Health Discoveries in General Health News
May is a peak time to focus on National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month
May 11, 2010
May may bring spring flowers, but it can be a problem time for millions of people who have asthma and allergies. "It's a peak season for asthma and allergy sufferers, and a perfect time to educate your patients, family, friends, co-workers and others about these diseases," says the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
That's why the AAFA chooses May each year as the National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month.
Pollen in springtime is only one of hundreds of substances encountered in daily life that can set off an allergic reaction in people of all ages. Among the most common categories of allergens are molds, household dust, animal proteins such as cat dander, industrial chemicals, foods, medicines and insect stings.
Asthma, a lung disease in which the airways become blocked and cause breathing difficulty, falls into two categories: extrinsic (allergy-based) or intrinsic (non-allergic). More than half of the estimated 20 million Americans who have the disease have allergic asthma, including about 2.5 million children.
The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, the research arm of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, has a clinical trial under way to determine why blood cells cause individuals to have allergic reactions to milk and eggs, and if those allergies can be lessened.
That's why the AAFA chooses May each year as the National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month.
Pollen in springtime is only one of hundreds of substances encountered in daily life that can set off an allergic reaction in people of all ages. Among the most common categories of allergens are molds, household dust, animal proteins such as cat dander, industrial chemicals, foods, medicines and insect stings.
Asthma, a lung disease in which the airways become blocked and cause breathing difficulty, falls into two categories: extrinsic (allergy-based) or intrinsic (non-allergic). More than half of the estimated 20 million Americans who have the disease have allergic asthma, including about 2.5 million children.
The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, the research arm of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, has a clinical trial under way to determine why blood cells cause individuals to have allergic reactions to milk and eggs, and if those allergies can be lessened.