Posted: 27 Mar 2010 04:59 AM PDT

Melissa Whitrow and Seeromanie Harding from the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit of the Medical Research Council, UK, used data taken from 51 London schools to investigate a random selection of 11-13 year old pupils.

In the final sample for analysis, there were 1219 children who identified themselves as 'White UK', 933 'Black Caribbean', 1095 'Black African', 459 'Indian', 215 'Pakistani', 392 'Bangladeshi' and 299 'Mixed White UK and Black Caribbean'.

"Social and environmental factors may influence risk of asthma through early life exposures regulating the allergic inflammatory response and/or later life exposures to allergens. A positive association between body mass index (BMI) and asthma has also been reported. We aimed to investigate the influence of these factors on ethnic differences in asthma prevalence," said Whitrow and Harding.

The researchers found that a family history of asthma and psychological well being were consistent correlates for asthma regardless of ethnicity.

They observed that less than six years of residence in the UK had an independent protective effect for Black Caribbeans and Black Africans, possibly reflecting continuing protection from early life exposures in their home countries.

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Volunteers needed for asthma research - Mansfield News Journal

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:27 AM PDT

MANSFIELD -- North central Ohio adults with asthma can help a medical research team from Madison, Wisc., prepare a study targeting the rural Midwest.

David Van Sickle, a post doctoral fellow studying population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin, said scientists are seeking 150 asthmatics who use inhalers.

Volunteers will be asked to record their symptoms, when and where they happen, using an innovative tool that Reciprocal Sciences unveiled last year. The device, called the Spiroscout, is a GPS-enabled inhaler that pinpoints the exact geographic location and time when the inhaler is used.

"Our analyses of national survey data suggest that asthma is as prevalent in rural areas as in urban areas," said Teresa Morrison, medical epidemiologist in the Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch at the federal Centers for Disease Control. "Our goal is to document patterns of asthma symptoms among rural residents in Midwestern states, and learn more about possible environmental exposures that potentially lead to asthma attacks."

Debora Ortega-Carr, a doctor at Midwest Allergy and Asthma Associates on Cline Avenue, said most data suggests higher frequency of asthma triggers in cities than in rural areas. She also noted a significant genetic component.

"We know from previous studies in rural areas that grain, dust and tobacco smoke can all trigger asthma, but we want this study to generate new hypotheses," Van Sickle said. "We also don't want to enter the study with too many pre-existing ideas.

"At the individual level, people will learn about new environments or new triggers, and at the aggregate level, we hope to learn which work places or occupations are triggers."

There is no cost to participate and there is no risk involved. Participants will receive a small gift card.

"We don't change anyone's medication or dosage, we're just tracking," Van Sickle said.

For information, call 608-554-0750.

jkinton@nncogannett.com 419-521-7220

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Allergy shots achieve best results - Houma Courier

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 06:04 AM PDT

Few, however, are using what may be the most effective treatment for uncontrolled symptoms: immunotherapy, or what most people know as allergy shots. The practice of injecting people with increasing amounts of the substances they are allergic to, so they can build gradual tolerance, is nearly 100 years old.

But U.S. surveys suggest shots are used by just 5 percent of nasal allergy patients.

"Inconvenience is the most likely reason," says Linda Cox, an allergist in Fort Lauderdale. A typical treatment plan calls for a patient to come to a medical office once a week for several months, get a shot and wait 30 minutes (in case a rare, dangerous reaction occurs) and then continue less frequent shots for months or years more.

There's also a needle "fear factor," says Stanley Fineman, an Atlanta allergist and vice president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. And costs for the shots and office visits, which vary based on insurance coverage and other factors, may play a role.

But a recent study published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology showed children who get allergy shots had lower health care costs over 18 months than otherwise similar children. The cost of their shots, about $600, was more than made up by drug savings and fewer doctors' visits and hospitalizations, says Cox, who led the study. Immunotherapy also might help prevent asthma, a costly life-long condition.

So allergists are working to make the therapy more appealing. Most efforts fall into two categories: non-shot alternatives and faster shot schedules.

Liquid or pill alternatives

Immunotherapy without shots is standard in Europe. There, most doctors prescribe "sublingual immunotherapy." Patients get liquids or pills containing extracts of grass pollen, dust mites, ragweed or other allergens and put a bit under their tongues at home each day.

But none of these products has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Some U.S. physicians prescribe sublingual use of liquid extracts approved for injections - but that is an unproven practice. And some studies on sublingual products under development have failed to show they work better than placebos.

That is changing, though. In one new study, a daily sublingual grass pollen pill reduced symptoms and medication use 26 percent in children and teens, says Michael Blaiss, clinical professor of pediatrics and medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. Blaiss, a consultant to the drug's maker, Merck, presented the data at a recent meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. A study in adults found similar results, he says.

The pills have not been compared with shots and might cost more. They are not available now.

What is increasingly available: faster shot schedules. In so-called rush immunotherapy, allergists give patients numerous shots over one to three days to quickly build tolerance so patients can soon start coming just once or twice a month. In the somewhat slower "cluster" technique, patients might come once or twice a week for a month and get two or three shots at each visit to get a faster start. These patients all get antihistamines, steroids or other drugs to prevent dangerous reactions.

Cox says the cluster technique is more widely used and thought safer. But Fineman says he safely gives rush patients nine to 20 injections in a day.

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Health Asthma

Saturday, March 27, 2010

plus 2 more, “White Children More Prone to Asthma Than Indians, Bangladeshis - Med India”

plus 2 more, “White Children More Prone to Asthma Than Indians, Bangladeshis - Med India”

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