Allergies & Asthma

Black and Hispanic children have a higher risk for developing food allergies compared with white children, and studies suggest they may also have a significantly higher risk for anaphylaxis and death due to allergic food reactions. African-American, Hispanic, and other minority children are also greatly underrepresented in food allergy clinical trials, and a new analysis

Many people with food allergies go looking for treatment with their eyes on the prize — reducing reactions to a certain food or foods. After testing for allergies and finding out you have a multitude of underlying food and environmental allergies, your provider might recommend treating a broad spectrum beginning with environmental allergies (as authors

Patients who experienced an allergic reaction to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines could potentially be eligible to receive the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, CDC staff said on a Tuesday call with clinicians. Currently, patients can be eligible to receive the Johnson & Johnson adenovirus vaccine after receiving one dose of mRNA vaccine only in special circumstances,

The patient voice is becoming such a valuable asset to medicine, medical research, pharma development and medical conferences. After all you can learn all the technical stuff about the anatomy and physiology in text books but you can never learn just what it is like to live with a certain condition unless you go through

Asthma patients with confirmed COVID-19 were no more likely to require hospitalization or mechanical ventilation than patients without asthma, researchers found. Moreover, the asthma patients were less likely to die from COVID, reported Lacey Robinson, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, at the virtual annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma &

Wide adoption of infant feeding guidelines calling for peanut introduction during the first year of life in Australia prompted a significant decline in child peanut allergies in that country, researchers reported. In 2016, guidelines in Australia were changed to recommend the introduction of potentially allergic foods such as peanut butter, cooked eggs, dairy, and wheat

Patient advocates seem to give off this impression of being fearless, great speakers and always knowing the right thing to say. I often looked patient advocates and admired their confidence and strength for the work they do. I still do. It has only been in the last few years that I have really identified as

It must have been fate that today was the day to write this blog post. My time hop reminded me that is was 4 years ago since I was in Florida with the Scotland Lacrosse Senior Women’s Team. Before I looked at my time hop I had been structuring this blog post in my head

Managing your allergies is a big job – and can be a lifesaving practice. Like anything these days, there’s technology that can help make it simpler. In this blog, we’re talking about free apps that can help with adherence to your allergy treatment and medications, as well as food and environmental allergy management. Adherence apps

It seems the entire country (I mean all 4 Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as Ireland) are waiting with baited breath as to when everyone will get vaccinated. Everyone will get the vaccine in time but we just need to be patient. We have managed this long we can manage a little

Inhaled budesonide (Pulmicort), a steroid generally used to treat asthma, dramatically reduced the need for hospitalization in COVID-19 patients within a week of symptom onset, a small randomized trial in the U.K. found. Among 139 patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms, 10 in the control group required either a COVID-19-related urgent care or emergency department (ED)

Most people look forward to spring, the warmer temperatures, and the increased sunshine it brings. What’s not to love? Millions of Americans may respond with “the allergies that come along with it.” The big offenders in the early spring are trees and mold, but grasses can start causing symptoms shortly after. To avoid the wrath

“The rooster isn’t causing the sun to come up.” — Paul Offit, MD, of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, commenting on how a physician who died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine does not imply a causal relationship between the two events. “He knows about EHR [electronic health record] adoption, he knows about interfaces — the

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, both the CDC and the World Health Organization identified asthma patients as being at high risk for severe disease and hospitalization, but it soon became evident that this may not be the case when study after study showed little or no support for that conclusion. Now the largest research review

I have had a Key Information Summary (KIS) on my notes for a number of years and until today I have always taken it for granted. For me it is something that has always been and I just assumed that it was something that everyone with a chronic health condition had. Today at an Asthma

Ten cases of anaphylaxis and over 100 cases of severe allergic reactions were reported following administration of the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, but nearly all were among those with a history of allergic reactions, researchers found. Of the 10 cases of anaphylaxis, nine were among those with a history of allergies or

We’re always looking for new research about sublingual immunotherapy and related topics. In fact, twice a year we find the most up-to-date published articles and put those applicable into our bibliography. It now houses nearly 1,300 articles that have been reviewed by our Medical Advisor and author of the La Crosse Method™ Protocol, Dr. Mary

The world is full of negativity just now due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is naturally a scary time with uncertainty about what the future holds. We don’t have the ability to plan going forward as no one knows when the restrictions we have in place will be lifted. Normally around this time of year

While rare, the rate of anaphylaxis following COVID-19 mRNA vaccines appeared about 10 times that documented for flu shots, CDC officials said on Wednesday. Overall, 21 cases of anaphylaxis following COVID vaccination were reported out of about 1.9 million doses given as of Dec. 23, according to an early Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report release.

I have written before about my disgust of the way inhalers and asthma are portrayed in the media. I wish I could wave a magic wand and it would all be corrected so that it was not just the geeky fat kids showed with asthma but anyone could have asthma, and also the way inhalers

Every year, winter brings a variety of viruses, and 2020 brought a new one that is concerning to most – COVID-19. While people tend to disregard allergy as a cause of winter illness because most outdoor allergens are minimal, there’s an exception in the south. It’s called Cedar Fever, and it can cause some pretty

Anyone with a history of immediate allergic reaction of any severity to any component of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines or to polysorbate should not be vaccinated, the CDC said in updated interim guidance. While previously the agency released guidelines for contraindication to vaccination, it’s now broadened to include those with a history of immediate allergic reaction

This story was originally published on Jan. 31, 2020. As part of MedPage Today‘s review of the past year’s top stories, we are republishing it, along with an update on peanut allergy therapies and related developments as the year went on. WASHINGTON — Aimmune Therapeutics’ oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy gained FDA approval late Friday,

In January, MedPage Today covered the FDA’s approval of an oral peanut allergy immunotherapy, which was seen as heralding a new era in food allergy treatment. In this follow-up feature, we review some of the developments occurring since. The timing probably couldn’t have been worse for the product’s developer, California-based Aimmune Therapeutics. The day its

Those in the food allergy community know the top eight food allergens like the back of their hand: Milk Eggs Fish Shellfish Tree nuts Peanuts Wheat Soy The talk about adding sesame to the top eight food allergens — making it the new “top nine”— has been a big topic in recent years. With new

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

While criteria for contraindication to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are narrow, more observation or possibly delayed vaccination may be necessary in those with a history of severe allergic reactions, CDC staff said on a call with clinicians on Friday. The only individuals who should not receive mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, such as the recently authorized Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

Today is the anniversary of my Granny’s death and my Uncle’s. I have many stories about my Granny which make me laugh and make me cry but today I wanted to share a few of those here. Granny during her birthday celebration when we made her try beer that my Dad was involved in. It