Feb 23, 2012

Pollutants and Tobacco Smoke

Other environmental factors have attracted the interest of epidemiologists and experimental researchers. Although they do not serve as allergens, these factors are capable of up-regulating existing IgE responses or leading to disease manifestation or aggravation of symptoms. Guinea pig and mouse experiments suggested an increase of allergic sensitization to ovalbumin after experimental exposure to trafficor industry-related pollutants. A strong association between allergic rhinitis caused by cedar pollen allergy and exposure to heavy traffic was reported in Japan.

Important sociodemographic confounders turned out to be problems in interpreting study results. Other investigators were unable to describe any relationship between traffic exposure and the prevalence of hay fever or asthma. The role of tobacco smoke, a complex mixture of various particles and organic compounds, was extensively studied.

Recent review studies consistently demonstrate that the risk of lower airway diseases such as bronchitis, recurrent wheezing in infants, and pneumonia is increased. Whether passive tobacco smoke exposure is causally related to the development of asthma is still disputed.
Until recently, data about the risk of sensitization have been lacking. The prospective birth cohort MAS in Germany suggests that an increased risk of sensitization is found only in children whose mothers smoked up to the end of their pregnancies and continued to smoke after childbirth. In this subgroup of the cohort, a significantly increased sensitization rate of IgE antibodies to food proteins, particularly to hen’s egg and cow’s milk, was observed during infancy.
The effect of environmental tobacco smoke exposure is particularly strong in families with susceptibility for atopy

Allergen Exposure

Exposure to environmental allergens is the most extensively studied potential risk factor for sensitization and manifestation of atopy and asthma. From a number of cross-sectional studies performed in children and adults, it has become obvious that there is a close association between allergen exposure, particularly in the domestic environment, and sensitization to that specific allergen. Longitudinal studies such as the MAS (Multicenter Allergy Study) study in Germany have clearly demonstrated that during the first years of life there is a dose–response relationship between indoor allergen exposure to dust mite and cat allergens and the risk of
sensitization to cat and mites, respectively.

As far as the manifestation of atopic dermatitis and asthma are concerned, the situation is much less clear. Early studies performed by Sporik suggested that exposure of sensitized children to dust mite allergens determines not only the risk of asthma but also the time of the onset of the disease. More recent investigations by the same group, however, suggest that other factors besides allergen exposure are important in determining which children develop asthma.
In a comprehensive meta-analysis, evaluated several environmental factors said to be responsible for the incidence and severity of atopic diseases, particularly asthma. After comparing the strengths of the various effects, she concluded that on the basis of the literature, indoor allergen exposure is the environmental component with by far the strongest impact on the manifestation of asthma. In recent years, however, the paradigm that exposure induces asthma with airway inflammation via sensitization has been challenged. In several countries, the prevalence of asthma in children has been increasing independent of allergen exposure.

Data sets obtained from the MAS birth cohort suggest that while domestic allergen exposure is a strong determinant for early sensitization in childhood, it cannot be The Allergy Epidemic: A Look into the Future considered as a primary cause of airway hyper-responsiveness or asthmatic symptoms, since during the first 3 years of life the manifestation of wheeze is not related to elevated serum IgE levels or specific sensitization. Studies following up birth cohorts to adolescence have recently indicated that 90% of children with wheeze but without atopy lose their symptoms at school age and retain normal lung function in puberty. By contrast, sensitization to perennial allergens (house dust mites, cats, and dogs) developing in the first 3 years of life was associated with a loss of lung function at school age. Concomitant exposure to high levels of perennial allergens early in life aggravates this process. Such exposure also enhances the development of airway hyper-responsiveness in sensitized children with wheeze.
From these data, it can be concluded that impairment of lung function during school age is determined by continuing allergic airway inflammation beginning in the first 3 years of life.

A number of intervention studies to examine the effects of indoor allergen elimination on the incidence of asthma are currently being performed in cohorts followed prospectively from birth. The results will have a strong impact on public health policies because they will determine whether considering indoor allergen elimination as an important element of primary prevention of various atopic manifestations is meaningful. Even if the result is that other factors play major parts in determining whether an atopic child will develop asthma, so that allergen elimination as a measure of primary prevention is inefficient, reduction of allergen exposure will still remain as a very important element in secondary prevention.

Feb 21, 2012

The Atopic March

The term “atopic march” refers to the natural history of atopic manifestations, characterized
by the typical sequences of immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody responses and clinical symptoms that appear during a certain age period, persist over years and decades, and often show a tendency for spontaneous remission with time.

Prospective cohort studies have shown that sensitization to food allergens occurs usually during the first months of life with the antibody response to cow’s milk and hen’s egg occurring most frequently. Sensitization against inhalant allergens usually develops after the first 2 years of life. Most of these children will develop IgE responses to a wide array of environmental allergens such as house dust mites, animal dander, and pollen.

Specific patterns of atopic sensitization are associated with certain atopic illnesses. Atopic eczema is primarily related to IgE responses to dietary allergen, while individuals with allergic rhinitis tend to become sensitized to seasonal outdoor allergens. Specific IgE responses in asthmatic children are usually directed against perennial and indoor allergen such as house dust mites. Several studies have shown that early sensitization during infancy is a predictor for the persistence of childhood asthma until adolescence.

In the German Multicenter Allergy Study, food sensitization before age 1 to 2 years with or without concurrent inhalant sensitization was a strong predictor for the development of asthma and airway hyper-responsiveness until school age.
Our understanding of the determinants of the natural history of allergic diseases is limited. Although a strong genetic basis for atopy and asthma has been described and several genes have been identified, which are associated with different phenotypes, a variety of modifiable environmental and lifestyle factors have been discovered in the past, which might offer future options for primary prevention.

Feb 13, 2012

How Do Steroids Treat Allergies?

Many people in the U.S. suffers from hay fever. Steroid medications don't just make life easier; they are lifesaving and are normally prescribed to be used as needed.
Sterois are also prescribed after a life-threatening health scare, such as an anaphylactic reaction.

There are several types of steroid medications, including but not limited to Prednisone, Nasacort, Nasonex, Flonase, AeroBid, Pulmicort and Beclovent.

Food and environmental allergies are both immune system responses, one to food and the other to pollens, dust and mold spores. Steroid medications suppress the immune system response, therefore minimizing inflammation, pain and discomfort.


Side effects of anabolic steroids can include weight gain, fluid retention, mood swings, increased risk of infection, suppressed adrenal gland hormone production and increased blood pressure. It is highly recommended that people on corticosteroids stay away from those with contagious infections.

Feb 2, 2012

The Allergy Epidemic: A Look into the Future

U. Wahn


Over the past decades, the increasing rates of allergic conditions among affluent societies have posed a heavy burden on healthcare systems. Cross-sectional studies such as the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) have confirmed that atopic diseases such as atopic dermatitis, asthma, and seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis represent major health problems in many countries, particularly in childhood.

During the past 2 decades, two general hypotheses have been proposed in the literature in connection with the observed increases of atopy and asthma in childhood:
- New risk factors that were not known several decades ago might have become relevant in connection with nutrition, environmental exposure, and lifestyle. Protective factors related to a more traditional lifestyles common in the past might have been lost, which could have led to increased susceptibility to atopic diseases.

Allergic diseases are increasing in prevalence worldwide

Allergic diseases are increasing in prevalence worldwide, in industrialized as well as industrializing countries, affecting from 10%–50% of the global population with a marked impact on the quality of life of patients and with substantial costs. Thus, allergy can be rightfully considered an epidemic of the twenty-first century, a global public health problem, and a socioeconomic burden. With the projected increase in the world’s population, especially in the rapidly growing economies, it is predicted to worsen as this century moves forward.

Allergies are also becoming more complex. Patients frequently have multiple allergic disorders that involve multiple allergens and a combination of organs through which allergic diseases manifest. Thus exposure to aeroallergens or ingested allergens frequently gives rise to a combination of upper and lower airways disease, whereas direct contact or ingestion leads to atopic dermatitis with or without food allergy.

Food allergy, allergic drug responses and anaphylaxis are often severe and can be life-threatening. However, even the less severe allergic diseases can have a major adverse effect on the health of hundreds of millions of patients and diminish quality of life and work productivity. The need of the hour to combat these issues is to promote a better understanding of the science of allergy and clinical immunology through research, training and dissemination of information and evidence-based better practice parameters.