Allergies Blog

As an allergist, I often find that treatments for allergies in young children are limited, and parents want to minimize the amount of medication their kids take. Many low-sedating antihistamines, such as Zyrtec, Clarinex and Allegra, are indicated for children as young as 6 months of age. There are two other nasal steroids, Nasonex and Veramyst, have been shown to be safe and effective for children as young as 2 years of age.

Nasacort AQ is nasal steroid that is effective for the treatment of nasal allergies due to pollens, pet dander, dust mite and mold. Nasal steroids are the single best allergy medication for most people, as these medications are also effective for the treatment of eye allergies, nasal polyps, and helpful for the treatment and prevention of sinus infections.

A recent study released show that the inhaled medication Spiriva, used to treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD), is not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular deaths. This announcement was made in response to another recent studypublished in the Annals of Internal Medicine, showing that ipratropium, another inhaled medication used to treat COPD and asthma, was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular deaths in people with newly diagnosed COPD.

These reports follow a report by the Food and Drug Administration that Spiriva increases the risk of stroke in some people. This is the most recent report of many regarding concerns for side effects from medications used to treat asthma and COPD.

Learn more:

• Advair and Asthma Death
• Xolair and Anaphylaxis
• Singulair and Suicide

Tired of waiting for your allergy shots to start working? Rapid build-up schedules for allergy shots, including rush and cluster immunotherapy, provide ways to get your dosage to a therapuetic range quickly. Unfortunately, both forms of rapid build-up involve a bigger time commitment up front, as well as a higher chance of allergic reactions. However, many allergists are experienced with these forms of immunotherapy, which provide people quicker benefit for their allergy symptoms.

The American Lung Association (ALA) sponsored a recent study that sought to determine a true link between Singulair, a common medication used to treat allergies and asthma, and suicidal thoughts or tendencies. The original concern for a link between Singulair and suicide was announced by the Food and Drug Administration in March 2008 after there were several reports of people attempting suicide while taking Singulair.

This new study reassessed the emotional well-being of 569 people taking Singulair in three previously performed studies, and found no evidence of emotional distress in neither adults or children taking Singulair. In fact, because Singulair is known to treat allergies and asthma, people taking Singulair actually had improvement in their emotional well-being.

The FDA has yet to comment, and I would personally be surprised if the FDA would agree with this study that there is no evidence for a link between Singulair and suicide.

Are you planning on that one last summer trip this weekend? Biting and stinging insects think that summer is still in full-swing, and can't wait to come into contact with you. From mosquito bites to stinging ants to hotel bedbugs, learn how to prevent these various insects from ruining your end-of-the summer getaway.

Learn more:

• Mosquito Allergies
• Bedbug Allergies
• Fireant Allergies

The past week or so, I've been getting my fill of watching the Olympics at night, and am tired just watching all of those athletes exercise. Many people have excuses for not exercising: Not enough time, too tired, not in the mood, gym too expensive. Some people may say, half jokingly, that they are "allergic" to exercise. Is this like saying you're "allergic" to work? Or "allergic" to your spouse? Maybe not - it is possible to be allergic to exercise. Or, at least, experience allergic reactions as a result of exercising:

• Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis
• Exercise-Induced Asthma
• Exercise-Induced Hives (Cholinergic Urticaria)

Summertime already seems to be coming to a close. Many kids are headed back to school in the next few weeks, and ragweed pollen will soon fill the air. Mid-August represents the start of ragweed season, when this common weed begins to pollinate, resulting in misery for many allergy sufferers. Ragweed is a particularly common autumn pollinator in the Northeastern, Midwestern and Southern portions of the United States.

Learn some of the important measures that can be taken to avoid ragweed pollen and how ragweed allergy can make you allergic to certain fruits and vegetables.

Many people are hesitant to take inhaled steroids for their asthma based on concern for inhaled steroid side effects. So, if a new inhaled steroid became available, which didn't cause the major side effects of other inhaled steroids, more asthmatics would be more likely to take it.

Alvesco (ciclesonide), is the inhaled version of Omnaris, a new medication that has minimal steroid effects until it is turned into its active form within the respiratory tract. As a result, it acts only as a steroid where it should (the lungs), and doesn't where it shouldn't. And, for people who are prone to developing thrush from inhaled steroids, Alvesco could be just what the doctor ordered.

Are you a scuba diver? Do you plan on getting certified to dive? Do you as asthma as well? If you have asthma and wish to scuba dive, there are some certain risks you need to be aware of. Asthmatics are at an increased risk for accidents from scuba diving, and need to ensure that their asthma is well controlled before diving.

Learn more about the risks of scuba diving with asthma, and what should be done to prevent a dangerous accident from occurring.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given the entire class of fluoroquinolones, a commonly used class of antibiotics, a "black box" warning. A “black box” warning is a statement to doctors and patients that the medication has been linked to a certain severe risk or side effect, but not to the point that the medication needed to be removed from the market. The purpose of the “black box” is to ensure that the prescribing doctor and patient are both aware of the risks of the medication, so that a discussion of these risks can take place.

Fluoroquinolones, which include levofloxacin (Levaquin), ciprofloxacin (Cipro), moxifloxacin (Avelox) and gemifloxacin (Factive), are common antibiotics for the treatment of sinus infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and other infections. This class of antibiotic has been associated with an increased risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture, especially in people taking steroids at the same time.

Learn more about the FDA's newest warning, as well as other commonly used allergy and asthma medications that carry a "black box" warning:

• Advair's Black Box Warning
• Xolair's Black Box Warning
• Elidel/Protopic's Black Box Warning