Allergy

Maria Diaz/ZDNETWhat's the deal?Amazon has the Coway Airmega IconS discounted by $125, putting it at a much more accessible price of $575.Why this deal is ZDNET-recommendedAir purifiers are commonly used to relieve symptoms of allergies and asthma, but they can also improve your everyday life even if you have a steady immune system. Many on the West Coast, for example, reach for their air purifiers to cope with diminished air quality as a result of wildfire smoke, while a lot of schools and doctors' offices started…

Researchers have discovered a never-before-identified type of memory B cell, an immune cell that ‘remembers’ what a person is allergic to, potentially opening the door to new therapeutics to treat allergies, including life-threatening food allergies.The immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody is a key mediator of allergic responses in food allergies and allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever. In someone with an allergy, the immune system overreacts, producing IgE that travels to cells to release chemicals that cause an…

A dancer in her twenties tragically died from a fatal allergic reaction to peanuts after eating cookies that had been incorrectly labeled.25-year-old Órla Baxendale, a professional dancer from East Lancashire, UK, moved to New York, USA, to train as a scholarship student at the Ailey School in 2018. Her dancer dreams were cut short on January 11, after she went into anaphylactic shock from a severe allergic reaction to a Vanilla Florentine cookie, which she had bought from the popular supermarket Stew Leonard’s.Attorney…

Research on how microbes may prevent allergies shows mixed results. Studies comparing wild and laboratory mice found that exposure to diverse microbes doesn’t always reduce allergic reactions, challenging the notion that microbial exposure is universally beneficial in allergy prevention. Credit: SciTechDaily.comThe notion that some level of microbial exposure might reduce our risk of developing allergies has arisen over the last few decades and has been termed the hygiene hypothesis. Now, an article published in Science…

The NIAID-funded OUtMATCH trial shows that omalizumab, a monoclonal antibody treatment, significantly improves food tolerance in children and adolescents with food allergies, leading to a potential new treatment option.A treatment using monoclonal antibodies substantially improved the tolerance of various everyday foods in children and adolescents with food allergies, according to a planned interim analysis of an advanced clinical trial. The trial is sponsored and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious…

Researchers at Northwestern University have created a targeted allergy treatment using antibody-coated nanoparticles to inhibit specific mast cells, successfully preventing allergic reactions in mice without broader immune system suppression.In a mouse study, a new approach successfully prevented anaphylaxis without causing side effects.Researchers at Northwestern University have created the first targeted treatment to avert allergic reactions, which can vary from mild symptoms like itchy hives and watery eyes to severe…

Researchers have developed a guide for detecting rare B cells, crucial in understanding food allergies and immune responses. Utilizing a technique involving antigen tetramers, this work facilitates the study of these cells’ diverse roles, from combating diseases to causing allergies. The research also extends to assessing vaccine efficacy, potentially aiding global scientific advancement. Credit: SciTechDaily.comResearchers have developed a guide for detecting rare B cells, crucial in understanding food allergies and…

Research has demonstrated the crucial role of a child’s living environment and lifestyle in shaping early life immune development. The study, focusing on South African children, found that rural children’s immune systems develop multiple pathways in response to varied exposures, contrasting with urban counterparts.Children raised in rural environments who spend a lot of time outdoors with some exposure to animals grow to have better-regulated immune systems than children living in urban environments, a new study has…

If you’re one of the one in ten adults who has a food allergy, I feel your pain. You become a whizz at reading ingredient labels at light speed, but you can never enjoy a meal out without confirming multiple times that there won’t be allergens in your dish or cross contamination happening in the kitchen. You always have to pack a separate meal or bring an “allergy-free” option, and you’ll typically be left out when colleagues bring baked goods from home.But what do you think is worse: developing a food allergy later in…

Mount Sinai researchers identified an allergy pathway that improves antitumor immunity in lung cancer. Combining immunotherapy with an allergy drug, dupilumab, yielded significant tumor reduction in a clinical study, suggesting a new approach to enhance cancer treatment. A Mount Sinai study found that blocking an allergy pathway boosts antitumor immunity in lung cancer, with an allergy drug, dupilumab, enhancing the effectiveness of immunotherapy in patients. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai…