One in 12 US kids might have a food allergy, survey shows

By macleans.ca - Monday, June 20, 2011 at 10:52 AM - 0 Comments

According to a news study published in Pediatrics, one in 12 kids in the United States might have a food allergy, and more than one-third of them have severe allergies. What’s more, allergies are more common in the children of minority groups. Previous studies estimated that between two and eight per cent of kids had a food allergy, but most were based on studies asking lots of different health questions, not just about allergies. This study focused solely on the rate and severity of food allergies, surveying a representative sample of almost 40,000 adults who lived with a kid under 18. The results showed that 8 per cent of kids had a diagnosed food allergy or symptoms that indicated one, most commonly to peanuts, milk, and shellfish.

Reuters

Mitchel Raphael on moustaches—and MPs worth a Halloween visit

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 11:20 AM - 0 Comments

NDP MP Peter Stoffer has his 'stache shaved for Movember | Sean Kilpatrick/CP

Scott Brison’s lonely night
Two of Glen Pearson’s adopted children arrived from Sudan three years ago, knowing nothing about Halloween. After explaining the concept, the Liberal MP woke up on his kids’ first Halloween in Canada to find them in costume, all set to trick or treat. When he broke the news that they’d have to wait until dark, “They both burst into tears because they thought they got to go out all day to people’s houses and get candy.” They felt better that night, once they had sacks of treats. “It was something they never dreamed of as possible,” says the MP. Now, Pearson’s Halloween tradition is to stay home handing out treats while his kids hit the streets. Newfoundland Liberal MP Siobhan Coady has fine-tuned her Halloween handouts. “My sister is allergic to nuts so I always make sure I have a nut-free option. I also give out chips, chocolate, and Play-Doh. It’s a little surprise.” Minister for International Co-operation Bev Oda, when at home for Halloween, knows all six kids who come to her door in the sparsely populated area. Her tradition is to give them presents, including MP3 players and video games. Halloween is a lonely time for Liberal MP Scott Brison and spouse Maxime Saint-Pierre. “There are three houses on our road,” he says. “We own two, and the other belongs to my 90-year-old aunt Margie [Faulkner].” They keep candy on hand just in case, but no one ever knocks. “It kinda reminds me of my fifth birthday party,” says Brison. “My mother had this great party. Nobody showed.”

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The brewing fight for pet-free flights

By Stephanie Findlay - Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 1:20 PM - 15 Comments

When Air Canada banned pets from aircraft cabins in 2006, pet owners were furious. But many say the airline’s recent decision to reverse that ban was a bigger mistake, as it puts pets ahead of people—and may even put lives at risk.

As of Canada Day, dogs and cats can travel with their owners on executive or economy Air Canada flights, as long as they’re in pet carriers that fit under the airplane seats. The plan, which was recently announced as part of Air Canada’s “renewed commitment to the customer” initiative, allows pet owners to register their pets 24 hours before the flight, as long as they pay a $50 or $100 fee. Continue…

Fruit juice can block some pills, new study shows

By Kate Lunau - Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 6:14 PM - 0 Comments

Drinking a glass of orange juice in the morning seems like a healthy idea—but if you’re taking prescription drugs, it could be just the opposite, according to a new study. University of Western Ontario professor David G. Bailey has shown that grapefruit and some other juices—including orange and apple—can decrease the absorption of certain drugs, in some cases destroying their effectiveness altogether.

In this study, Bailey recruited healthy volunteers to take the antihistamine fexofenadine (also known as Allegra), washed down with either one glass of grapefruit juice; water containing naringin, which gives the juice its bitter taste; or plain water. When the drug was taken with juice, only half of it was absorbed compared to when it was taken with water. Bailey says naringin blocked the drug from moving from the small intestine into the bloodstream.

It isn’t Bailey’s first foray into this type of research; he announced almost 20 years ago that grapefruit juice could boost levels of felodipine, a high-blood pressure drug in the body, causing it to concentrate in the blood stream. While controversial at the time, it’s now an accepted fact and even bears a name: the “Grapefruit Juice Effect.” (Today, nearly 50 drugs carry warning labels for this.)

But while that study showed grapefruit juice can boost absorption of some drugs, potentially leading to overdose, his latest research suggests it can have the opposite effect on some other medications.

Bailey’s press release notes that grapefruit, orange and apple juices have been proven to lower the absorption of anticancer agent etoposide; some beta blockers, which are used to treat high blood pressure; cyclosporine, which is taken to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs; and some antibiotics, too. But “we don’t [yet] know all the drugs affected,” he admits.

The bottom line: talk to your doctor before mixing juice and prescription medications. And when in doubt, drink water.

Stress can worsen allergies, new study shows

By Kate Lunau - Friday, August 15, 2008 at 10:39 AM - 0 Comments

Stress doesn’t just make your palms sweat and your heart beat faster—according to new research, it can cause your allergies to act up, too.

In a new study, researchers from Ohio State University recruited 28 men and women who suffered from hay fever and seasonal allergies, and tested their allergic reactions using a standard pin-prick test. To induce stress in the test subjects, researchers asked them to give a 10-minute speech before a panel of evaluators, then solve math problems without paper or pen. To cap it off, they then had to watch their performance on videotape. For the low-stress test, they read from a magazine and then taped themselves reading the material aloud. Researchers measured their allergic reaction through the appearance of “wheals”—raised wounds on the forearms.

“The wheals on a person who was moderately anxious because of the experiment were 75 per cent larger after the experiment, compared to that same person’s response on the day when they were not stressed,” says Ohio State researcher Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, according to ScienceDaily.

Test subjects who were highly stressed, meanwhile, had wheals that were twice as big after the stress test, compared to when they were more relaxed.The next day, they were also four times more likely to have a more prominent reaction.

Ten worst (U.S.) allergy cities revealed!

By Kate Lunau - Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 6:19 PM - 0 Comments

Planning a trip to the U.S.? The Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America has released its list of the 100 worst American cities for spring allergies. According to the AAFA, rankings are based on the “scientific analysis” of three factors: pollen scores, number of allergy medications used per patient, and number of allergy specialists per patient. Here’s the ten worst:

Lexington, KY

Greensboro, NC

Johnson City, TN

Augusta, GA

Jackson, MS

Knoxville, TN

Birmingham, AL

New Orleans, LA

Little Rock, AR

San Diego, CA

There don’t seem to be any similar rankings for Canada—but our West Coast is apparently going through one of the worst hay fever seasons in years, with a pollen count that’s five times the level of last year. (Tips on managing your allergies here.)