Oral desensitization for milk allergy loses effectiveness over time At the recent American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology annual meeting, Dr. Robert Wood of Johns Hopkins Medical Center presented data that oral desensitization / immunotherapy for milk allergy appears to lose effectiveness over time: SAN ANTONIO — Among children who underwent oral immunotherapy for…
Spring pollen season is here With the arrival of warm weather (finally,) spring pollen season has arrived as well. For those of you with tree pollen allergy, now is the time to be taking measures to control your allergy symptoms. Avoidance measures, such as keeping windows closed and A/C running, showering in the evening to…
Sublingual immunotherapy effective at high doses not currently available in the US. The Journal of the American Medical Association published a review of the effectiveness of sublingual immunotherapy (allergy drops) in the March 27, 2013 issue. The review analyzed several databases of medical literature through December 2012. They found 63 studies that could be analyzed,…
Parental sucking of pacifier may prevent allergy in children Allergies are very common in industrialized countries. It has been suggested that exposure to harmless bacteria during infancy may be protective against the development of allergy. However, it has been difficult to pinpoint which bacteria a baby should be exposed to, and at what time and…
Symptoms of atopic dermatitis are influenced by outdoor pollution JACI, June 2013: Outdoor air pollution is related to exacerbation of pre-existing asthma and even with the development of atopic diseases or allergic sensitization. In contrast, there are few studies to show the association between outdoor air pollution and atopic dermatitis (AD). In a Letter to…
Immunotherapy reduces costs in management of allergic rhinitis Allergen-specific immunotherapy is the only treatment that alters the clinical course of allergic rhinitis (nasal allergies), reducing the risk of asthma and the development of new allergies. A recent Florida Medicaid study found that allergen-specific immunotherapy(AIT or allergy shots,) reduced costs in children with allergic rhinitis, and…
Few patients with penicillin allergy histories are truly allergic Penicillin allergy testing can safely exclude IgE-mediated penicillin allergy. Almost 8% of the U.S. population claims to be allergic to penicillin, but only a small proportion of these patients are truly allergic. Penicillin skin testing is the only way to identify IgE-mediated allergy (an immediate hypersensitivity…
Immunotherapy (allergy shots) during pregnancy may reduce risk of allergy in child Mothers’ receipt of immunotherapy during pregnancy may reduce the risk of any type of allergy in offspring, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, held from Nov. 7–12 in Baltimore. Jay Lieberman,…
Omalizumab (Xolair) helps chronic hives (chronic idiopathic urticaria) The following summary is taken from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology website, www.aaaai.org. Patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria/chronic spontaneous urticaria (CIU/CSU) often have uncontrolled symptoms despite the use of non-sedating H1-antihistamines at up to four times the standard dose. For those patients who remain…
Top Doctors Allergy & Asthma Care of Fairfield County is proud to announce that all three of our physicians, Dr. Kenneth Backman, Dr. Katherine Bloom, and Dr. Irena Veksler, have been named “Top Doctors” by Westport and Fairfield Living Magazines, publications of Moffly Media.