Asthma

Hefty toddlers who stay overweight until age seven have an increased risk of asthma, but toddlers who lose the extra pounds before then suffer no additional risk.

Asthma is common in pregnant women, and typically, glucocorticoids are prescribed as treatment. However, a recent study found that mothers who use glucocorticoids during pregnancy may actually increase the risk that their child will have an endocrine and metabolic disorder.

Botulism toxins, already used to treat some nerve disorders as well as wrinkles in the form of Botox, can be re-engineered to potentially treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and psoriasis, a new study finds.

Many children with asthma lose control of their condition after discontinuing therapy with long-acting beta agonists, indicates a small-scale study conducted by researchers at the University of Louisville.

Children who present with symptoms of asthma, such as frequent wheezing, usually are treated by pediatricians with an inhaled steroid, but a recent study found that treating a wheezing child with a daily dose of an inhaler is no different than giving the child increased levels of the steroid at the beginning of a respiratory tract infection.

"The small number of patients that go on to develop chronic rhinosinusitis accumulates to about 15% of the population, making it an important disease," said Dr. Michael A. Kaliner during his lecture on chronic rhinosinusitis.

Although categorizing chronic rhinosinusitis is complex, CRS with or without nasal polyps is one way to initially begin classification. Prolonged duration of RS symptoms (>8-12 weeks) is the primary reason to evaluate patients for CRS. Dr. Meltzer emphasized the need to differentiate CRS from recurrent episodes of ARS.

During his lecture, Dr. Eli O. Meltzer walked his audience through diagnosis and management guidelines of sinusitis/ rhinosinusitis at the ACAAI annual meeting.

During his presentation, Dr. Carlos Camargo reviewed recent studies on the effects of menarche, menopause, and pregnancy on asthma, and described the implications for patients with asthma.

Dr. Leonard B. Bacharier presented a lecture evaluating evidence-based treatments for wheezing and asthma in childhood and adolescence.

Virtually all asthma starts as episodic viral wheeze. Dr. Bush presented results from the Colt-Ashford Study, a community based, all-comers study of 642 babies born.

Dr. Andrew Bush asked his colleagues to consider the possibility that very early airway hyperresponsiveness, not inflammation, initiates asthma.

Pets can cause a variety of health problems for those with sensitivities but there are environmental changes that can help, according to Dana Wallace, MD, PA, associate clinical professor, Nova Southeastern University.

Everyone knows the risks of heart disease and cancer due to smoking but researchers are looking at the association between smoking and allergic disease.

The array of bacteria in the gut biome in the first six months of life provides protective benefits for the rest of life, according to Larry Borish, MD, FACAAI, professor of medicine at the University of Virginia.

The growing market for home air fresheners is impacting respiratory health, according to Stanley Fineman, MD, MBA, president-elect of ACAAI, associate clinical professor department of pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta Allergy & Allergy Clinic.

Early exposure to animals and infections could decrease the tendency to become allergic, according to Thomas A.E. Platts-Mills, MD, PHD, FACAAI, Asthma and Allergic Disease Center, University of Virginia Medical School.

The incidence of allergic disease has risen 50 percent each decade since the 1960s, according to Phillip Lieberman, MD, FACAAI, Clinical Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics (Divisions of Allergy and Immunology) at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine.

During the Ira Finegold Lecture, Thomas B. Casale, MD, FACAAI, professor of medicine at Creghton University School of Medicine, spoke about the role that diet and supplement can have on immune therapy. "For allergies, the immune system could be trained to ignore allergens like pollen and cat dander but still fight bacterial pathogens," he said.

Asthma and allergy patients would benefit from their physician taking a closer look at immunology, said M. Louise Markert, MD, PhD, Associate Professor at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC, during a plenary session at the American College of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology's annual meeting.

A recent study has found that it can be very difficult for children who suffer from both type 1 diabetes and asthma to regulate their blood sugar.

As of December 31st, 2011, asthmatic consumers will be required to rely on prescription inhalers to relieve their breathing troubles.

A recent article in JAMA suggested that children at risk for morbid obesity due to poor parenting may be candidates for state protective services.

Asthma sufferers may respond just as well to placebo treatment as they do to real treatment.

Heightened levels of anxiety, stress, or depression during pregnancy might be connected to an increased risk of asthma for the baby.

Researchers have identified new compounds that may provide relief from shortness of breath for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma.

Young adults with cancer, diabetes, or epilepsy are less likely to graduate high school or have employment compared to their healthy peers.

After participating in an asthma education program, parents were able to reduce their child's symptoms and reduce asthma-related ED visits.

The airways of asthmatics are infected by a complex collection of bacteria, which may improve understanding of the condition and lead to better therapies.

High school students with moderate to severe asthma who participated in an 8-week intervention were able to better manage their symptoms and reduce ER visits.