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Many who think they have food allergies actually do not. A new report, commissioned by the federal government, finds the field is rife with poorly done studies, misdiagnoses and tests that can give misleading results. While there is no doubt that people can be allergic to certain foods, with reproducible responses ranging from a rash to a severe life-threatening reaction, the true incidence of food allergies is only about 8 percent for children and less than 5 percent for adults, said Dr. Marc Riedl, an author of the new paper and an allergist and immunologist at the University of California,...

Put away the hand sanitizer. It's not necessarily the grime, dust bunnies, cat dander or pollen causing those miserable springtime allergies. The culprit actually may be too much cleanliness.

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Nut-free school spurs education campaign By George Brennan / Cape Cod Times Friday, March 26, 2010 - Added 9h ago EAST SANDWICH — Protecting a child with peanut and tree nut allergies takes vigilance, education and becoming a "label-reading machine," a pediatric allergist told local parents last night. Dr. Michael Pistiner, a Leominster-based allergist and a clinical instructor at Children’s Hospital Boston, met yesterday with teachers, nurses, bus drivers, administrators and families at Oak Ridge School about severe food allergies, reports the Cape Cod Times. Last night, he finished his day-long visit speaking to a gathering of about three dozen...

San Diego, California (CNN) -- Peanuts are like poison for people who have severe food allergies to them. For some, ingesting even a tiny piece of peanut can trigger a potentially fatal reaction. But new research is showing that immunotherapy, a method of giving a small dose of peanut to a patient in a controlled setting and then increasing the amount over a few months, may help temper these reactions. It's the same principle as allergy shots, only done with food. The research, conducted at Cambridge University Hospitals in the United Kingdom, was presented Friday at the annual meeting of...

INDIANAPOLIS -- The mother of a 7-year-old boy with autism and a severe peanut allergy has filed a lawsuit claiming a teacher tossed her son a peanut-filled Mr. Goodbar candy bar in hopes of sickening him and keeping him from going on a zoo field trip. The boy didn't eat the candy bar, but Anita Young said her son suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his teacher, and filed a lawsuit in Marion County against her son's Indianapolis school. Young also wants criminal charges filed against teacher Trinda Barocas.

Allergies are on the rise and there are a number of theories why. Some speculate that it's due to more parents getting kids tested for allergies; allergists will find allergies thta 40 years ago would have been dismissed as inconveniences. Other speculation is that over-hyped concern about sterility regarding babies has weakened their immune system. A study conducted in 2008 by the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg says diet may be the culprit. In Västra Götaland County in western Sweden, half of all teenagers are considered affected by asthma, nasal symptoms and eczema, almost 10 percentage points higher...

We've all been there, a restaurant, church, classroom, shopping aisle and yes a bar, when someone will walk in and the place turns to weeping eyes and sneezing. How well do you think people take it when asked to "remove" their perfume? But due to stories like the people above who fell ill due to someone's perfume I believe people are starting to look at perfume as the next cigarette.

Darius Dugger wanted it his way: no tomatoes, no onions, no pickles. He didn't get it. So he sued. Dugger is seeking $100,000 in damages, plus legal fees and court costs, after a Burger King franchise allegedly messed up his order, causing him to fall ill. A lawsuit filed in Virginia Beach Circuit Court claims that on April 10, 2007, Dugger ordered a drink and two sandwiches from the restaurant on Monticello Avenue in James City County. Then the Portsmouth man left the restaurant, joined a group of co-workers for lunch and pulled out his sandwich. But, the suit says,...

From peanuts to shellfish... Why are so many adults suddenly getting allergies? "...Over the past decade there has been a huge rise in the number of Britons suffering from hay-fever and eczema as a result of allergies. As many as one in four people is affected, and ... ... it's not just children who are affected.... increasingly, middle-aged and older people are developing allergies for the first time....they suddenly suffer a reaction to something that for decades did them no harm. 'In the case of food allergies and anaphylaxis, I now see more adults than children - we are inundated...

They say smoking is injurious to health, but a new study has revealed that cigarettes can protect from allergies. The research team from Utrecht University in the Netherlands has shown that cigarette smoke can prevent allergies by decreasing the reaction of immune cells to allergens. It decreases the allergic response by inhibiting the activity of mast cells, the major players in the immune system's response to allergens. The researchers also found that treatment of mast cells with a cigarette smoke-infused solution prevented the release of inflammation-inducing proteins in response to allergens, without affecting other mast cell immune functions. In the...

Scientists study affect of gluten on mental health Scottish scientists believe that gluten-rich foods could help trigger schizophrenia in people with a genetic predisposition to the condition. Scottish scientists believe that gluten-rich foods could help trigger schizophrenia in people with a genetic predisposition to the condition. The researchers at the prospective University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) are looking at the links between schizophrenia and diabetes. The two studies undertaken by geneticist Dr Jun Wei and his team in Inverness are to be funded by £300,000 from the Schizophrenia Association of Great Britain. The first project is to explore...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton canceled her appointments Monday laid low by her allergies, an official said, stressing she was not suffering from swine flu. "She does not have the flu, just a bit under the weather," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood. "She will be back tomorrow. She is suffering from allergies."

Humanity's bug-infested past might be why we have more allergies today (Image: James Gathany/ Center for Disease Control and Prevention, USA) It is well established that intestinal parasites dampen mammalian immune reactions. But in a surprise result, scientists have found that another kind of parasite – the body louse – does too. That means the epidemic of allergic disorders in modern, urban people might be due to our having rid ourselves of lice and worms.

The sad tendency in America these days is that the needs of the few - in many cases, the very few - are given priority over the rights of the majority, and almost always at the expense of liberty.Frankly, it is a repulsive trend.I have, in previous articles, called this the Tyranny of Equality - born out of a sense of sick, arrant entitlement - with the devitalizing aim of making sure that every single human being alive in America is not only treated exactly the same, but that no one anywhere at anytime is inconvenienced, insulted, or made to...

A Long Island woman has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines claiming the carrier endangered her 4-year-old son by serving peanuts on her flight, Newsday reported. Tehmina Haque says she was assured several times that peanuts would not be served, but flight attendants changed the plan without notice during her April 18 flight to Los Angeles. Her lawsuit claims she was “tense and fearful .. that her son would have an anaphylactic reaction while imprisoned 35,000 feet in the air,” according to Newsday. An American Airlines spokesman would not comment on the lawsuit. The carrier’s peanut allergy policy reads: “American...

Group wants Wi-Fi banned from public buildings A group in Santa Fe says the city is discriminating against them because they say that they're allergic to the wireless Internet signal. And now they want Wi-Fi banned from public buildings. Arthur Firstenberg says he is highly sensitive to certain types of electric fields, including wireless Internet and cell phones. "I get chest pain and it doesn't go away right away," he said. Firstenberg and dozens of other electro-sensitive people in Santa Fe claim that putting up Wi-Fi in public places is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The city...

I have a 3 year old Pug with skin allergies. I have removed all plants from the yard, tried all of the antihistamines, Atopica, bathing her, and special foods. I don't want to use steroids all the time because of all the damage it can do internally. Daphne(my pug) and I would welcome any helpful information. Thank you.

(WebMD) Taking allergy drops instead of enduring painful shots may someday become an option for people who are allergic to honeybee stings. In a preliminary study, Italian researchers found that putting honeybee venom under the tongue was safe and significantly reduced reactions in people allergic to bee stings . Immunotherapy using the ubiquitous allergy shot is the standard treatment for allergies to everything from insect stings to dust mites. Tiny amounts of the allergens are injected into the patient until tolerance develops. The new study involved a different form of immunotherapy, called sublingual immunotherapy. It involves putting extracts of allergens...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Starting Thursday, allergy sufferers can find the most-prescribed allergy medication available for over-the-counter sales. Zyrtec is the brand name for cetirizine and is approved to relieve allergy-related sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, and also, itching from hives. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it for sale without a prescription in November.Dr. Rajan Merchant from Woodland Healthcare said it is the same formula as a doctor would prescribe."The efficacy is the same; the dosage is the same as the prescription strength. But the reason it is going over the counter is because we have enough safety data...