|
News from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
Every year the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology holds its annual meeting in November and this year it was in Anaheim, California. As expected it was well attended by scientists and physicians from across the world and there were new topics that were discussed.
Here are a few topics of interest that were discussed:
Asthma: There has been recent suggestion (and data) that shows stopping inhaled steroids on those persons with mild asthma and low doses who are well controlled and have not had any asthma attacks have gone on to do well of their medications. However, people whose asthma is stable and who decide as a result to stop taking their controller inhaled corticosteroid are putting themselves at increased risk for an exacerbation of their disease, researchers said here at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI) 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting. The risk of having an asthma attack is 1 in 3 if discontinuing inhaled steroids vs. 1 in 6, if continuing inhaled steroids in 6 months.
Food Allergy: Most children and adults with egg allergy can tolerate baked foods with egg due to the breakdown by heat of the egg protein. A study also showed that by age 8-10 years most children with egg allergy would be able to tolerate egg.
Spice allergy is a new and increasingly recognized cause of food allergy as more and varied spice is being introduced into the diet. Also spices are used in cosmetics putting women at higher risk of developing a spice allergy. Common spice allergy triggers include cinnamon and garlic, but can range from black pepper to vanilla. Several spice blends contain anywhere from three to 18 spices, and the hotter the spice, the greater the chance for allergy.
Food Immunotherapy: There was great interest in whether oral immunotherapy (oral desensitization) for foods should be carried out based on some anecdotal data. Wesley Burks, a national expert in food allergy made the case that there was no evidence as yet, that tolerance to the food develops after oral immunotherapy and therefore predicting safety of the food would be a serious concern. Therefore, based on the current science we are as yet not ready to provide this service.
Other News from the ACAAI Annual Meeting
Climate change by the year 2040 will result in 1.5-2 times the pollen production based on a study using computer generation by Dr. Leonard Bieleroy, Professor, Rutgers University. Pollen production will even start earlier and peak earlier, according to this model.
Patients who have had an adverse drug reaction in the past, or who have a history of atopy (allergy) including asthma, eczema, or allergic rhinitis, might be at increased risk for more severe adverse drug reactions, according to a study presented here at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting.
This was an interesting meeting with a lot of new treatments and discoveries that will help improve quality of life and produce better treatments in allergic conditions in the next few years.
| 
