma. ‘On days of high levels of ozone, people with asthma are more likely to have symptoms or shortness of breath,’ says Dr. Homer Bouchley…
AMA: Kids Should Be Allowed to Take Anaphylaxis Meds to Schools
The American Medical Associated (AMA) has voted to lobby for laws that would allow severely allergic children to take life-saving medicine to school, The Daily Journal reports. Many school districts and 18 states have bans that do not allow children…
Caring for a Child Who’s Allergic to Eggs
The Abkhazia Institue offers advice to parents of children who are allergic to eggs: There's no easy way around it – the only way to treat an egg allergy is to eliminate eggs and foods made with eggs from the…
Aerosol Cleaners May Cause Asthma
News-Medical.Net reports: The use of home cleaning products in the form of aerosols, at least once a week, is related to the appearance of respiratory difficulties and asthma in adults. This association is even strong when aerosol cleaning products (glass…
Artificial Nose Helps Sniff Out Asthma
Health and Age reports that an artificial nose (known as the Cyranose) has successfully been used to diagnose tuberculosis and lung cancer, based on the volatile gas patterns in expired breath from patients. A recent pilot study suggests that the…
Is Non-Stick Teflon Making Your Allergies Worse?
According to Life Style Extra, the non-stick chemical Teflon could be making people more prone to allergies. The chemical Perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA), found in Teflon, has already been identified as a likely carcinogen, and it is also a known immunosuppressant.…
Hay Fever Drugs Cost Students An Exam Grade
TimesOnline reports that hay fever drugs often cost students an exam grade. In a study funded by the drug firm Shering-Plough, researchers found that students who have hay fever symptoms are 40% more likely to drop an exam grade –…
Dry Skin May Cause Asthma, Hay Fever, Allergies
The Open Press reports that dry skin may cause allergic conditions like asthma, hay fever, and allergic rhinitis. Scientists have discovered that some people absorb allergens through damaged skin. The treatment of dry skin is not just a cosmetic issue;…
Child Snoring May Be Sign of Allergies
Reuters reports that an Austalian study found that, among five-year-olds, risk factors for snoring were very similar to those for allergic disorders. Such risk factors include cigarette smoke in the first year of life, asthma, and eczema. In adults, snoring…
Overscrubbing Skin Could Cause Allergies
Excessive scrubbing with harsh soaps can strip a protective layer of oil off the skin, leaving the skin barrier vulnerable to allergens, according to the UK’s Telegraph. Overscrubbing could cause skin allergies. ‘We are not saying that people should not wash,…
GoodBacteria, Asthma & Allergies
The previous post discusses how the use of antibiotics increases the risk of asthma among children. Why is that? Well, based on everything I've been reading, it seems as if the ‘good’ bacteria in the human body support the immune…
Use of Antibiotics Increases Asthma Risk
According to Nursing in Practice, the use of antibiotics for non-respiratory infections doubles a one-year-old's risk of developing asthma by the age of seven. ‘Antibiotics are frequently prescribed for young children for both respiratory and nonrespiratory infections,’ said Mark Roser,…
Common Childhood Asthma Myths
Asthma Editor Amy Cuebas of BellaOnline points out the following six Myths about Childhood Asthma: 1. Yoga / Swimming / Herbs will cure asthma. Nothing can turn off the switch that's responsible for the inflammation associated with asthma, but certain…
Asthma Sufferers at Greater Risk for Anaphylaxis
eMaxHealth reports that asthma is the single greatest factor that increases risk of death from anaphylaxis (allergic shock). Anaphylaxis affects the entire body and is responsible for 500 to 1,000 deaths in the U.S. each year – and most of…
See What Microscopic Dust Mites Look Like
Dust mites are the #1 cause of perennial allergic rhinitis. Check out our new, informative dust mite video presentation to learn more about dust mites and see what they look like under a microscope!
Peanut Free Zone at Padres Baseball Park
I loved going to Atlanta Braves games when I was a kid, and I remember singing ‘buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks’ at every game. I’ve never thought of a baseball park as a dangerous place, but it can…
ASPCA: One Out of Five Dogs Suffers from Allergies
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) warns that summertime allergies affect animals, too, and that about one out of every five dogs nationwide suffers from some form of allergy. Animal allergy symptoms commonly include licking,…
Allergic Rhinitis & Its Impact on Asthma
mediLexicon reports that ARIA (Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma) urges doctors to consider the strong link between allergic rhinitis and asthma. ARIA is a worldwide non-governmental organization that works in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) to…
Teaching Teachers About Asthma
In Wales (United Kingdom), three children in every class have asthma, according to icwales. Wales has one of the highest asthma rates in the world with one in 10 children suffering from the disease. An asthma charity launched a training…
Toxic Indoor Swimming Pool Chemicals Harm Children’s Lungs
It seems as if a new theory to explain the rise in childhood asthma pops up every week. According to health columnist Julie Deardorff of the Chicago Tribune, the ‘pool chlorine hypothesis’ asks whether the rise in childhood asthma stems…
Asthma Patients: Do You Know Your IgE?
The Toledo Journal reports that an estimated 60 percent of asthma patients have allergic asthma (triggered by dust mites, pet dander, pollen, mold spores, or cockroaches), yet in the U.S., only a small percentage of asthma patients are tested for…
Cosmetic Allergy & Makeup Allergy
Allergist Dr. Daniel More, M.D., of About.com explains that cosmetic allergy is usually contact dermatitis rather than a true allergy: ‘Contact dermatitis is not due to a true allergy, and no allergic antibodies are involved. Instead, the reaction is caused…
Research Group Studies Chitin As Suspected Cause of Allergies & Asthma
MSN Health & Fitness reports that a University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) research group may be making headway in the fight against asthma and allergies. Dr. Richard Locksley leads the team, which is looking at the possibility that chitin…
Protect Yourself from TB, Bacteria & Viruses on Airplanes
This morning Diane Sawyer of ABC News interviewed Andrew Speaker, who stirred up panic, outrage, and controversy after he flew across the Atlantic on a commerical flight, knowing that he was infected with a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis (TB). Speaker,…