Medical News: ACAAI: Sublingual Ragweed Pill Wins in Pivotal Trials - in Meeting Coverage, ACAAI from MedPage Today

Medical News: ACAAI: Sublingual Ragweed Pill Wins in Pivotal Trials – in Meeting Coverage, ACAAI from MedPage Today

Risky side effects from Singulair

This month, parents in New York publicly accused the drug Singulair to be directly responsible for the death of their 15 year old son. It turns out that Merck, the manufacturer, was aware of the potential for suicidal or depressed thoughts. Instead of publishing this potentially life threatening side effect, they chose to quietly change their package insert during October of 2007. Only the death above brought the change to my attention. The two national allergy societies, the Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology with the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, have jointly noted that while there have been no prior publicly reported cases associating death with taking Singulair, both societies agreed with the U.S. government’s Food and Drug Administration’s call for more information. The mechanism of this adverse reaction is unclear. I stated publicly, on television and in print, that I had no knowledge of this serious accusation. It turns out that I may have spoken too soon. The next week, one of my patients reported suicidal thoughts while taking Singulair. However, these thoughts ceased after she stopped taking Singulair. I am now questioning my patients whom take Singulair even more closely.

If you are taking Singulair, then I have several recommendations. First, make sure you know why you have been prescribed Singulair. Second, take Singulair only as directed. Third, be on the watch for depressive or suicidal thoughts. Fourth, if you suspect Singulair is causing this, it is okay to stop Singulair suddenly if it is being taken for allergic rhinitis (hay fever). However, if Singulair is being taken for asthma, do not stop it suddenly without contacting your doctor. Recognize that your asthma may flare up and that this could be a potentially life-threatening change also. Finally, if you have questions, ask your doctor.

Asthma OTC Inhalers Phased Out from 2012 | Big Health Report

Asthma OTC Inhalers Phased Out from 2012 Big Health Report FDA discriminates against chemcial injured

Association between traditional farming and childhood wheeze from the GABRIEL Advanced Study Group

The European GABRIEL Advanced Studies project has provided a large body of data and samples for investigating effects of traditional farm environments on childhood asthma and atopy. Research on the GABRIELA cohort has demonstrated that traditional farming environments like those found in Europe have a protective effect on childhood atopy and, less consistently, childhood asthma. Yet, recent findings show that microbial diversity in farming environments appears to play a stronger role for asthma than for atopy. This month’s issue holds another important report on the impact of farm life on different childhood wheeze phenotypes by Fuchs et al. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 2012;130:382-388.e6).

Fuchs et al note that there are different wheeze phenotypes that correlate to different clinical outcomes, and that comorbid atopy complicates the search for wheeze-specific farm effects. To address this, the authors partition the study population into atopic and non-atopic children. In addition to analyzing the farm effect on atopy, they further investigate the effect on different wheeze phenotypes (transient, current, persistent, late-onset), airway inflammation and lung function for atopic and non-atopic children, separately.

They report that farm environment has a significant beneficial effect on all wheeze phenotypes. This protective effect was independent of atopic sensitization. This was different for lung mechanics as measured by lung function and on airway inflammation, on which farming had no appreciable overall effect. However, farm-exposed atopic children had less severe lung function impairment and lower exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) than non-exposed atopic children.

Fuchs et al. speculate that farming’s protective effects are mediated through antiviral activities of the innate immune system that minimize respiratory infections. Future steps in their research to better elucidate underlying mechanisms will be analyses in prospective setups and studies further including the analysis of innate and adaptive immune mechanisms related to defense against viral infections and the role of the microbiome in upper and lower airways herein.