May is National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month and, though many parents deal with their kids’ allergies year-round, it’s a time for education on the subject. One allergic reaction to food, fabric, grass, pollen, environmental factors, etc. is eczema, which recent statistics show develops in one out of ten children before the age of five…

A review of previous research indicates that there are few high-quality studies on food allergies, with limited uniform criteria for making a diagnosis and determining prevalence and effective treatments, according to an article in the May 12 issue of JAMA. Food allergies can have significant harmful effects on family economics, social interactions, school and work attendance and health-related quality of life. “However, currently licensed treatments target only the symptoms of reactions and anaphylaxis [severe allergic reaction], not the allergies themselves,” the authors write…

As part of their ongoing partnership and effort to encourage everyone to experience great outdoor moments and our national parks, the makers of BENADRYL® and the National Park Foundation today announced the launch of an exciting new online competition series on MSN called “Race to the Moment.” Hosted by Animal Planet’s Jeff Corwin, “Race to the Moment”tests the outdoor skills and teamwork of two families as they compete against each other in a series of physical and mental challenges…

While spring storms get comprehensive coverage during weather casts, a close look at local allergy indexes make the thunder and lightning seem downright puny. Those who struggle with asthma and allergies are already dealing with staggering amounts of pollen. According to SLUCare allergist, Raymond Slavin, M.D., it’s going to get a whole lot worse. “In my 44-years in St. Louis, I have never seen a more severe tree pollen season,” said Slavin, who is also a professor of internal medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine…

Record snow, heavy early spring rains, followed by a rapid warm up have created the perfect storm for allergy season. But allergists from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology can offer ways to help people find relief. “It’s one of the worst seasons we have seen for tree pollens, but there’s no reason to suffer, you can get relief,” said allergist Dr. Sami Bahna, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI)…

A team led by St. Jude researchers identified a gene pivotal for immune system balance. Ultimately, the discovery may aid efforts to tame allergies and asthma. Named Mina, the gene is part of a signaling pathway that may provide novel targets for new treatments and provide further insights into the disease-fighting immune system, explained Mark Bix, Ph.D., Immunology. Bix is senior author of the paper published in Nature Immunology. A healthy immune system requires balance. Bix is focused on the balance of two specialized cells in one branch of the immune system…

The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology will help adults and children to find out if they are at risk for asthma through its Nationwide Asthma Screening Program. More than 200 screenings will take place across the country this year. “Often people who cough or get short of breath when they exercise don’t think of themselves as at risk for asthma. The same goes for people who have a cough at night or get a cold that settles in their chest,” said allergist John Winder, M.D., chair of the Nationwide Asthma Screening Program. (Dr. Winder is available for interviews..

Itchy throat, watery eyes and runny noses are what those with allergies and asthma will feel today, according to Dr. Joseph Leija, allergist, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, and the creator of the official allergy count of the Midwest. The Gottlieb Allergy Count, the official allergy count of the Midwest, started today and Dr. Leija reported “Trees, Moderate and Mold, Low ” in English and Spanish through Twitter, the Gottlieb Allergy Hotline (1-866-4-POLLEN and 1-866-ALERGIA) and at the Gottlieb Web site, http://www.GottliebHospital.org…

The hunter-gatherers who inhabited the southern coast of Scandinavia 4,000 years ago were lactose intolerant. This has been shown by a new study carried out by researchers at Uppsala University and Stockholm University. The study, which has been published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, supports the researchers’ earlier conclusion that today’s Scandinavians are not descended from the Stone Age people in question but from a group that arrived later…

Although they emerged more than 90 years apart, the influenza viruses responsible for the pandemics of 1918 and 2009 share a structural detail that makes both susceptible to neutralization by the same antibodies. Scientists led by Gary J. Nabel, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, describe the molecular basis for this shared vulnerability and suggest how it might be exploited to design vaccines matched to future pandemic influenza virus strains…