Allergies & Asthma

Omalizumab (Xolair) maintained efficacy for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, a researcher reported. In an open-label extension study of two, 24-week clinical trials, omalizumab was associated with significant improvements in nasal polyp scores (mean change -0.97, 95% CI -1.25 to -0.69), nasal congestion scores (mean change -0.99, 95% CI -1.14 to -0.83), and Sino-Nasal Outcome

Owning a dog while pregnant appeared to shape children’s immune systems well into adolescence, a researcher reported. In a cohort of 1,193 mother-child pairs in southeast Michigan, the area under the curve for immunoglobulin E levels over ages 10-14 (“IgE trajectory”) was 28.8% lower in children with prenatal pet exposure vs children whose mothers kept

Food allergy diagnoses have nearly doubled among Black children in the past two decades, and racial disparities have emerged for parents managing food allergy, according to a pair of studies. Among 326 parents whose children had food allergies, white children were close to 3 times as likely as Black children to have access to allergen-free

Treatment with the investigational anti-IgE biologic ligelizumab was generally effective in patients with H1 antihistamine-unresponsive chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) who did not achieve complete symptom control with omalizumab (Xolair), an exploratory analysis of a phase IIb extension study showed. In a subset of omalizumab-treated patients with a score greater than 0 on the 7-day urticaria

Switching to telemedicine for routine asthma visits in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic was linked with positive disease control and an increase in appointment “show rates” among Los Angeles inner city children, a researcher reported. Delivery of routine asthma care via telemedicine did not appear to negatively impact asthma control among the children

Black children were more likely to have wheat, soy, and seafood allergies than white children, with the starkest differences seen with shellfish, survey data from the FORWARD cohort showed. The analysis of phenotypic differences among a sampling of close to 650 food-allergic children showed that nearly one in four Black children under age 5 had

The investigational monoclonal antibody tezepelumab proved to be an effective therapy for uncontrolled severe asthma in patients with and without perennial and seasonal allergies, a post-hoc analysis of data from the phase II PATHWAY study found. The subgroup analysis focused on patients who did and did not have baseline sensitivity to perennial allergens such as

Patients with allergies to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) could be at an increased risk for opioid use disorder, a researcher reported. In a cohort of patients with osteoarthritis in a large hospital system in Massachusetts, those with NSAID allergies had a significantly higher risk of receiving a future diagnosis of opioid use disorder compared with

Results from a preliminary study showed novel voice and breath analysis using a smartphone app to be a useful measure of lung function, and researchers say the technique may prove to be a valuable tool for identifying and monitoring respiratory disease. Automated voice and breath analysis was found to have value for predicting lung function,

Patients with cancer and COVID-19 have a higher risk of severe disease and mortality, researchers reported. Of 89 cancer patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) due to COVID-19, 32 died, a mortality rate of 36%, reported Michael Dang, MD, a critical care fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City,

Patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who reported using marijuana had less risk of in-hospital mortality and pneumonia than non-users, according to a nationwide population-based study. Use of marijuana was associated with a 37.6% reduction in the odds of dying in the hospital (OR 0.624, 95% CI 0.407-0.958, P=0.0309) among patients diagnosed with

Kids whose mothers had depression and anxiety during pregnancy were at a greater risk of asthma in later childhood, according to a prospective cohort study based in the Netherlands. Mothers who experienced stress or depression while pregnant had children with a 46%-91% increased risk of asthma later on (range OR 1.46 [95% CI 1.12-1.90] to

There is no medical justification for exempting respiratory patients from compulsory face mask regulations, and doing so places this already vulnerable population at greater risk for COVID-19, a global group of pulmonary specialists said. Beginning in May, the Spanish government mandated face masks in open- and closed-space public places, but the mandate exempted people with

Very early introduction of high-dose gluten was associated with a lower prevalence of celiac disease at 3 years of age in a prespecified secondary analysis from the Enquiring About Tolerance (EAT) infant food allergy prevention trial. None of the infants in the analysis randomized to the gluten early introduction arm of the study had developed

The FDA issued a warning Thursday against taking diphenhydramine (Benadryl) at more than recommended doses, following accounts of at least one teen dying from overuse. The agency is investigating reports of teens who have been hospitalized and died after taking part in the latest social media craze encouraging youth to consume a dangerous amount of

earn free cme credit Earn CME credit by reading this article and completing the posttest. Sign Up Study Authors: Cornelia A. Verberkt, Marieke H.J. van den Beuken-van Everdingen, et al.; Eric W. Widera Target Audience and Goal Statement: Pulmonologists, pain management specialists, primary care physicians, public health and policy experts The goal of this study

Note that some links may require registration or subscription. The Pentagon took some of the money meant for spending on masks and swabs for the COVID-19 pandemic and spent it on jet engine parts and body armor instead. (Washington Post) British prime minister Boris Johnson has ordered a 10 p.m. curfew for bars and restaurants,

In patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, add-on mepolizumab (Nucala) reduced both polyp size and the need for surgery in the SYNAPSE study, a researcher reported. In the 52-week, phase III, multicenter trial, treatment with the IL-5 inhibitor biologic was associated with a 57% reduction in the need for surgery versus placebo in patients

Fixed-dose triple therapy with fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol (Trelegy Ellipta) improved lung function in adults whose asthma was uncontrolled with an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and long-acting beta-agonist (LABA), the CAPTAIN study showed. On Wednesday, based on findings from the trial, the FDA approved the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment at two different doses for adults 18 and

Specific genetic alterations in children and teens with asthma may identify those who will not benefit from treatment with the long-acting β2-adrenergic receptor agonist (LABA) salmeterol, a researcher reported. For the study, 241 children and teens (age 12-18) with asthma taking inhaled corticosteroids were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive personalized care (prescribing by rs1042713 genotype)

Vitamin D3 supplementation added to low-dose inhaled corticosteroids was not associated with longer time to asthma exacerbations among high-risk children with low baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, researchers reported. The mean time to exacerbation was 240 days in children randomized to the vitamin D3 supplementation group and 253 days in the placebo group (mean group difference

Rural healthcare access in the U.S. continues to suffer due to problems with affordability, former agriculture secretary Mike Espy, now the Democratic candidate for a Senate seat in Mississippi, said Tuesday at a virtual meeting of the Rural Council at the Democratic National Convention. “So many low-income persons are afraid to get sick, because when

Short-term treatment with a low-dose opioid was associated with significantly improved health status in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with advanced disease and chronic breathlessness despite optimal pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical treatment. In a randomized trial of over 100 patients, twice daily treatment for 4 weeks with an oral sustained-release morphine (10 mg) was associated

As another so-called triple therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) hits the market, pulmonologists and primary care physicians are beginning to consider which patients are most appropriate for these treatments, and how much added benefit these products offer relative to more conventional — and better understood — two-drug combinations. The FDA approved AstraZeneca’s fixed-dose,

Among older former cigarette smokers, a strong correlation was shown between smoking duration and health, with longer smoking history associated with greater risk for poor overall health, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and chronic disease, according to CDC research. In national data, for people ages 65 and older who had once smoked but quit, a

Corticosteroid bursts as short as 2 weeks or less were still linked to severe adverse events among relatively healthy users, according to a large study from Taiwan. For people taking oral steroids over a median 3 days, the risk of such events was elevated in the 5-30 days after steroid therapy initiation compared with the

TTHealthWatch is a weekly podcast from Texas Tech. In it, Elizabeth Tracey, director of electronic media for Johns Hopkins Medicine, and Rick Lange, MD, president of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, look at the top medical stories of the week. This week’s topics include antibody testing for COVID-19, Apgar score

“If you have something that is potentially beneficial, safe, and cheap, what do you have to lose?” — Paul Marik, MD, of Eastern Virginia Medical School, on quercetin’s potential place in COVID-19 treatment. “There’s a lot of thanks from the community when we do autopsies.” — Sharon Fox, MD, of Louisiana State University in New