The Jacksonville AllerGIST!
Food Allergies and Bullies: A troublesome combination
One way that we as physicians stay current with the latest scientific/medical advances is through the methodical review of medical journals—we need to read a lot. Some of the articles are enlightening and directly translate to enhanced patient care, while others are more esoteric and not immediately clinically applicable. But one article published in the…
Read MorePoison Ivy Breakthrough on the Horizon
It only takes contact with 0.04th of a drop of poison ivy oil to cause an very uncomfortable and outright painful skin rash. The fundamental problem with the plant’s oil is that it is entirely invisible on our skin. Researchers are now developing a clever way to help avoid the toxic aftermath of poison ivy contact. Read…
Read MoreJacksonville Allergies on the Rise
Spring time is not the only allergy season that causes problems for seasonal allergy sufferers. The recent rains and humidity in Jacksonville have produced an abundance of weed pollen and mold spores in our area. First Coast News visited Allergy & Asthma Specialists of North Florida and interviewed Dr. DeMarco who discussed some practical ways to…
Read MoreAllergy and Asthma Back-to-School Tips
Children with allergies and asthma have headed back to school and we have been seeing an increased amount of our pediatric patients coming in with loss of asthma control and worsening allergies. Here is a nice article from the America College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology that offers tips for keeping our allergic and…
Read MoreFlu Shot and Egg Allergies
Flu season it on its way to the greater Jacksonville area. So it’s important that we all protect ourselves from the seasonal respiratory virus with the flu vaccine. The flu vaccine has contained traces of (hen’s) egg protein for years and therefore people with egg allergies were historically excluded from receiving the flu shot. But…
Read MoreAllergy Myth of the Month: I can’t be allergic to my “hypo-allergenic” dog, can I?
We hear this question quite a bit, and the answer is YES! Researchers from the Henry Ford Health System (Detroit) and Georgia Health Sciences University conducted a study in 2011 that shed light on this very question. In the study, the researchers measured the levels of major dog allergen (Can f 1) in homes inhabited by “hypoallergenic” dogs…
Read MoreLike Mother Like Daughter, Like Father Like Son!
By: Dr. Thomas Lupoli … at least when it comes to childhood allergies and asthma. We’ve know for years that children inherit allergic diseases from their parents, but we didn’t realize (more importantly) that allergies are actually inherited based on ‘gender.’ New research out of England has discovered that a child is much more likely to develop…
Read MoreA Mango Salsa Mystery
A 37 year-old mother of four children experiences an intensely, itchy and blistering rash on both hands hours after preparing her famous “mango salsa”, which contained lime juice, fresh mangoes, tomatoes, cilantro and onions. Interestingly, the rash looks identical to the itchy blisters that appeared on her hands months ago after she accidently handled poison ivy in…
Read MoreA Victory for Children with Food Allergies
This past January, a first-grade girl in Virginia who was allergic to peanuts died at school from a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) after she was given peanuts by another child. This story was heartbreaking on many levels, but the true poverty was that she did not receive life-saving epinephrine because she did not have access…
Read MoreAn Unusual Type of Food Allergy
Can the bite from a tick cause you to become severely allergic to your favorite steak or smoked ribs? The answer is… absolutely yes! In this recent article from Allergic Living Magazine, John Grisham shares his real-life mystery experience with a newly described, delayed food allergy to meats that starts with a tick bite. http://allergicliving.com/index.php/2012/04/10/profile-author-john-grishams-allergy-mystery/ The story behind how the tick-meat…
Read More