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Posts with tag: allergy | Return to HealthNewsBlog.com Homepage
Sublingual Immunotherapy Treatment Shows Potential For Bee Stings
 WebMD reports that a new research study has found that
placing drops of honeybee venom under the tongue can significantly reduce reactions in people allergic to bee stings. This procedure is known as sublingual immunotherapy. Partipants in the study were gradually given larger doses of bee venom over a six week period.
The participants were randomly assigned to receive either sublingual immunotherapy in the form of honeybee venom drops placed under the tongue, or placebo drops.
Patients in the immunotherapy group got escalating doses of honeybee venom for six weeks, followed by a maintenance dose, given three times a week for six months.
"You hold the drop under the tongue for about one or two minutes, then swallow," Passalacqua says.
After being gradually subjected to greater quantities of the bee venom for six weeks it was time for the participants to be stung by a real honeybee. The reactions to the stings were much smaller than they would have been without the sublingual immunotherapy.
Then came the bee sting challenge. "We put insects in a jar and then put the jar on the patient's forearm" and looked to see what happened, he says.
It worked. The median diameter of the sting wheals in patients given sublingual immunotherapy dropped from about 8 to 3 inches. Looked at another way, wheal diameter was reduced by more than 50% in more than half of them.
"This was a very apparent and very significant reduction in the size of the reaction to the sting," Passalacqua says.
In contrast, there was no change in wheal diameter in the placebo group, and one person broke out in hives.
The tongue drop treatments next will go through a round of testing on people who have very severe entire body reactions to bee stings. But there is no reason to wait for treatment if you have a bee allergy because shots are already available. Allergist Clifford Bassett, MD told WMD that venom shots are 95% effective "in reducing the risk of systemic reactions in people with honeybee sting allergies." Shots can be inconvenient but it is much better to play it safe - get your shot and reduce the risk of having a severe reaction to a bee sting.
Photo credit: delgaudm
Posted on March 21, 2008
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Pollen Superburst Could Make Spring Miserable
Spring is can be a miserable time for many allergy sufferers. The last thing people with allergies and asthma want to hear is that a pollen "superburst" is on the way but that is just what ABC News is reporting.
Experts say Americans are in for a pollen "superburst" that could wallop much of the country in the next couple of weeks and spell misery for an estimated 40 million allergy sufferers.
Roger Emert, an allergy specialist at the New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, shared his tips for combating watery eyes and the sniffles on "Good Morning America."
The ABC News article suggests tips like take allergy medications earlier; turn on the air conditioner; keep the windows closed and try nonsedating antihistamines or nasal sprays.
Posted on March 14, 2007
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New Food Labels to Alert People With Allergies
On January 1st a new law (2004 Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act) will go into affect requiring food labels to list any ingredients made from the following foods: milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, wheat, tree nuts, soybeans and peanuts. These eight foods account for 90 percent of all food allergies according to the FDA.
"The eight major food allergens account for 90 percent of all documented food allergic reactions, and some reactions may be severe or life-threatening," said Robert E. Brackett, PhD, Director of FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "Consumers will benefit from improved food labels for products that contain food allergens."
The FDA news release about the new labels says 30,000 Americans enter the emergency room and 150 people die each year because of food allergies. An MSNBC.com article says an FDA study in 1999 sound many foods containing allergies were not properly labeled.
A 1999 FDA study in Minnesota and Wisconsin found a quarter of the baked goods, ice cream and candy its scientists sampled failed to list peanuts or eggs as ingredients.
Food labels must now list the common name of the product as well as the name of the specific allergen it contains. A product containing a protein derived from milk called casein, for example, must list both "milk" and "casein" on its label. Labels also must specify the type of fish, crustacean or tree nut the product contains.
This specific allergen information will be a great help to people that suffer from allergies. When it comes to food the policy should be the more information the better for consumers.
Posted on December 20, 2005
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