Results tagged “treatment” from Allergy

Medinose heralds a breakthrough in the way hayfever and allergies are treated. Using photo therapy (light therapy) Medinose can practically eliminate allergic symptoms such as congestion, runny nose, watery eyes, and headaches within a couple of weeks of use.

Using photo therapy, Medinose inhibits the release of histamine, relieving or even completely eliminating allergic reactions and complaints in a natural way. The body is not burdened by drugs and Medinose has no side effects. Medinose consists of a small power pack (about the size of an IPOD) and two probes which are inserted into the nostrils.

Each treatment session with the Medinose takes just approx. 4.5 minutes 2-3 times a day. The Medinose can be used anywhere: at home, on the move or at work. With severe symptoms, treatment can be repeated several times without any side effects. As soon as the symptoms subside, the number of treatments can be reduced. The Medinose is, however, also suitable for prevention.

February 16, 2007 — In children with intermittent asthma, a short course of montelukast resulted in reduction in acute healthcare resources, asthma symptoms, and days lost from school and from work for parents, according to the results of a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial reported in the February 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine.

"In children, intermittent asthma is the most common pattern and is responsible for the majority of exacerbations," write Colin F. Robertson, MD, of the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues. "Montelukast has a rapid onset of action and may be effective if used intermittently."

BOSTON, Jan. 15 -- Aspirin may reduce the risk of new-onset asthma in adult males, according to a retrospective analysis of a longitudinal study of thousands of physicians.

A post hoc analysis of data from the Physicians' Health Study, which investigated the role of aspirin in preventing first heart attacks, revealed that men who took 325 mg of aspirin every other day had a 22% reduction in risk of new onset asthma, found Tobias Kurth, M.D., Sc.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital here, and colleagues.

Moreover, the possible protective effect of aspirin was not modified by baseline risk factors including smoking, body mass index, or age, but the benefit appeared to be greater among younger men, the researchers reported in the January issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

How well do we manage our patients who have been diagnosed with allergic rhinitis? Do patients and healthcare providers have a similar outlook? This presentation was given at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Meeting, and largely is drawn from data obtained from "Allergies in America: A Landmark Survey of Nasal Allergy Sufferers," the largest and most comprehensive national survey of patients with allergic rhinitis, and the healthcare providers who treat them, which was released in 2006.^[1]

The purpose of this survey was to describe the symptoms, burden of disease, and treatment of allergic rhinitis. As a brief summary, a national sample of 31,470 American households were screened by telephone interview to obtain a national probability sample of 2500 adults, aged 18 and over, who had been diagnosed by a physician with allergic rhinitis, nasal allergies, or "hay fever" and who had nasal allergy symptoms, or had taken prescription medication for allergies within the past 12 months

By Hana R. Solomon, MD

Worldwide, only 10% to 30% of healthcare is provided by conventional, Western, biomedical practitioners. The remainder is delivered either through folk beliefs or alternative traditions.^[1] Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has become more popular in the United States over the past few decades. With this increasing popularity of CAM, it is important that practitioners become familiar with this area of medical practice for all diagnoses.

According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), CAM is defined as "a group of diverse medical and healthcare systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine.^[2]" The list of modalities included in this definition continually changes as practices are integrated into Western conventional medicine. They also identify 5 concepts, or domains, of CAM:

By David H. Broide, MD, ChB

Asthma is a very common airway disease affecting approximately 20 million individuals in the United States. For many patients with persistent asthma, asthma is well controlled with a regular controller medication, such as an inhaled corticosteroid, and an as-needed beta2-agonist inhaler for symptom relief.^[1] Nevertheless, each year in the United States, there are still approximately 10 million acute attacks of asthma, 2 million asthma urgent care visits, 400,000 asthma hospitalizations, and 4000-5000 asthma deaths, underscoring the fact that asthma is still not well controlled in a large number of asthmatics.^[2] Patients with severe asthma use a significant fraction of the $6.2 billion in annual direct cost expenditure on asthma in the United States.^[3] The development of novel therapeutic options for these asthmatics would be a significant advance.

A new study by specialists at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and elsewhere suggests that only one in five inner-city children with chronic asthma gets enough medicine to control dangerous flare-ups of the disease.

The findings, reported in December's Pediatrics, are disturbing, the researchers say, because preventive therapy failure leads to overreliance on fast-acting "rescue" drugs after an asthma attack strikes and to more complications and increased risk of death.

The scientists interviewed parents of 180 Baltimore City children 2 to 9 years of age diagnosed with persistent asthma and studied pharmacy records. Overall, only 20 percent of the 180 children got the recommended amount of daily controller medication, which is six or more refills in a 12-month period. Sixty percent got too little therapy to fully prevent flare-ups, and 20 percent either got no medication at all or relied solely on quick-relief rescue drugs, which stop an asthma attack from progressing.

For children who have persistent asthma of any degree, inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) treatment is recommended. However, there is ongoing debate with regard to the potential adverse systemic effects and safety of long-term use of these agents, particularly in children. This concern mainly stems from the findings from studies assessing the effects of ICS on lower-leg growth rate or the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.^[1] The current consensus is that ICS are highly effective and, because their benefits clearly exceed potential risks, can be used safely in children who have persistent asthma.^[2,3]

In this Expert Interview conducted by Helen Fosam, PhD, Medscape Allergy & Clinical Immunology, David B. Allen, MD, summarizes the current issues and evidence surrounding the risks and benefits of using ICS to treat asthma in children. David B. Allen, MD, is Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin. Dr. Allen is also the Director of Endocrinology and Residency Training at the University of Wisconsin Children's Hospital, Madison, Wisconsin.

A tiny heater that warms the lungs and airways is being used to treat asthma. The device, which is inserted through the nose or mouth, gives ten-second blasts of mild heat to the muscles to stop them contracting.

Research shows that the beneficial effects of three sessions of the device, now on trial at five hospitals in the UK, can last for more than two years.

Asthma is a major and increasing health problem, with 5.2 million people in the UK currently receiving treatment, including 1.1 million children.

New Delhi, Nov. 28 (ANI) - A concoction of herbal drugs used in Unani Medicine has shown encouraging results in the treatment of chronic lung diseases, such as asthma.

The coded combination Asthma-5 has shown good response in chronic patients of bronchial asthma. In mild and moderate asthma the drug has shown significant symptomatic relief.

The drug took about 15 days to reach the optimum level, the study said. It was also noted that the maximum effect was seen after 90 days of treatment.

PHILADELPHIA, Nov.15 -- Allergic reactions are among the most common side effects of complementary and alternative therapies, researchers reported here, but that doesn't stop patients with allergies from using them.

More than two-thirds of adult patients may use some form of complementary and alternative medicine, said Leonard Bielory, M.D., director of the Asthma & Allergy Research Center at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Physicians need to find a way to respect those practices and, indeed, incorporate them into their practices Dr. Bielory said at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology meeting here.

AUSTRALIA - The latest medical and clinical research on treatment and diagnosis of asthma will be made available free of charge to doctors, pharmacists and other professionals who deal with asthma patients, via a new handbook.

The 6th edition of the Asthma Management Handbook, launched today by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing, Christopher Pyne, updates the previous guidelines issued to Australian medical and health professionals.

Plagued by poison ivy allergy? It might be possible to coax the body to build up immunity to poison ivy.

That news comes from researchers including Mary Morris, MD, of Allergy Associates of La Crosse in La Crosse, Wis.

They studied 115 people with a history of severe skin reactions to poison ivy who were treated at their clinic over the past 15 years.

The treatment was a small amount of poison ivy extract placed under the tongue. The goal was to train the body's immune system not to overreact to poison ivy.

The patients took skin tests to see if the treatment helped.

The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) today announced the release of a new Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention. In a major revision of GINA's 2002 Global Strategy, the new guidelines put the emphasis on asthma control.  With appropriate treatment, most patients should be able to achieve and maintain control of all of the clinical manifestations of asthma, including symptoms, sleep disturbances, limitations of daily activity, impairment of lung function and use of rescue medications.

"The goal of asthma treatment, to achieve and maintain clinical control, can be reached in a majority of patients with a pharmacologic intervention strategy developed in partnership between the patient/family and the doctor" said Professor Paul O'Byrne, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Chair, GINA Executive Committee. "If we implement the management approaches described in the GINA report, there is a real chance of reducing morbidity and mortality associated with asthma.

Staten Island has the city's lowest rate of childhood asthma hospitalizations, and last year the rate dropped even lower, the city Health Department said yesterday.

Asthma is a chronic disease that results in inflamed lungs that can easily get irritated, causing episodes of airway tightening and symptoms such as wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath.

In 2005, 2.5 of every 1,000 Island children were hospitalized with asthma-related problems, down 4 percent from 2004. That is lower than the national rate and compares with 5.4 children out of every 1,000 kids citywide in 2005.

Over the past eight years, the city's rate has declined by 43 percent, but remains higher than the national rate of 3.1 children per 1,000.

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Breathing difficulties some women have after sexual intercourse could be an allergic reaction, doctors in the United States said.

In extreme cases, doctors said, some women experience difficulty breathing and hives after intercourse, ABCNew.com said. If women have an allergy, symptoms usually are milder -- a reddening and swelling of the vaginal area that disappear within a few hours.

Proteins in the semen are the culprits, ABCNews.com said, and using a condom is the simplest treatment. Also an antihistamine, a vagina-specific allergy medication or injections will help, especially if it is a mild reaction. But sufferers must visit their gynecologists to ensure no other infection is present.

This study by Marceau and colleagues reviewed the treatment adherence as well as the effectiveness of combination therapy among adults with asthma. The study notes that the current international, Canadian, and US asthma treatment guidelines, including the Global Initiative for Asthma, call for severity-based management of asthma, employing both symptoms and pulmonary function testing.

The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program guidelines call for the addition of long-acting beta agonists (LABAs) to inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) when asthma is not well controlled using ICSs alone. The authors noted that both LABAs and ICSs have a complementary effect, addressing both bronchoconstriction and underlying airway inflammation. Both LABAs and ICSs may be given either concurrently (ie, with 2 separate inhalers) or in combination (ie, both medications in the same inhaler).

Finally some good news on Allergy treatment. Sublingual Immunotherapy instead of shots. No more skin penetrating and direct injections into the blood. The allergen will go via "normal" way, i.e. the immune system will get proper warning and will act accordingly

"I have to remember to take it every morning," Mrs. Pilarski said. "Other than that, it's very convenient."

Ok, I understand that there's a price to pay for the safe medicine - a need to remember to take it. However, I think it's not that hard.

Anyways, I think this is a great start.

Read more below

Tawnya Shipley has a good reason to spread the word about asthma.

Her 8-year-old son, Trystan Herzog, narrowly escaped brain damage five years ago when he had his first attack of what became chronic asthma.

The family was living on an Air Force base in Japan at the time. On a trip to the grocery store, a friend who was helping Shipley buckle her son into his car seat noticed that the 3-year-old's breathing had become shallow, and he looked pale and tired.

The NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE (Vol. 355, October 5, 2006, No.14), today reported that a new approach to allergy therapy not only reduced the acute allergic responses of individuals with ragweed allergies but also sustained that effect for over 12 months. The novel treatment, called "AIC" in the paper, is a TLR9 agonist linked to ragweed allergen, developed by Dynavax Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq: DVAX).