Wednesday, October 28, 2009

More Food Allergy News

Remember to read food labels carefully if you have reactions to foods.

Today (Oct.27th 2009) the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) issued an allergy alert on undeclared peanuts in Dove Caramel Pecan Perfection ice cream, as it may contain undeclared peanuts and therefore people who suffer from an allergy to peanuts may be adversely affected by consuming it.

Approximately 4% to 8% of children and 2% of adults in the United States suffer from food allergies, and their numbers are rising. Risk factors associated with developing a food allergy include: A family history of allergies, elevated Immunoglobulin E concentrations, and being younger than 3 years old.

The foods that are most commonly associated with food allergies are cow’s milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soybeans, and wheat.

A severe allergy that may be life-threatening is usually classified as an anaphylactic-type allergic reaction. Many of those who suffer from nut allergies have this type of exaggerated reaction to them.

Anaphylaxis is a severe and sometimes fatal allergic reaction that presents as itching, redness, hives, wheezing, dizziness and, as it progresses (usually very rapidly) swelling of the tongue, lips and face, shock and respiratory difficulty (sometimes not all these symptoms are present, though). It requires immediate medical attention which may involve administration of epinephrine and giving of Oxygen to the patient.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

A Medical Mystery: Was it a Sudden Seafood Allergy?

I love mysteries.  This is a medical one from today's Washington Post.  I see patients with food allergies frequently.  I also see many patients who think they have food allergies, and it turns out to be another condition.


Was it a sudden seafood allergy? No.
Research sheds light on dangerous reactions

By Sandra G. Boodman Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, October 20, 2009


This cannot be happening again, Hayden Newell thought as the angry, red, ferociously itchy welts encircled his waist and spread up his arms. The 57-year-old metallurgist from tiny Boones Mill, Va., who was attending a business lunch in Florida, knew what would probably happen next: His lips would grow numb, making it hard to speak, he would become short of breath and his blood pressure would plummet: all unmistakable signs of anaphylaxis, a potentially fatal allergic reaction. Newell knew from experience that he had to get to an emergency room -- fast.
The same thing had happened a month earlier, in August 2008, an event that culminated in an early-morning ambulance ride to a hospital in Roanoke. At the time, his general practitioner suspected that Newell had developed an allergy to the oysters he had eaten the previous night. But tests revealed no shellfish allergy, so Newell had grazed at a buffet, sampling shrimp, scallops and meatballs.
What, he wondered, as a colleague drove him to a Florida ER, could be causing these frightening episodes that came out of nowhere?
The probable answer did not emerge until nearly six months later, and it seemed downright bizarre. The diagnosis, shared by a growing number of patients on two continents and described in two recent studies, has upended long-held views about an allergy previously considered rare.
"It has changed our thinking," said Newell's allergist, Saju Eapen of Roanoke."This was not something we looked for in the past."
* * *
In July 2008, Newell spent several days visiting his nephew in rural North Carolina. Three days after returning home he noticed a red spot between two toes on his left foot, evidence of a tick he had picked up while walking barefoot in the country. He extracted it and, assuming the bite had become infected, called his doctor, who prescribed an antibiotic.
Problem solved, Newell thought.
But a month later, hours after a dinner that included oysters Rockefeller and filet mignon, both of which he had eaten many times before, Newell awoke at 3 a.m. to discover that his chest and waist were blanketed by itchy hives.
"I wasn't sure what was going on," Newell said, so he got up and took a shower, increasingly alarmed by the huge, spreading welts. "I got into bed and tried to relax until morning."
At 7 a.m., while driving to his general practitioner's office, Newell realized his lips felt numb. He sat in the empty waiting room, hoping the doctor would arrive soon, while he could still talk. Instead, the nurse took one look at him, he recalled, and said, "You're having anaphylactic shock. We need to get you to a hospital right away." She called 911, and Newell was whisked by ambulance to a nearby ER, where he was given Ben-adryl and other drugs to counteract the severe allergic reaction. His doctor, thinking he might be allergic to oysters, sent him to Eapen.
The allergist performed skin tests and took blood samples, warning Newell to stay away from shellfish. A few weeks later, after tests found nothing, he was told it was safe to eat seafood. The next month was the fateful Florida buffet. This time, the hives appeared more quickly, in less than an hour.
"I figured, it's got to be some kind of seafood," said Newell, who this time had eaten crab and scallops, but not oysters.
Eapen said that at this point he wasn't sure whether Newell was suffering from a true anaphylactic reaction or chronic hives, which can cause anxiety and shortness of breath. He prescribed an EpiPen, a device that administers an emergency epinephrine injection, which he told Newell to carry at all times. Then he handed him an order for a blood test. In the event of another attack, he told Newell, doctors should test his blood for levels of serum tryptase within three hours. An elevated reading would indicate true anaphylaxis, not just anxiety.
Newell didn't have to wait long. In December, after eating chicken and beef -- but not seafood -- he was driving home from a business lunch in Norfolk when he felt the unnerving itching.
"I was thinking, 'I won't be able to eat anything,' " as he pulled off the highway and headed for the nearest hospital, he recalled. The episode did lead to one definitive answer: His serum tryptase level was elevated, which meant the anaphylaxis was genuine. But what was he so violently allergic to?
At an appointment the following day, Eapen asked a crucial question: "Do you remember if you had beef when you had shellfish?" The answer, Newell said, was yes, every time.
Eapen said he thought knew what was wrong. When the allergist asked about tick bites, Newell told him about the July incident.
Eapen took a blood sample and told Newell he was sending it to a lab at the University of Virginia School of Medicine for testing that might point to the suspected culprit: an allergy to red meat. Eapen was familiar with groundbreaking work underway at U-Va.'s allergy clinic that had found a link between a reaction to tick bites and the development of a sudden allergy to red meat, as well as pork and lamb, in people who had eaten it all their lives without incident.
A team headed by U-Va.'s Thomas Platts-Mills, an internationally prominent allergist, published a study in February detailing the cases of 24 adults who developed a sudden allergy to red meat. Eighty percent had reported being bitten by ticks weeks or months before the allergy appeared, and many had experienced anaphylaxis as much as six hours after eating red meat, a highly unusual occurrence because food allergies typically cause violent reactions within minutes.
Similar findings were reported in the Medical Journal of Australia in May by a team of Sydney allergists.
So how does a tick bite trigger a sudden allergy to meat?
Scott Commins, an assistant professor of medicine and lead author of the U-Va. study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, said that in susceptible people such as Newell, a tick bite that causes a significant skin reaction seems to trigger the production of an antibody that binds to a sugar present on meat called alpha-galactosidase, also known as alpha-gal. When a person who has the antibody eats meat, it triggers the release of histamine, which causes the allergic symptoms: hives, itching and, in the worst case, anaphylaxis.
But many questions remain unanswered, said Platts-Mills, whose research is continuing. His lab has collected data on more than 300 patients from across the country and abroad.
"We're sure ticks can do this," he said. "We're not sure they're the only cause." Nor do researchers know why anaphylaxis is so delayed or why only some people develop a problem after tick bites. They do know that the allergic reaction is dose-related: Eating a tiny amount of meat probably won't cause a serious reaction. A large steak will.
Commins said researchers have also observed that people with certain blood types appear to be more at risk. Those with the rarest types -- B and AB -- do not appear vulnerable, because their blood is chemically similar to alpha-gal.
Climate appears to play a role: Blood samples from Boston and Scandinavia almost never reveal alpha-gal antibodies, which are common in samples from patients in Virginia, North Carolina and other parts of the South, as well as parts of Australia.
Testing of Newell's O-positive blood in Platts-Mills's lab revealed very high levels of alpha-gal, and other tests confirmed that after more than a half-century of eating meat, he now had an untreatable allergy. Newell is now enrolled in a large allergy study at U-Va.
Eapen can't advise Newell -- or the 30 or so other patients in his practice found to have a meat allergy -- to do much except avoid red meat, lamb and pork.
An enthusiastic cook, Newell said he misses making and eating his favorite dishes: beef bourguignon and beef Bolognese. The biggest problem, he said, is avoiding meat at business lunches, which often take place in steakhouses.
"It's probably better for me in the long run," Newell said wistfully, "but I'd still like a nice steak occasionally."
If you have a medical mystery that has been solved, e-mail medicalmysteries@washpost.com. To read previous mysteries, visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/health.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Teaching

On Thursday I am giving Medical Grand Rounds at Somerset Medical Center. My talk is called "I've got Sinus" because it's often hard to tell whether your symptoms are from your nose or your sinuses. The sinuses drain into the nose as well as the Eustachian tubes which drain from the middle ear. Patients with middle ear disease or allergic rhinitis may have ear popping as a symptom. If you have ear popping and it is bothering you, you should see your doctor.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Teach an Old Dog

I just got a talking GPS. I know (or thought I knew) my way to work every day. Last week the GPS suggested a different route, so I had a few minutes to spare and gave it a try.  I had found a new route that saves me 10 minutes!  I tried the same tactic coming back, eager for a new way!  I was routed 6 miles out of the way, and ended up on the Garden State Parkway in the rush-hour.  So the moral is....  It's never too late to try new ideas, but always be careful when experimenting.

New Content on Website

I just posted a new audiology section on our practice website http://www.entcarepc.com/.  You can also send genereal questions to ur audiologists at audio@entcarepc.com

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Nonallergic Rhinitis Symptoms More Severe Than Allergic Rhinitis

Don't be surprised if you think you have allergies and your skin tests are negative.  You may have non-allergic rhinitis.  That's why I take a very detailed history - there are many different types of rhinitis.

A comparison of symptoms in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) and non-allergic rhinitis (NAR) revealed that those with the NAR experienced worse symptoms. The findings are according to new research presented at the 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, in San Diego, CA.

The study assessed 78 patients with AR and 31 patients with non-allergic rhinitis (NAR), measuring quality of life (QOL) in both groups using a common questionnaire. To the surprise of the authors, NAR patients experienced a significantly higher symptom severity than their peers with AR, including having their regular and recreational activities affected, disrupted sleep, tiredness, and watery eyes.

The study's authors believe that that many patients with allergy-type symptoms may have other, as-yet-undetermined causes of their symptoms, and that further research is warranted.

Title:
Quality of Life in Allergic and Non-Allergic Rhinitis

Author:
Nick Debnath, MD; Rodney J. Schlosser, MD; Richard J. Harvey; Shaun A. Nguyen, MD, MA; Charley S. Coffey, MD; Karen M. Drawdy, PA-C


Friday, October 2, 2009

I didn't know I was on medication

In the last few days, I saw 2 patients who were taking over-the-counter antihistamines bought at one of the large warehouse stores, and they forgot to mention this when I asked what medications they were taking.  Later they remebered! It's common to think that over-the-counter (OTC) medications are not as strong or effective as prescription products.  Not so!  The 24 hour antihistamines we have available e.g. loratadine or cetirizine, are the same strength as when they required a doctor's prescription for branded prescription Claritin or Zyrtec.  When you see your doctor, don't forget to mention all the non-prescription or OTC products you are taking as well as any vitamins, hormones, dietary supplements or herbal products.  If you are on several, make a list and give a copy to the doctor for your medical record.  It will be appreciated, and make your visit more productive.