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Extreme Allergy Control – Taking it Beyond the Limit

Talk about extreme allergy control! I was shocked to read today about a lady in Toronto that has asked her community to cut down the oak trees next to the school because her two children have nut allergies.

That’s right, nut allergies. You can read the entire article here Mother Wants Trees Cut Down.

At first I thought there must be a mistake. Why would you cut down oak trees because of nut allergies? Unless your children think they are squirrels, they aren’t going to be eating the acorns. Did she mistakenly believe that the acorns could be inhaled and make her children sick? What kind of uninformed extreme allergy control measure could this be?

No, turns out not only does she know better, she is the head of the school’s Allergy Committee. She is afraid that the acorns could be used to “bully and torment children”. Bully and torment with acorns? If this is her greatest fear, then she needs a serious reality check.

I’m a Mom. I understand protecting your children. Honestly, I tried to protect my kids even if I did let them drink out of the water hose and make mud pies. I tried to protect them from real and present dangers. Look both ways before you cross the street. Swim in pairs. Wear your helmet when you ride your bike. Don’t take candy from strangers. Don’t take candy from people you know unless it is chocolate and you are going to share with Mom.

My kids had allergies and I tried to control their exposure as much as possible. Some people might think I used extreme allergy control measures because I had no carpeting in my home and ran air cleaners in each bedroom. But that doesn’t mean that I asked people to remove the carpeting from their house lest someone bully my child by rubbing their face in the carpet.

Let’s just be reasonable, shall we?

Til Next Time!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store

Avoid Ticks – Here’s Another Reason

We know ticks carry disease. If you live in the Southeastern United States, you know to avoid ticks. You are particularly aware of the risks of Lyme disease as well as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. (As an aside, why do they call it “Rocky Mountain” when you are more apt to find it in the Appalachian or other eastern mountains and not the Rockies? But I digress).

Well, researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia (Susan Wolver, MD, Diane Sun, MD, and others) have discovered another reason to avoid ticks. Their research indicates that the bite of a Lone Star tick (named for the spot on its middle, not its location in the Lone Star state) can cause subsequent anaphylaxis when eating red meat.

What is even more interesting is that the IgE antibodies are as a result of the carbohydrate alpha-gal. This is the first time a carbohydrate as been identified as an allergy trigger. All other triggers are proteins. Further complicating matters, these people have a negative skin prick test to meat. This makes making a diagnosis even more difficult. As if diagnosis weren’t tricky enough, the symptoms occur between three to six hours after exposure, much longer than usual for food allergy. All because you forgot to avoid ticks!

Read all about it here in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

If you are outside in wooded areas or fields, be sure to check carefully when you come inside for ticks. Ticks like to hide in folds of skin. They should be removed so that the entire tick is removed, and the head is not left behind. But of course you know this, you just didn’t know the link between tick bites and allergy to red meat. That is until now. Yet another reason to avoid ticks.

Until next time!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store

Vitamin D for Asthma

Studies by National Jewish Health and a study, published in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, both suggest that Vitamin D plays a significant role in how severe asthma symptoms may be and how some people respond to medication. Don’t be surprised if you start hearing recommendations to take Vitamin D for asthma control.

Low levels of vitamin D in people who have asthma show signs of reduce lung function and less response to medication.

In another recent study Dr. Mitsuyoshi Urashima, of Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, found vitamin D also appeared to suppress attacks in children with a history of asthma. Two children taking vitamin D had asthma attacks during the study, compared to 12 children taking placebo.

Urashima admitted to being a bit surprised by this finding and hopes to confirm it in a randomized trial targeting children with asthma. The results showed that people with higher vitamin D levels had better lung function measures than people with lower vitamin D levels. In particular, people with low vitamin D performed worse on tests of lung function and airway hyper-responsiveness, two hallmarks of asthma.

Researchers say vitamin D levels were directly related to the participants’ score on the breathing tests: the lower the vitamin D levels, the worse their performance. Yet another reason to consider Vitamin D for asthma control.

How much vitamin D is needed? Current recommendations for vitamin D supplements for adults is 400 IU to 600 IU, depending on age, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Better yet, try getting it naturally. Sunlight, fatty fish and fish oils are great sources of vitamin D.

As always, make sure you check with your doctor first.