Articles Archives

March 8, 2011September 16, 2014

Spring Is Here and So Is Spring Allergy Season

Spring is in the air, warm weather is here for many and for others its’ just a few short weeks away. The down side is the airborne allergen levels are going through the roof. The start of Spring for many means the start of suffering through Spring Allergy Season.

Many people think of Mid March and April as the beginning of spring. April truly is the cruelest month for allergy sufferers. April is famous for bringing nasal-assaulting tree pollen along with all those lovely spring flowers.

Killer Spring Allergy Season

If you live in a pollen hot spot like Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte or Hartford, Conn., it may seem like more people than ever are sniffling, sneezing, and suffering because of spring allergies. Ever hear someone say the pollen is killing them? Many feel like they are dying. If you think this allergy season is going to be a killer, Read this article on the Spring Allergy Season. It will explain how to be tested for Spring allergies and what you can do to protect yourself.

Don’t let this Spring allergy season keep you cooped up indoors sneezing and suffering, Get relief!

Wishing you the best of Health

Mike Krause
AllergyStore.com

800 771-2246

January 27, 2011September 30, 2014

UTMB Study Could Lead to New Therapies for Asthma, COPD

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston just released information on a discovery that could lead to new therapies for asthma and improve therapies for the people suffering from asthma and COPD.

Great News.

Role of Goblet Cell Metaplasia

“Using cell culture and laboratory mouse experiments, the researchers showed that the enzyme, aldose reductase, is essential to a process known as goblet cell metaplasia that is seen in both asthma and COPD. In goblet cell metaplasia, exposure to allergens such as pollen, mold
and dust mites initiates a series of biochemical reactions that causes the cells that line the air passages of the lungs to change from their normal state into so-called “goblet cells,” which produce substantial amounts of excess mucus. Healthy individuals’ lungs contain very few goblet cells, but patients who die from asthma — an estimated 5,000
people annually — have significantly higher numbers of these cells.

Aldose Reductase Key to New Therapies for Asthma

“Aldose reductase is key to a whole range of inflammation
disorders, so it comes as no surprise that it should be crucial to the inflammatory processes that drive disease in asthma and COPD,” said UTMB Health biochemistry and molecular biology professor Satish Srivastava, senior author of the paper. “The discovery that aldose reductase
regulates mucus production and goblet cell metaplasia makes inhibition of this enzyme an attractive therapeutic option to reduce mucus-related airway obstructive diseases — and for the first time gives us a real chance to alter the course of the underlying disease in asthma and
COPD.”

You can read the complete article here.

One thing it mentions is the possibility that these new therapies for asthma and COPD may provide an alternative to steroid treatment for patients. I know many of our clients would love to stop taking steroids. So many parents are concerned about the effects long-term steroid use will have on their children.

Wishing you the best of health

Mike Krause

AllergyStore.com

January 21, 2011September 30, 2014

Bed Bugs … One Tuff Critter

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with a customer that had gotten bed bugs in her house compliments of her sister. Her sister had just gotten back from Europe with a stop over in NY and somewhere along the line picked them up. Needless to say they were both grossed out and upset.

The reason I mention it is, this customer blamed the resurgence of bed bugs on the EPA. She felt they have pretty much killed any new pesticides since they banned DDT and today there was an article in WSJ that is all about how bed bugs have become resistant to existing pesticides. I wonder if she knew about this study?

Robert Lee Hotz, WSJ wrote:

“Since the pesticide DDT was banned starting about 40 years ago, people usually have treated bedbug infestations with pesticides based on a family of compounds called pyrethroids, usually deltamethrin or lambda-cyhalothrin, synthetic versions of chemicals found in chrysanthemum blossoms.

There are few chemical alternatives, because the residential market for insecticides is relatively small, and the cost of development, safety tests and regulatory approval is relatively high, several researchers said. Since the bugs don’t transmit any serious infectious diseases, there also is little medical funding to research new control measures.” Read Complete Article

We have know for years the problems of bed bug infestation have been on the rise because we have been selling bed bug mattress covers for years. Two of the mattress cover styles we have sold for dust mites are just as effective against bed bugs.

We remind our customers that it is much better to cover the bedding than spray some sort of poison on it and if the bedding is badly infested to toss it and get new stuff. Once the home has been cleared bring in the new bedding and make sure it has been covered. See our complete line of bed bug covers here.

I know when we travel we never set our stuff on the bed or floor in the hotel and when we get home everything comes into the garage and goes straight into the washing machine. So far that has worked for us.

Wishing you the best of health

Mike Krause
Allergystore.com
800 771-2246

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