September brings the start of another academic year. After a relaxing summer in the sun, adults often feel a vicarious urge in the autumn to learn new things or to change habits. Whether it is now or with the New Year’s resolutions of December-January, the topic that is among the top tier of things to want to change is to lose...
In March, I wrote that the view of the role of intestinal bacteria in allergic diseases has evolved from disdain and scorn in the 1990s to current ‘rational exuberance’ (to paraphrase a term from Alan Greenspan—former chairperson of the Federal Reserve). Health care professionals and scientists refer to the intestinal bacteria as the...
Last July, I wrote about food oral immunotherapy (OIT) with the focus on currently available and potentially available options for peanut allergy. As of this month, only protocols adapted from academic medical centers have been an option and are used by just some of the allergists in clinical practice. Over the past year, approval of...
I did not expect that I would be writing about this, but some patients have asked me this allergy season whether antihistamines are safe to use because they either heard or read that antihistamines could cause dementia. As antihistamines have been a mainstay of treating nasal/sinus allergy symptoms for many decades, avoiding them would...
A majority of adults with asthma believe their symptoms are well-controlled. Asthma symptoms are viewed by them as a normal part of their life. Asthma symptoms can include: Shortness of breath Wheezing Persistent cough Chest pain Trouble sleeping Daytime fatigue Asthma can change over time, with the seasons and with circumstances. Many...
Springtime for Chicago has arrived—as I think we have to define it in our area as finally no snow and no temperature below 40° in the 7-day forecasts. It’s also time for those who have seasonal allergies to ask about whether there are newer and better treatments. In spring 2014, the FDA approved the sale of tablets that could...