Allergy

New factor implicated in allergy and asthma attacks

For a person with allergies or asthma, breathing in pollen can be a very bad thing. Within minutes of inhalation by someone sensitive to their effects, these tiny particles can trigger severe inflammation of the respiratory passages, producing uncontrollable sneezing, coughing, or extreme shortness of breath -- symptoms agonizingly familiar to those who suffer from allergy and asthma attacks....

Allergy battle could be won in five years, says scientist

Researchers, working with colleagues at St George's, University of London, are developing drugs designed to stop allergens from entering the body, so rendering them harmless. Professor David Garrod said the research ?recently shortlisted for the Northwest Regional Development Agency's Bionow Project of the Year ?takes a completely new approach to the treatment and prevention of allergies....

Unique soybean lines hold promise for producing allergy-free soybeans

Researchers have isolated two Chinese soybean lines that grow without the primary protein linked to soy allergies in children and adults. The two lines already are adapted to Illinois-like conditions and will be given away to breeders seeking to produce new varieties of allergy-free soybeans without genetic engineering. Crop scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and...

Children of allergy sufferers prone to same problem

Infants whose parents have allergies that produce symptoms like wheezing, asthma, hay fever or hives risk developing allergic sensitization much earlier in life than previously reported, according to a study by Cincinnati researchers. The study suggests that the current practice of avoiding skin testing for airborne allergens before age 4 or 5 should be reconsidered, so children in this h...

'Allergy cells' can aggravate cancer and psoriasis

The body's mast cells are mainly associated with allergic reaction in the way they release histamine and other inflammatory substances. However, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now demonstrated how the mast cells can also contribute to diseases like psoriasis and cancer. Mast cells are most known for their association with allergic reactions, as they act like microscopic "bombs"...

Allergy to hair dye increasing

Allergic reactions to hair dye are increasing as more and younger people dye their hair, warn researchers in this week's BMJ. More than two thirds of hair dyes currently contain para-phenylenediamine (PPD) and other related agents. During the 20th century, allergic reactions to PPD became suc...

Researchers develop buckyballs to fight allergy

Allergic disease is the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, and while various treatments have been developed to control allergy, no cure has...