Allergy News

Latest UK Health & Medical News


Locate & Review a Restauraunt based on its Allergy Friendliness


What do you do when you need to eat out and either suffer from an allergy or are going with someone who has an allergen? Most of the times, we take a risk and attempt to get our message across when we get to the venue. The works sometime and sometimes it does not.


Vitamin D Could Treat Mould Allergy

Vitamin D could be used to treat and prevent an allergic reaction to mould which can worsen the symptoms of asthma and cystic fibrosis, experts claim after scientists at the University of Pittsburgh and University of Louisiana Schools of Medicine found that vitamin D therapies boost the body's immune response to the airborne mold Aspergillus fumigatus.


New Asthma Research Could Improve Treatments

Analysing proteins that line the airways of asthmatic patients could help doctors to quickly diagnose and better treat specific asthma sub-types, according to a new report by the University of Texas. Researchers at the university's Galveston Institute for Medical Science believe that examining protein patterns could allow doctors to identify the best ant-allergy therapies for individual patients and help to reduce the risk of health-impairing asthma attacks.


Probiotics Reduce Infant Allergies

Pregnant and breast-feeding mothers who supplement a healthy diet with probiotic supplements could reduce their child's risk of developing eczema by more than 40%, according to new research. A report published in the British Journal of Dermatology shows that consuming probiotics seemed to reduce the severity of eczema in children who already suffered the allergic skin disorder.


Gene-Mutation Asthma Research Unveiled

Researchers have identified a genetic mutation in a protein linked to the immune system that could help further improve treatments for asthma. scientists reporting in the European Journal of Human Genetics claim that a protein that determines whether immune cells are needed could be over-produced in asthmatic people, exacerbating asthma attacks.


Allergic Reaction to a Kiss Hospitalises Teen

A teenage girl was hospitalised after having a severe allergic reaction to nuts after kissing her boyfriend who'd had a nutty cereal for breakfast. Laura Kukic, 14, was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment after her face began to swell dramatically and she felt unable to breathe. The teenager is now using her shocking experience to warn others with nut allergies to take greater care


Low-Allergy Peanut Under Development

Scientists are developing a 'low-allergy' peanut that could revolutionise the eating habits of millions of people whose allergy fears severely restrict their diet. Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture are currently cross-breeding peanuts that miss out two allergy causing proteins.


Yoghurt Could Prevent Allergies

New research suggests that eating pro-biotic yoghurt could reduce the severity of allergies including asthma. Researchers believe that yoghurt and other pro-biotic rich foods could lessen allergies by switching off the body's inflammatory immune response.


New Born Blood Test Detects Allergies

A new blood test could predict whether new born babies are likely to develop allergies as they grow older, researchers claim. Immunologists at the University of Adelaide, Australia explain that a protein present in a new born's immune cells could be key to predicting their allergy risk factor. The research could lead to early diagnosis and treatment of allergies including hay fever, eczema, asthma, food allergies and more in thousands of children across the world.


New Method to Detect Food Allergies

A new method to diagnose food allergies has been unveiled following research that suggests that an increasing number of people may incorrectly believe that they suffer from food allergies. Researchers at America's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases warn that unreliable skin tests could be responsible for 25% of Americans wrongly believing that they suffer from food allergies.


High Fat Foods Aggravate Asthma

Eating high fat, high energy meals could aggravate asthma and impede the effectiveness of asthma relieving medication, researchers claim. Researchers at the University of Newcastle, New South wales, Australia found that eating high fat meals could inflame the airways and lead to increased incidence and severity of asthma attacks.


Art Therapy Treats Asthma

Art therapy could improve the quality of life of children with severe asthma, researchers claim. Researchers at National Jewish Health explain that creating artwork can allow children with asthma to better express their concerns about the condition whilst also calming children who are understandably anxious about suffering an asthma attack. Researchers now hope that art therapy could be used by physicians and families to help children to manage asthma.


Asthma May Lower Cancer Risk

New research suggests that people with asthma or eczema may be less likely to develop common forms of cancer. Researchers explain that people with asthma or eczema have a hyper-reactive immune system that is conditioned to remove potentially harmful cells from the body. This heightened immune response, the researchers claim, could significantly lower cancer risks.


New Research into Asthma Risk

New research suggests that children living near railways or by motorways or busy roads may be at an increased risk of developing asthma. The research, published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, highlights the importance a child's neighbourhood environment has on their asthma risk. The findings follow news that living in a high crime neighbourhood can almost double a child's asthma risk.


New Life Saving Asthma Awareness Campaign

New research from Asthma UK warns that most adults would not help a child suffering from an asthma attack – because they would not know how to help. Asthma UK has found that up to 88% of 2,200 adults surveyed would not help a child in the throes of a serious asthma attack. The alarming news has been released today in order to mark World Asthma Day.


Crime Linked to Asthma

Researchers warn that living in an area where crime levels are high can increase childhood asthma. Researchers from the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago explain that exposure to violence and stress can worsen a child's asthmatic symptoms. The research will be presented, in full, at the meeting of the Paediatric Academic Societies in Canada later this year.


Vitamin D Linked to Asthma

New research suggests that having low levels of Vitamin D could lead to increased risk of asthma and other serious allergies. Research published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology seems to show that low levels of vitamin D result in poor lower lung function in children. The researchers also claim that low vitamin D levels are linked with increased use of medication in children.


Excessive Cleanliness Increases Allergies

Allergy experts are warning that excessively cleaning your home can partly cause allergies including asthma, hay fever, eczema and more. Dr Guy Delespesse, director of the Laboratory for Allergy Research at the University of Montreal, explains that over cleaning the home can create a sterile environment that increases allergy risk. Dr Delespesse claims “ The more sterile the environment a child lives in, the higher the risk he or she will develop allergies or an immune problem in their lifetime”.


Hair of the Dog Allergy Cure

A British boy with a severe dog allergy has been successfully cured following a ground-breaking ‘hair of the dog’ treatment. The eleven year old schoolboy, Danny Pearce, was given an experimental drug that was partly made from real animal hair. Danny is now able to walk and pet dogs after years of suffering from the debilitating animal allergy.


New Tool to Control Allergies and Asthma

It is hoped that a new self assessment tool will help people in Britain to get asthma and allergies under control. Allergy UK, Asthma UK and Education for Health have pulled together to create a new questionnaire that patients will be able to pick up from doctors’ surgeries and pharmacies across the UK throughout April.


Delaying solid food could increasing chances of allergies

Following recent news that by delaying a child’s intake of solid food their chance of developing certain allergies could be decreased; scientists are now warning that this could be counterproductive. This news also comes after a survey that showed being a little bit dirty could also decrease the chance of allergies; pointing towards the fact that prevention isn’t always the cure. It appears that by trying to eradicate allergies we are only heightening them and should instead be building our immune systems from an early age to make ourselves less susceptible to allergies.


Lactose Intolerance More Tolerant Than Most Think

Many people who believe themselves to be lactose intolerant will avoid all forms of dairy at all costs; but latest research shows that a complete absence of dairy from the diet may not be necessary but also dangerous for the allergy sufferers overall health. The National Institutes of Health have issued an overall opinion that in most cases the avoidance of dairy products is unnecessary.


Glimmer of Hope for Peanut Allergy Sufferers

For many people their peanut allergy can be life-threatening and evidently a massive worry for their everyday eating habits. However, following a meeting with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a group of researchers from Cambridge University Hospitals in England believe the answer could lie in an immunotherapy option.


Girl suffers severe allergic reaction to Tamiflu

There have been numerous concerns over the issuing of Tamiflu and none more so than its potential side-effects. It appears that skeptics were right to be concerned as 19 year old, Samantha Millard, sadly becomes a perturbing message for us all. The teenager took the Tamiflu having called the NHS swine flu helpline; just 3 days later she was hospitalised and placed on a life support machine. One month on, she exposes the truth behind her ordeal and reveals that shockingly she didn’t even have swine flu in the first place.


Blood Test Reveals what Children really are suffering from Nut Allergies

Recently we’ve all witnessed the growing concern for those who suffer from nut allergies, with nut allergy warnings on many foods packaging, but it seems we’ve been a little bit too “nutty” over the allergy. Research conducted at University Hospital South Manchester at the University of Manchester reveals a new mode of testing that is far more accurate than previous ones, which have led to many fake results.


Help for all children suffering from egg allergies

With Swine Flu still taking its hold on many people across the world, there is still a worry as to what happens should a child suffering from an egg allergy need vaccinating. The normal H1N1 vaccine is grown in eggs which sparked fears that any child suffering from an egg allergy could obtain a severe allergic reaction to the vaccination.


Allergies aren’t hibernating this winter

So, we’ve left summer behind and winter has really begun to take its hold; all you hay fever sufferers have breathed a sigh of relief as pollen takes a backseat. An allergy free winter you say? Alas, no. It appears all the allergens are also settling down in front of the fire through the winter and they haven’t gone into hibernation like we may have thought.


Chronic Sinus Disease triggered by Allergies

December has seen the release of the latest issue of Archives of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck surgery and with it comes confirmation of the close proximity within the relationship between allergens and sinus problems. Perhaps more significantly is the overwhelmingly rapid response the sinus has to such nasal allergens. Experts believe that this could help encourage the identification of sinusitis or an allergy as these two frequently become confused.


Medicines could kill people with allergies

People have allergies; people tragically die from reactions to drugs; but did you know that there are over 50,000 cases a year of people reacting badly to drugs? On top of that, since 2007 there are has been a quarter of an increase in the number of people dying from such reactions – 1,300. As medicine and science progress, why are these numbers increasing?


Being dirty could be the answer to rising allergies in the UK

With one in three people in the UK having some form of allergy, scientists are now suggesting that our obsession with cleanliness is in fact more damaging to our health than a little dirt. “Good” bugs on our skin actually help stop our body from over-reacting to things and developing reactions such as rashes.


Swine-flu vaccine causes problems for people with Egg Allergies

The H1N1 flu that has taken the world by storm could be causing more problems than was first thought, particularly in Canada.