Use of herbal remedies results in poorer quality of life and increased frequency of symptoms in asthma patients, according to a study published this month in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).
“Results indicate patients using herbal remedies are less likely to take [...]

Many children who test positive for sensitivity to peanuts may not actually have full-blown allergies to the food, a new study suggests.
UK researchers found that among 79 8-year-olds who were deemed peanut- sensitive by standard allergy testing, only 7 turned out to have true allergies when they underwent more-extensive testing that is less commonly used [...]

Holding off on introducing certain foods in order to prevent children from becoming allergic to them may be counterproductive.
Researchers from Finland found that children introduced to certain foods later were more likely to become sensitized to them, increasing their risk of developing full-blown allergies.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and other authorities on child health recommend [...]

As flu season got underway this fall, Dr. Catherine Monteleone, an allergist, noticed that her office started to receive an unusually high number of calls from people with egg allergy. They previously had avoided flu vaccines because of their sensitivity to eggs. This year, with all the attention being paid to the novel H1N1 influenza, [...]

Improved home ventilation that dehumidifies the air may make it easier for people with asthma to breathe at night, hint findings of a small study from the United Kingdom.
In theory, lowering indoor humidity should lower concentrations of moisture-loving dust mites - a major trigger for asthma-related breathing problems.
To test this, Dr. Neil C. Thomson, at [...]

Less restrictive dietary options, better detection, targeted avoidance measures, educational directives and potential new therapies are improving food allergy management and giving hope to the more than 12 million Americans affected according to experts at the thirteenth international food allergy conference held during the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology [...]

A University of Adelaide study may have shed light on the rise in childhood asthma in developed countries like Australia in recent decades.
Researchers from the University’s Robinson Institute have identified a link between folic acid supplements taken in late pregnancy and allergic asthma in children aged between 3 and 5 years, suggesting that the timing [...]

Zinc deficiency may play a role in the development of extrinsic or allergic asthma. Researchers from India evaluated serum zinc levels and absolute eosinophil count in 96 cases of asthma (61 patients had intrinsic asthma and 35 had extrinsic asthma). Patients who suffered from any comorbid illness were excluded from the study. Results showed that [...]

People with difficult-to-control asthma are often not taking their anti-asthma medication as prescribed by their doctor, new study findings indicate.
Even when prescribed high doses of steroids, about 5 percent of adults with asthma remain difficult to control, with persistent symptoms and frequent flare-ups, Dr. Liam G. Heaney at Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and [...]

Black and Hispanic children with asthma are less likely than their white counterparts to be taking daily medication meant to prevent asthma attacks, a U.S. study shows.
The findings, published in the medical journal Chest, suggest one reason for the generally poorer asthma control among minority children.
The study found that among 1,485 asthmatic children from four [...]