Time for Spring Cleaning!

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Allergy & Asthma Associates of Southern California

During this spring, it can be great for your overall health to do a spring cleaning of your home!  For those of you who are sensitive to allergens that are indoors, allergy “season” is one that lasts all year round, but your symptoms may worsen when the tree pollen comes in the springtime.

Recently, the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI) put together some tips to help you effectively reduce allergen in the home and to avoid letting more allergen in!

I have summarized below a brief overview of the tips.  You can find more detailed information on the ACAAI website.

1) Close the windows. This might seem counterintuitive since most people think that opening the windows will let the fresh air in.  For those who are allergic to tree pollen, this can lead to pollen particles entering your home.

2) Scrub away the mold.  Your bathrooms, basements and areas that are tiled can be especially prone to mold. The key to reducing mold is moisture control. Scrub any visible mold from surfaces with detergent and water, and completely dry. You can also help ward off mold by keeping home humidity below 60 percent.

3) Love your pet but reduce their dander.   You can reduce pet allergens by vacuuming frequently and washing upholstery, including your pet’s bed. Also make sure you keep your pet out of the bedroom at all times to ensure you can sleep without burying your face in what you are allergic to!

4) Clean the entire house! Cleaning the entire house from top to bottom may take days. But you can get a head start by changing your air filters every three months and using filters with a MERV rating of 11 or 12. Wash bedding and stuffed animals weekly.

5) Avoid the outdoors during peak pollen count times. As the grass turns green and flowers bud, it’s hard to neglect the outdoors during your spring cleaning routine. It’s best to avoid being outdoors when pollen counts are highest (mid-day and afternoon hours). When mowing and gardening, be sure to wear gloves and a N95 particulate pollen mask (Centers for Disease Control (CDC) NIOSH rated).  You can also download our App (we have our very own App for our practice!) and from it you can easily check pollen counts from where you are!

If you have any questions regarding exactly what you are allergic to and how to reduce your exposure to those allergens, please see your board certified allergist for a personalized treatment plan to get you feeling better!

-Faith Huang, M.D.

Allergy & Asthma Associates of Southern California provides relief from allergies, asthma, sinus problems, chronic cough and other related conditions. Dr. William E. Berger, Dr. Warner W. Carr, Dr. Mark S. Sugar, Dr. Christina D. Schwindt, and Dr. Faith R. Huang together with their staff specialize in allergy and immunology in Southern California.

If you or your child is suffering from any type of  allergy, please call us at (949) 364-2900 to schedule your appointment today. You can also use our online Request an Appointment form to schedule a future appointment.

 

Posted in "Do you have", Allergic Rhinitis, Allergies, Severe Allergies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Time for Spring Cleaning!

New Medication Approved for Chronic Hives!

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Allergy & Asthma Associates of Southern California

(Omalizumab approved by the FDA for Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria)

Chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) is a skin disease where patients get red and itchy hives that come and go for more than 6 weeks.  About 40% of CIU patients also experience angioedema, which is when there is swelling in the deep layers of the skin.

There are many different causes of hives including viruses, allergic reactions to specific foods, drugs, and insects, as well as other specific triggers, so it’s important to see your board certified allergist for an accurate diagnosis!  The allergist, after taking your history, doing a comprehensive physical exam and the tests that are appropriate for your situation, will determine if you have CIU.

In general, the first step in the treatment of CIU after it has been diagnosed is antihistamines.  If this works, it will help suppress the hives and the swelling. Unfortunately, for up to ½ of the patients with CIU, this does not work!  This is bad news for the up to 1% of the world’s population who suffers from CIU, including the 1.5 million people in the U.S. who have this condition.

Omalizumab (Xolair®) is a targeted therapy that binds to Immunoglobulin E (IgE), the “allergic antibody”.  It is currently used as a treatment for persistent asthma.  The recent FDA approval was mainly based on the results of two major studies (ASTERIA I and II), which studied patients who did not respond to approved doses of antihistamines.  The study showed that omalizumab significantly improved hives and itchiness, and in many patients completely cleared the symptoms.  The quality of life was also significantly improved for patients treated with omalizumab, as CIU can be associated with depression and anxiety.

If you are someone who suffers from chronic hives, please see your board certified allergist for an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan!  There are new things happening in the field that could significantly change your quality of life.

-by Faith Huang, M.D.

Allergy & Asthma Associates of Southern California provides relief from allergies, asthma, sinus problems, chronic cough and other related conditions. Dr. William E. Berger, Dr. Warner W. Carr, Dr. Mark S. Sugar, Dr. Christina D. Schwindt, and Dr. Faith R. Huang together with their staff specialize in allergy and immunology in Southern California.

If you or your child is suffering from hives or any other type of  allergy, please call us at (949) 364-2900 to schedule your appointment today. You can also use our online Request an Appointment form to schedule a future appointment.

Posted in "Do you have", Allergies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on New Medication Approved for Chronic Hives!

Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergy

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Allergy & Asthma Associates of Southern California

Oral immunotherapy for food allergy has gotten a lot of attention recently. It has been something that has intrigued patients, parents of food allergic children as well and allergists as a potential future therapy. Currently, the standard of care for patients with food allergy is strict avoidance of the trigger food(s).

Oral immunotherapy, or OIT, requires patients to start consuming a tiny amount and subsequently consume a larger and larger amount of the food to which they are allergic until their bodies become desensitized to it.  Oral immunotherapy patients generally start consuming the biggest serving they can tolerate without a reaction (which is sometimes a dose as little as 1/10,000th of an egg) and slowly build up from there over the course of months. Once they reach their target dose (generally what would be considered a normal portion size such as a peanut butter sandwich), patients must eat the food on a daily basis to keep their bodies from regaining the allergy. This is called the state of desensitization.

While oral immunotherapy has shown promise in clinical trials, it remains experimental. Some researchers have criticized those in clinical practice for making OIT available too soon, before more rigorous studies have been completed to assess its safety and effectiveness.  This is definitely a controversial topic in our field today, but I always think it is a good thing when 2 groups of very smart physicians challenge each other and really think about how we will progress as a specialty to help our patients in the safest and most beneficial way.

I have many patients and friends ask me my personal opinion on OIT.  I think that OIT for the treatment of food allergies is promising. Many studies have showed that OIT can desensitize the majority of patients who undergo it. My main hope is that there will be more data in the future regarding if OIT can induce a state of tolerance. Tolerance is different than desensitization.   When you are in the state of desensitization, you need to eat that amount of food protein on a daily basis to keep being in the state of desensitization. Tolerance is when you can eat the food whenever you feel like it. If you go a few days, or months without eating the food, the next time you choose to eat it you will be fine. With desensitization, if you skip a few days of eating the food, it is possible you would have an allergic reaction to the food the next time you eat that food.  I definitely believe that OIT is promising, but so far it is not clear to me if it would actually “cure” food allergy versus keeping you in a desensitized state where daily consumption is necessary.

There are risks to OIT. There are allergic reactions that can occur when you are going through the process of oral immunotherapy.

The research studies will continue and the debate will go on regarding OIT, which in the end will benefit the food allergic patient.

If you have any questions regarding research on food allergy, whether it is OIT or other modalities, please ask one of the board certified allergists at Allergy and Asthma Associates of Southern California!

-Faith Huang, M.D.

Allergy & Asthma Associates of Southern California provides relief from allergies, asthma, sinus problems, chronic cough and other related conditions. Dr. William E. Berger, Dr. Warner W. Carr, Dr. Mark S. Sugar, Dr. Christina D. Schwindt, and Dr. Faith R. Huang together with their staff specialize in allergy and immunology in Southern California.

If you or your child is suffering from a food allergy or any other type of  allergy, please call us at (949) 364-2900 to schedule your appointment today. You can also use our online Request an Appointment form to schedule a future appointment.

Posted in Food Allergy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergy

What’s causing this rash?

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Allergy & Asthma Associates of Southern California

As allergists, we see many patients with rashes of all types.   There are many different causes of rashes, and one type has been in the news lately–a preservative found in many popular wet wipes and baby wipes has been determined as the cause of allergic contact dermatitis in some children. Allergic contact dermatitis is caused by exposure to a substance or material to which the patient has become extra sensitive or allergic.  Although a reaction to a substance may not first happen when the patient is first exposed to it, regular use can eventually cause sensitivity and a skin reaction to the product.

The skin reactions from the wipes that have been recently reported have ranged from disfiguring patches to crusting, swelling, blistering and tiny cracks in the mouth, cheek, hands and/or buttocks of young patients.  Recently, researchers have reported that all of the skin reactions involved certain brands of wipes.  The children were between the ages of 3 and 8, and none were wearing diapers.

The brands of wipes that have caused the rashes contain a well-known preservative, called methylisothiazolinone (MI), a chemical that is found in roughly half of all the wipes sold in the United States.

In the latest cases of skin reactions that have been reported, standard antibiotic and steroid cream treatments were initially given for what doctors had incorrectly diagnosed as one of a number of common skin conditions. These treatments didn’t work, but when the children stopped using the wipes, their skin recovered.

The rashes were proven to be caused by the preservative by patch testing, a method of putting various substances on the skin using a sticker-like sample, and seeing how the skin reacts.

The board certified allergist can help determine if someone has allergic contact dermatitis to a number of different substances.  We would start by taking a detailed history, doing a thorough physical exam, then determine if patch testing would be appropriate in helping determine the cause of the rash!

 

-Faith Huang

Allergy & Asthma Associates of Southern California provides relief from allergies, asthma, sinus problems, chronic cough and other related conditions. Dr. William E. Berger, Dr. Warner W. Carr, Dr. Mark S. Sugar, Dr. Christina D. Schwindt, and Dr. Faith R. Huang together with their staff specialize in allergy and immunology in Southern California.

If you or your child is suffering from allergic contact dermatitis or any other type of  allergy, please call us at (949) 364-2900 to schedule your appointment today. You can also use our online Request an Appointment form to schedule a future appointment.

Posted in "Do you have", Allergies, Humanitarian Involvement, Severe Allergies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on What’s causing this rash?

Pregnancy: to eat nuts or not to eat nuts?

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Allergy & Asthma Associates of Southern California

One of the most common questions I get from expectant mothers is if she should eat nuts or avoid them during pregnancy, to avoid her future baby having food allergies.   I asked the same question during my own pregnancy 3 years ago, and my training in pediatrics and allergy did not necessarily help me decide, as there were different scientific papers pointing in both directions and the evidence was mixed.

When I did my pediatric training, we were taught to have mothers with a family history of allergies to avoid peanuts.  However, in 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reversed its advice regarding pregnancy diets in mothers with a family history of allergies.  The AAP now longer suggests avoiding peanut. The results of studies on this question have been mixed, but most suggest a “healthy” diet is helpful to reduce allergy risks, but that the avoidance of specific allergenic foods is not necessary.

A recent study published in JAMA Pediatrics last week supports the idea that among mothers without peanut or tree nut allergies, eating peanuts or tree nuts during pregnancy was not a risk factor for these allergies.  The study suggests that it may actually be protective. In contrast, mothers with peanut or tree nut allergies consuming nuts they could ingest had a slightly, but in scientific statistical terms, “non-significant”, increase infant allergy risks.

Although the new study may suggest that eating nuts is helpful to prevent allergies, the authors admit there are limitations to the study and that they are not specifically recommending this as an approach. In an interview with the Boston Globe, study coauthor Dr. Michael Young, an allergy and immunology specialist at Boston Children’s, said “We can’t make a recommendation based on our findings that women should eat nuts during pregnancy to protect against allergies in their newborns. But we can say that pregnant women should no longer be fearful of eating nuts.”

It is important to recognize that we definitely need further studies regarding this topic, and that a recommendation to eat nuts or not to eat nuts may differ depending on the specific person.  For example, it is likely important to consider if the patient has food allergies herself.  It is important to discuss your specific case with your board certified allergist/immunologist.  We may say that the evidence it still mixed, but can help guide you in a rational and evidence based way.

 

-Faith Huang, M.D.

Allergy & Asthma Associates of Southern California provides relief from allergies, asthma, sinus problems, chronic cough and other related conditions. Dr. William E. Berger, Dr. Warner W. Carr, Dr. Mark S. Sugar, Dr. Christina D. Schwindt, and Dr. Faith R. Huang together with their staff specialize in allergy and immunology in Southern California.

If you or your child is suffering from a peanut allergy or any other kind of allergy, please call us at (949) 364-2900 to schedule your appointment today. You can also use our online Request an Appointment form to schedule a future appointment.

 

 

Posted in "Do you have", Allergies, Food Allergy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Pregnancy: to eat nuts or not to eat nuts?
Copyright © 2024 Practice Builders Healthcare Marketing Agency and Allergy & Asthma Associates of Southern California. All rights reserved.