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Halloween is filled with spooky fun and sugary…
Date Recorded
October 30, 2023 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health
Diet and Nutrition MetaDescription
Ensure a safe and joyous Halloween for kids with food allergies. Learn strategies for trick-or-treating and events, and how to participate the allergy-friendly 'teal pumpkin' trend.
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Allergen avoidance and medications are the first…
Date Recorded
July 24, 2020 Transcription
Interviewer: You've tried the sprays and the pills for your seasonal allergies, but they just don't seem to work. So what are the next steps to finding allergy relief?
Dr. Gretchen Mae Oakley is a nose and sinus expert at U of U Health. She's really good with allergies too. So in our previous conversation with Dr. Oakley, we talked about managing those symptoms with prescription and over-the-counter sprays and other medications. If you haven't listened to that podcast, be sure to check that out first. But Dr. Oakley, if those sprays and pills aren't working, what are the next steps that you would take with a patient?
Dr. Oakley: The main next step that we generally talk about with patients is allergy testing, and that is identifying what the patient is specifically allergic to or the things, you know, they're specifically allergic to. And the goal behind doing that allergy testing and the reason we don't necessarily do that upfront is because the main goal is kind of a step towards the immunotherapy option. And this is a treatment for allergies that can be very effective for a lot of patients who, you know, are still struggling after medical therapy. And the idea behind it is basically desensitizing your immune system to the allergies, so it's less reactive to that allergen or those allergens.
Interviewer: And it seems like most people I talked to that have allergies, they'll be like, "Oh, I need to go get my allergies tested." In their mind, it's the first thing that you do. Do you find that to be common?
Dr. Oakley: I do. Yeah. I get that question actually a lot, "Should I be allergy tested?" And it's certainly satisfies our curiosity in many cases of, you know, what we're allergic to, but it doesn't necessarily change the treatment if we haven't done those medical management steps yet, because if, you know, whether you're allergic to this specific pollen or that specific, you know, weed, or this tree, or that grass, you're still going to be using those as, you know, your earlier steps. You're still going to be using, you know, those nasal steroids sprays first or the oral antihistamines first and the antihistamine sprays first, because that has, you know, a broader effect, you know, on all of those.
So that's what we generally don't do that upfront, because it doesn't necessarily change our first couple steps and, you know, the treatment. But it does affect, you know, our later steps. If we're thinking of immunotherapy, we need to know what we're specifically treating for that to work. And so that's kind of where it comes in and the point behind the testing, you know, at that stage generally.
Interviewer: Yeah, so your patients that you take at that point to the testing stage, I'd imagine they're just not finding any sort of relief from the first steps, or their allergies are just so terrible. I mean, what kind of patient then makes it to the testing stage usually? You're able to . . . I would imagine the medical things that you do first, the sprays and the pills take care of a lot of what patients experience.
Dr. Oakley: Yeah. I would say the patients that generally get to that next stage are those that are getting either really severe or really bothersome seasonal allergies that are refractory to the medical therapy. And they just don't want to, you know, suffer every summer, all summer or every spring, all spring. Those are good candidates for immunotherapy. They're getting breakthrough symptoms despite those, you know, medical treatments.
Other patients will have year-long allergies because they may be allergic to, you know, dust mite, and it's all around them. It's in their house. And, you know, there are things they can do, like, you know, try cleaning their house really well. However, we've not seen that those things will fix the problem in a noticeable way. They'll still get their symptoms. And so, you know, those patients are suffering all year, and, you know, there are immunotherapies that can help with those perennial allergies.
An additional option, for example, would be a patient who has a cat that they're allergic to, but they're very, you know, emotionally connected to their cat. It would be distressing for them to get rid of their cat, or it's a partner's cat and, you know, they can't necessarily avoid it. It's not so easy to always get rid of a pet. So that'd be another case where immunotherapy may, you know, play a good role for that patient.
Interviewer: When you get to that point, you do some of the testing, and then after you get the results, how do you proceed to the immunotherapy and how does that work?
Dr. Oakley: So generally, we're identifying the allergies that are causing, you know, the sensitivities that the patients have based on how they respond to, for example, skin prick testing, which would be the most commonly used allergy testing upfront. It can be done, you know, in the office. Patients are tested for multiple allergies at once usually on their arm. You're using a grid system to see what skin responses are the most significant to determine what they're, you know, most allergic to. And those are the allergies that you target, you know, their worst reactions with the immunotherapy. And the idea behind the immunotherapy is giving them very small but ramping up doses of that thing that they're allergic to, to just gradually desensitize the immune system to it.
Interviewer: I remember getting those as a kid. I've had more success with the first line of defense in later life, with some of the new medications that came out, I don't know, probably 20 years ago now, but I say new. So like my experience was the immunotherapy didn't really help me. Do a lot of people experience success with it?
Dr. Oakley: It's generally considered to be 80% to 90% effective. But, you know, it's not 100% effective, as you said. So some people don't get that response. It's generally very effective, but it is a commitment. It's very much a time commitment. You know, it's a three to five-year treatment where patients are coming in anywhere from a weekly to a . . . or I should say anywhere from a twice weekly to a monthly basis for injections, you know, to get that benefit.
Interviewer: Yeah. I remember it was twice a week I'd go in and get those allergy shots. So if immunotherapy doesn't work then, then it sounds like the last option is surgery, and I didn't even know there were surgical methods for allergies. Talk about that.
Dr. Oakley: Well, I should clarify because surgery is more of an assistive option.
Interviewer: Oh, okay.
Dr. Oakley: So not so much a treatment. It doesn't specifically cure or treat allergies. It helps with the symptoms, but in and of itself would not be sufficient. It goes along with these other treatments. So surgery can address some of the more bothersome nasal obstruction symptoms. For example, well, let's just say specifically from anatomical factors, like a deviated septum or enlarged turbinates, which are, you know, shelves of tissue in the nose that warm and humidify the air but can get quite enlarged with allergies. So treating some of those anatomic, you know, factors can improve symptoms of nasal congestion, but you need to treat the trigger as well, the ongoing allergy trigger. So that's that medical management or immunotherapy as well. So the surgery helps, but it's not a treatment in and of itself.
Interviewer: If somebody is listening to this and you just would want them to take away one thing after we're done with our conversation, what would that be?
Dr. Oakley: The main thing I would say is don't suffer in silence. This is a really common problem with many options for treating it. We know from, you know, research study after research study that there is a significant improvement in quality of life when these allergies are managed appropriately in patients rather than just struggling with really bothersome and really distressing, you know, symptoms on a day-to-day or seasonal or yearly basis. You know, try some of these easier steps. Don't hesitate to come in and get some, you know, formal consultation and talk about other options that can really, really benefit you. MetaDescription
Allergen avoidance and medications are the first line of treatment against your allergy symptoms. But for some patients, these options just aren’t enough. Allergy specialist Dr. Gretchen Oakley talk about the advanced treatment options available to help provide relief to patients with severe allergies.
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Unfortunately, there is no cure for…
Date Recorded
June 26, 2020 Transcription
Interviewer: There is no cure for allergies. Really the best you can do is manage the symptoms, and the first step to doing that is to avoid the things that give you allergy symptoms, but that can be hard. A lot of times you can't do that. So then the next step are sprays, pills, and eye drops.
Dr. Gretchen Mae Oakley is a nose and sinus expert at U of U Health. She's also an allergy expert, and she's going to take us through the process of trying to figure out how to manage those symptoms and then maybe help us understand when you might need to get professional help. So Dr. Oakley, let's first start with allergy sprays.
Managing Allergies with Nasal Sprays
Dr. Oakley: There are a couple main nasal sprays that work really well and have great evidence behind them for the treatment of allergies. Our first-line treatment based on the literature and just how well it works in patients is nasal steroid sprays, and fortunately they're all over the counter. Some of those sprays would be, if I were to name some, Fluticasone nasal spray, Mometasone, Budesonide. Those are probably some of the three most common. There're a couple others in that, you know, similar family and those work really well.
You can use them up to twice a day, more than that is not going to help anymore, but once or twice a day use. They're very reliant on regular consistent use, and they have a bit of a slower ramping up effect, so you really want to use them for at least, you know, a few weeks on a daily basis just very regularly to get their full effect rather than, you know, here and there when your symptoms bother you.
Interviewer: If the over-the-counter stuff doesn't work, are their prescription ones that are very different from that, or is most of them over the counter nowadays?
Dr. Oakley: There's an antihistamine spray that is a prescription that can actually work great for a lot of patients too, either as their primary treatment or as a, you know, secondary, an additional treatment if the corticosteroids sprays alone don't work enough for them. That antihistamine spray is called Azelastine, and it works particularly well for those let's call them the wet allergy symptoms, which is, you know, more of those like sneezing, runny nose, itchy, watery eyes, that kind of tickle sensation that we can get with allergies. They work okay for the nasal congestion symptoms, but the steroid sprays work better for that.
Why Some Treatments Aren't Effective for Everyone
Interviewer: What is it that makes it so different from person to person that perhaps maybe a steroidal spray would work for one person but not another, they'd have to use, you know, an antihistamine spray? Is it just the difference in us as humans?
Dr. Oakley: We don't always know exactly why some patients respond better to some sprays, you know, versus others. It may just be a severity of their symptoms. You know, they may get 75% better with the steroid sprays, but it may just not quite be enough. Whereas somebody else where their symptoms are maybe moderate rather than severe, they may do great, and that's all they need.
Some patients may be a little more bothered by like the runny nose and the sneeze, whereas, you know, in those cases antihistamine sprays would work better for them. So sometimes we just get different presentation of our allergies, different symptoms and different severities. But you're right that the other factor is we're all just a little bit different and we respond just a little bit different to certain treatments.
Interviewer: It can be a little frustrating as an allergy sufferer sometimes because I think sometimes as patients we think, "Well, I'm going to go in and the doctor's going to give me the cure," right? But with allergies it sounds like, you know, sometimes you have to do some experimenting on what's going to work best for that individual person.
Dr. Oakley: Exactly. There's definitely some trial and error there to try to get it just right for that patient. The third thing in terms of nasal treatments I didn't mention, that I'd be remiss if I didn't mention, is very straightforward, and it's just some saline in the nose, saline irrigations specifically. Those can work really well as an adjunct treatment. It's not going to in and of itself fix your allergies, but it can help with some of the symptoms along with some of these other treatments by mechanically washing, you know, those allergens, those irritants, those pollens out of the nose so they're not just sitting, you know, on the lining of the nose inflaming it. So it can help, you know, in some of those ways as well.
Oral Treatments for Multiple Allergy Symptoms
Interviewer: So do you normally go nasal spray first and then oral medication? Is that how that usually goes?
Dr. Oakley: I would say, in general, yes. I like to give people topical treatments over oral treatments if possible, just because your side effects tend to be lower. The other thought in that however, that I'll talk to patients about, is that certain oral treatments, like oral antihistamines specifically, those tend to work similarly to a nasal steroid spray, have similar effectiveness, but sometimes patients will have symptoms that are not just in the nose. They'll have, you know, maybe some dermatitis that they get with their allergies that bother them or, you know, symptoms like that that are elsewhere, and sometimes the systemic therapy, an oral therapy in that case can be a little bit more helpful than a localized therapy.
Interviewer: So oral medications, let's talk about over the counter first. What are kind of the choices there?
Dr. Oakley: I would say the main one, the front runner are those oral antihistamines. So the newer versions that tend to work better for patients with fewer side effects are those medications like Loratadine and Cetirizine and Fexofenadine. Those are the main kind of newer generation oral antihistamines. The older generation antihistamines would be, you know, what we know as Benadryl, which can work too but has, tends to have higher side effects and be more sedating for patients. So we generally recommend those newer generation, non-sedating medications. And they have great evidence behind them, they work well, and those are over the counter.
Interviewer: And then itchy eyes is another symptom that a lot of people have with allergies. I used to suffer terribly, and then I was prescribed some eye drops, which now I think I can just get over the counter because I've bought them. I think they're the same thing, which makes all the difference in the world. Can you talk about some of the eye drops you might want to look for if itchy eyes are part of your allergy symptoms?
Dr. Oakley: Yeah, eye drops can actually help a lot, and it is generally an antihistamine eye drop. There are a couple different ones. One that's popping into my mind is Olopatadine. That can actually help patients significantly because a constant itchy eye will drive you crazy.
Finding the Right Combination for You
Interviewer: And just like all the other things, the nasal sprays, the oral medications, I had to try a couple of different antihistamine eye drops before I found the one that really kind of worked for me. So you know what, I started out thinking, well, let's see if we can give people, you know, some things they can try on their own, but then you start talking about how, you know, this combination isn't proven to work as well as that combination, and it can get really complicated really fast. So I'm starting to think maybe if like the first nasal spray doesn't work, maybe go see a doctor to try to figure out what combinations of stuff because that does get complicated pretty fast, doesn't it?
Dr. Oakley: It does get complicated pretty fast. It is certainly reasonable to try a couple over-the-counter meds on your own. I personally, you know, if I were in the patient's shoes, I would start a nasal spray and give that a few weeks personally. If that didn't work, you know, I'd maybe try an oral antihistamine for a couple weeks and see how I do. But after that, I don't see a lot of sense in just suffering. I think it's worth going in and talking to your doctor about some alternative options that may help quite a bit rather than just being miserable. MetaDescription
there is no cure for allergies—you can only manage the symptoms. The best allergy management is to avoid the allergen entirely, but that can sometimes be impossible. Allergy expert Dr. Gretchen Oakley explains how sprays, pills, and eye drops can be a part of your allergy management plan, and when you need to call in an expert.
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Most people can recognize the typical signs of a…
Date Recorded
October 07, 2019 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Diet and Nutrition
Kids Health Transcription
Dr. Gellner: Most people are able to recognize food allergies when they cause difficulty breathing, hives, and other signs of anaphylaxis. But what if certain foods just make your mouth itchy?
Announcer: Keep your kids healthy and happy. You are now entering the "Healthy Kids Zone" with Dr. Cindy Gellner on The Scope.
Dr. Gellner: So this is a topic I know way too much about. As someone with the classic atopic triad of allergies, asthma, and eczema, my immune system thought it would be fun to add a bunch of food allergies as well.
Now, while eating the tiniest bit of guacamole makes me look like a movie star who had a bad Botox job and sound like I have been smoking for decades before my throat actually starts to close off and I start wheezing, that's not what I'm going to talk about today. That is a true anaphylactic reaction, what most people think about when they hear that someone's allergic to a particular food.
Oral allergy syndrome is more like what I get when I eat apples in springtime. My mouth gets all itchy, but it goes away without me using my epinephrine. So what's the difference?
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, the AAAAI folks define oral allergy syndrome as a type of contact allergic reactions that happens with raw fruits and vegetables. It causes reactions pretty much immediately after eating uncooked fruits and vegetables. And the main symptom is itching and swelling of the mouth, face, lips, tongue, and throat. This is because of cross-reactivity with pollen. Oral allergy syndrome is sometimes called pollen fruit syndrome for this reason.
People who have seasonal allergies triggered by pollen have this because the proteins in some fruits and vegetables are very similar to those found in pollen. The AAAAI reports that up to 75% of adults who are allergic to birch tree pollen have reactions to apples or celery. And I just happen to be one of those lucky people. It can happen to people who have grass or fall ragweed allergies too. People who are allergic to grass can have reactions to peaches, tomatoes, melons, and oranges. People with ragweed allergies can have these symptoms with bananas, cucumbers, melons, and zucchini.
Notice I said that it happens when people eat raw fruit and veggies. One way people can reduce these reactions is to cook the foods because high temperatures break down the proteins that the body is reacting to. That's why I can't even touch the inside of a raw tomato without breaking out in hives, but I can eat tomato sauce on pasta.
Another way to decrease the reactions is to eat the foods only during the time of year that the pollens responsible for their reactions are low. For example, I can't eat apples during the spring, but I can in wintertime because there's no birch pollen floating around.
Unfortunately, there's no specific test for oral allergy syndrome and there's not a cure either. What I tell parents is that if you know your child has a reaction to a specific raw food, then avoid it during pollen seasons. Sometimes if a person is really bad, an allergist can do skin tests to look for specific pollens and then correlate that to the person's food reactions.
If your child has a reaction, then giving them an antihistamine will help with that particular reaction, but avoidance is really the key. If your child has reactions to several different foods or has anaphylaxis symptoms to food, then it might be time to discuss a referral to an allergist for your child to see what they all are allergic to.
Announcer: Have a question about a medical procedure? Want to learn more about a health condition? With over 2,000 interviews with our physicians and specialists, there's a pretty good chance you'll find what you want to know. Check it out at thescoperadio.com. MetaDescription
Could your itchy mouth be caused by a rare food allergy? Apples, tomatoes, fresh fruit, all can cause an oral allergy syndrome reaction. Learn the symptoms and how to relieve it.
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Itchy eyes. Runny nose. Difficulty breathing.…
Date Recorded
April 18, 2019 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Family Health and Wellness Transcription
Announcer: Health information from experts supported by research. From University of Utah Health, this is thescoperadio.com.
Interviewer: All right. Here's a scenario, Dr. Miller. A patient comes to you because of a runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, itchy throat. Okay? So you suspect seasonal allergies. What do you do to help them? Maybe I should back up. Are those the symptoms of allergies? Did we hit all of them?
Dr. Miller: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. So runny nose, sneezing, itchy eyes, itchy ears, itchy back of the throat, postnasal drip. Basically, these are, and especially the time of year, so if it's fall and spring when you have a lot of pollen.
Interviewer: That's like bingo.
Dr. Miller: Yeah. Ragweed in the fall, things like that.
Interviewer: Gotcha.
Dr. Miller: People get allergies.
Interviewer: Can you differentiate those symptoms from a cold, generally?
Dr. Miller: Yes. Generally, you can. A cold gives you the scratchy, uncomfortable feeling. You'll have some of the same symptoms, like postnasal drip, but you tend not to get that itchy eyes and itchy nose. And it just feels uncomfortable. Most people can differentiate between an upper respiratory infection versus allergies.
Interviewer: Yeah, I feel that I'm an allergy sufferer. I feel like I can usually when it comes on. So we've hit the signs, right? Those are some of the signs that you're suffering from some sort of a seasonal allergy from your environment.
Dr. Miller: Well, the other thing is you look and you can see the pollen counts, like in the spring and fall, you'll see when they start to go up that more and more people have problems with allergies.
Interviewer: And you see a lot of this sort of thing?
Dr. Miller: We do.
Interviewer: Okay.
Dr. Miller: We do quite a bit.
Interviewer: So, since you see a lot of it, you probably have a routine that you go through to help that patient if they're sick and tired of suffering?
Dr. Miller: Yeah. First of all, you have to make the diagnosis and so you listen to the history. So, just as we were talking about, if they come with those symptoms, it's the right time of year. Yes. You can say these are seasonal allergies and then you begin to talk about treatment. Avoidance is the best treatment. So, if you can stay out of the open where you have a lot of high . . . or you have a high pollen count, stay away from it if that's possible. Many times it's not possible, but that's the best thing.
Also, for people who are out working in the yard or they're out exercising or mowing the lawn, if they start to exhibit symptoms because the antigens from all these pollens, these particles are on their skin, which trigger the allergic reaction, you should go home, change your clothes, take a shower, wash it off, clean off the antigens.
Interviewer: All right.
Dr. Miller: That'll be the first thing to do.
Interviewer: So avoid it if you have to be out in it. Clean it off as soon as is feasible. What about putting one of those masks on?
Dr. Miller: Right. So you'll see gardeners wear those masks sometimes.
Interviewer: They're effective.
Dr. Miller: They are effective. They're partly effective. They're not a 100% effective, but they're better than just breathing in the particles, which will trigger allergic reactions in a lot of people, especially in high amounts like you might expect you would see in gardeners, lawn care people.
Interviewer: Okay. So can allergies possibly get worse over time if I don't do something about them?
Dr. Miller: In fact, they do. So some people will start out, especially when you're younger and you'll have some issues and they can tend to be worse over time as your body becomes more sensitized and produces a more aggressive allergic reaction every time you're exposed to them.
Interviewer: And that's regardless of I do something or not because aren't most treatments revolving around giving you symptom relief? Like there's no cure for allergies.
Dr. Miller: There isn't a cure per se. Although if you end up having desensitization shots, they many times will help reduce the burden of the allergic reaction and sometimes eliminates it completely. And people have very serious allergic reactions due to pollens and other particulates and you can't get away from the triggers. Sometimes these allergy shots which they start them in a low dose and then they increased the dose over time so that your immune system just becomes used to it. That's the theory behind it. That can actually be pretty helpful. So, in that sense, for some people, yes. The treatment can make it go away.
Interviewer: But I think I jumped ahead a little bit, because as a kid I got a lot of shots. I didn't find a lot of success personally with those, although people do. I ignored my symptoms for many, many years, and finally I got so bad I went to a doctor again and the doctor said, "Well, shots is really down the d in treatment options at this point."
Dr. Miller: Down the road. That's right.
Interviewer: There's a lot of stuff you can do before that. So what are some of those things that you would do then?
Dr. Miller: Well, interestingly, there are a number of medications now that are very effective for people who have mild to moderate symptoms of allergic reaction to pollens and particulates. And basically, you can use antihistamines, which are a pill that you take by mouth. And there's a couple of kinds. The older antihistamines have some side effects. They can make people sleepy, drowsy, fatigued. They tend to work pretty well. That is they suppress the itching and the sneezing and the itchy throat and those types of things. But they have a newer class of antihistamines that's non-sedating, and they work pretty well in suppressing the symptoms, and they don't give you that massive fatigue that some people get taking the older antihistamines.
Interviewer: And that's in a pill form?
Dr. Miller: That is in a pill form.
Interviewer: Okay.
Dr. Miller: The other thing that we've moved to, especially for sneezing and rhinitis that most people get with these allergies are nasal sprays, very mild doses of steroids in nasal sprays. And you spray that in on a daily basis, and it basically just cools down the lining of the sinuses and it's pretty effective for preventing sneezing and itching and scratchy throat, that kind of thing. They also have similar drops for the eyes for people who struggle with itching eyes during allergy season.
Interviewer: It didn't occur to me, but so like the nasal sprays, that's what I use. I've had great success with them.
Dr. Miller: They work pretty darn well for most people.
Interviewer: But something you just said earlier intrigued me. It's mainly for the sneezing symptom and maybe some of the itching?
Dr. Miller: Correct. It doesn't really work for the eyes. And so that's the nasal spray that you're talking about. So they make drops. They contain some of the same medicine and you can use those.
Interviewer: And the pills, do they take care of all of the symptoms, the antihistamine pills?
Dr. Miller: Yes. They do.
Interviewer: Okay.
Dr. Miller: So during allergy season for people with moderate symptoms, you'll find that they get relief both with the nasal spray and the oral antihistamine, especially the non-sedating antihistamine on a daily basis. So they just lacquer up, if you will, during that season.
And then also again, trying to stay away from the triggers. This is especially true for people who have allergies to pets. We haven't talked about that yet, but some people are allergic to cats, although they like to scratch the cat when the cat comes by and then the immediately they rub their eyes and all of a sudden they're going crazy. So the key there is avoidance. And for some people, unfortunately, they discover that they are allergic to pets, and in severe cases, they have to send the pet to a relative or somebody else. And that's unfortunate. That's really hard to do when people are attached to their pets. So the next best thing is you wash your hands after you pet the animal. But you have dander around the house and that sets people off.
Interviewer: We talked about some nasal histamines. Do you need to start taking those like, say, my allergies are going to kick in when the grass starts growing. For any of these actually, do I need to start ramping up, or do I just take it as soon as I need it?
Dr. Miller: That's a good question. So, basically, if you're anticipating a spell of allergy coming on with a particular season or if you're going to be out gardening, it's a good idea to get ahead of that a day or two before you head out.
Interviewer: Oh, so just a day or two?
Dr. Miller: Well, especially if you're going to be exposing yourself to high pollen counts. So starting the antihistamines two days before, a day before and then definitely starting the nasal spray probably maybe three, four days before because it does take a few days for the medicine to become maximally effective.
Interviewer: So, for me and my cat allergy and my mother-in-law who has cats, three or four days before I go for a visit that's what I want to do?
Dr. Miller: Either that or . . . well, I won't say don't visit because that's probably not a possibility or have a neutral space that you can visit her where the cats don't come with her.
Interviewer: Sure. That's fair enough. All right. Have we covered everything? I'm trying to think as a person with allergies if I feel that we have.
Dr. Miller: I do want to mention one thing. So some people use decongestants that they buy over-the-counter. Medications that actually dry out the mucosa. They're different than the nasal sprays that I'm talking about. They're steroid-based. So, when you go to the drugstore and buy what's called a decongestant, especially a decongestant nasal spray, we find that if those are used more than three, four days in a row, you can develop a rebound phenomenon that basically addicts you to that medication. So we would advise people not to use decongestant for treating allergy.
Interviewer: Okay.
Dr. Miller: So to stick with the steroid nasal sprays and the first-line antihistamines, if you can tolerate them or perhaps more commonly the non-sedating antihistamines.
Interviewer: Actually, you know what, you triggered another question as an allergy sufferer. Can I go and just get some over-the-counter stuff? I know the Flonase equivalent now is available over-the-counter.
Dr. Miller: Yeah. All the things that I'm talking about are over-the-counter.
Interviewer: So you don't even really need a visit to your physician for those things?
Dr. Miller: No. You can try those. And especially with the internet now you can look online and provided you have a reasonable source to read about what you can treat your allergies with, you can use a combination of a nasal steroid or you could use an antihistamine or you could use both to treat. Again, I think the simple stuff is if you can avoid the triggers, that's the very best thing. But again, many people can't, you have to be outside.
Interviewer: All right. So, if somebody tries over-the-counter stuff and they get relief, great. If not, what's the next step at that point? When do you want to go see a doctor?
Dr. Miller: So, one, if you're having symptoms on a pretty much daily basis and these symptoms are causing fatigue or if you're missing work and also if your sleep is impaired due to these allergies, you're up at night sneezing and you're back and forth to the Kleenex box, it's probably time to go to the physician. And the first thing that they would do is see if you're taking a maximal, not a maximal, but an appropriate number of over-the-counter medications that we talked about earlier, whether you're using them appropriately.
And if that's not working, then the next step would be to use prescription medications, which are a little more potent and could suppress the allergic reaction. Again, you may end up having testing because testing can help you identify the actual allergen triggers that you might want to avoid. Once you know that, it might be a little bit easier to figure out when you're exposed to an allergen and what to do after you're exposed or to prevent exposure.
Announcer: Have a question about a medical procedure? Want to learn more about a health condition? With over 2,000 interviews with our physicians and specialists, there's a pretty good chance you'll find what you want to know. Check it out at thescoperadio.com. MetaDescription
How to prevent your allergy symptoms, relieve the discomfort, and what treatment options are best for you.
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Seasonal allergies are miserable. No doubt about…
Date Recorded
September 26, 2022 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health Transcription
Allergies make us miserable. No doubt. But some of what you've heard about protecting your child against allergies may be an old wives' tale. I'll let you know what's true and what's false about seasonal allergies on today's Scope.
One of the biggest questions parents ask me when I tell them that their child has seasonal allergies is, "How can I prevent them from making my child miserable?" Some tried-and-true things you can do is to keep them indoors during high pollen times. This is usually early morning between 5:00 a.m. and 10:0 a.m. and then again at dusk. Also, if it's windy outside or someone is cutting the grass and your child is allergic to grass, keep them indoors. This means keeping the windows closed too.
Opening windows can allow allergens from outdoors to come in the home. An air conditioner is better than a fan if needed. Fans can pull in pollen as well. Pets that spend time outside can bring allergens from outside inside. It can be on their paws or on their fur. The key here is helping your child avoid what they're allergic to will decrease their chances of having an allergic reaction.
Another tip is to shower your child every night before bed. Pollen likes to stick on exposed body parts and collect in hair, so be sure to do a good scrubbing. Pollen tends to cause allergic reactions by being in your child's nose. But sometimes if a child has an allergy to grass, for example, and they go rolling around in the grass, they can get a rash or even hives. Covering up may or may not help that. It all depends on how sensitive your child is.
Many laundry detergents also help remove allergens from clothing. Just be sure to use one that says it's dye and fragrance free, as many kids with allergies tend to be sensitive to the smells and colors in some detergents. A big myth about allergies is that if you expose your child to whatever they are allergic to, that will help your child become immune and will decrease their allergy. While this is the basis for allergy shots, there's a lot more science behind immunotherapy, and it's very calculated as to how much allergen is in the shot serum. Exposing your child to whatever they're allergic to will only cause an allergic response.
Finally, allergies are not contagious. They are inherited. So if parents have allergies, there's a higher risk that their children will have them. But they aren't spread from kid to kid like cold viruses are. There are a lot of things your child's pediatrician can suggest to help with allergies. If your child is miserable every spring and fall or even year round, time to schedule an appointment to see how to best manage your child's allergies.
updated: September 26, 2022
originally published: September 17, 2018 MetaDescription
Seasonal allergies are miserable. No doubt about that. But do some of the things you’ve been told to help prevent allergy symptoms really work? Pediatrician Dr. Cindy Gellner debunks some of the common myths about seasonal allergies and shares tips to help your child avoid sneezing, itchy eyes, and runny noses.
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Does it seem like your child gets bad colds…
Date Recorded
December 18, 2023 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health
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You may think you know what to look for in pink…
Date Recorded
October 02, 2018 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Vision Transcription
Interviewer: You think you or maybe your kids have pinkeye. How will you know for sure and what should you do about it? We'll talk about that next on The Scope.
Announcer: This is From the Front Lines with emergency room Dr. Troy Madsen on The Scope.
Interviewer: Dr. Troy Madsen is an emergency room physician at University of Utah Health Care. Pinkeye. Let's talk about how you would diagnose a case of pinkeye and then what you would do about it because I hear it could be kind of difficult to diagnose like a school nurse, for example, might not be able to tell the difference from allergies or not. Is that the case?
Dr. Madsen: That is the case. And that's always what I'm thinking in my mind. So the most common thing we have is someone comes in and they say, "My eye hurts" or "My eyes hurt". I look at their eyes, they're red. So a couple of questions I ask and I say, "First of all, did this start in both eyes or did it start in one eye and spread to the other?"
If it starts in one eye, that's more likely what we would call pinkeye. And pinkeye is a bacterial infection often. Sometimes it's a viral infection but it's really tough to tease out which are bacterial and which are viral. Of course the ones we worry more about are the bacterial infections because we're going to treat those with antibiotic drops, but you figure it's not going to necessarily start in both eyes at the same time. It kind of start somewhere. It's going to start in one eye and then maybe you're rubbing that eye and then it spreads over to the other eye. So typically with pinkeye, that's the case.
Interviewer: Okay, so one eye hurts before the other generally.
Dr. Madsen: Exactly.
Interviewer: Red like bloodshot red, what's that red look like?
Dr. Madsen: So the red . . . Yes, that's tough to distinguish from allergies.
Interviewer: There's nothing really unique about it, huh?
Dr. Madsen: Not particularly. It can look a lot like allergies where just if you've ever had like allergies, just seasonal allergies, your eyes are bloodshot, they hurt, they itch, pinkeye looks very similar. With pinkeye though, we often see more discharge or more drainage from the eye. This kind of stuff that's not so much, just your eyes watering, which you have with allergies, but stuff that's kind of a little more whitish in color that looks more like you would imagine an infection looks.
So someone who says they wake up and my eyes are like matted shut. Again, allergies, we can sometimes see that but it's usually more with pinkeye. They have to pry their eye open or their kids' eye or they use like a washcloth and hold it on there to kind of loosen that up and pry it open. That's pretty typically with pinkeye and that helps me out to make that diagnosis.
Interviewer: All right. So then what does treatment look like? You said if it's a bacterial cause, then you would use antibiotic drops. It's hard to tell though, so you just . . .
Dr. Madsen: It is.
Interviewer: You just use antibiotic drops across the board or . . .?
Dr. Madsen: Typically yes, and you don't want to over-treat with antibiotics, but in practical terms, if I were to try and get a culture of the eye, send that to the lab, it takes couple days to get the result. It's not really that useful. So even though it might be viral, it's often bacterial so we treat with antibiotic drops. It means using drops several times a day or often for a week just make sure this clears up. Most people are going to have improvement in their symptoms after two or three days.
Interviewer: What if it's viral though and you're using the drops, they're not doing anything, will it just get better on it's own or . . .?
Dr. Madsen: It will.
Interviewer: Really?
Dr. Madsen: It will. Yes, with the viral it will just get better on its own and the antibiotic drops probably aren't going to do a whole lot for it but, again, it's hard to say because maybe after two or three days, you're feeling better and it could be that the virus got better on its own or maybe the drops treated the bacteria. But it's not the sort of thing, again, where a culture would be that helpful because it's going to take two or three days to get the results back. If it's bacterial, it could get significantly worse and really progressing, cause some issues wherein you can get infections around the eye or extending behind the eye as well.
Interviewer: And untreated, could it cause long term problems if you didn't go into anything about it or would it eventually just clear up regardless?
Dr. Madsen: It could clear up but the concern with the bacterial infections would be something that progresses, again, to where it spreads around the eye.
Interviewer: Infects the rest of, yes, other parts of your eye.
Dr. Madsen: Exactly. And so that's why even though in my mind I say, "Okay, this could be a viral infection," I'm also saying, "I want to treat this as likely a bacterial infection because the possibilities with the bacterial infection could be pretty significant." And I don't necessarily want to tell this person, "Wait two or three days and then come back when you have a significant infection around your eye that might require even something like IV antibiotics or hospital admission," if it got to that point and got that serious.
Interviewer: And don't need to go to an emergency room for this sort of thing. Urgent Care or a primary care provider probably would be able to take care of it.
Dr. Madsen: Absolutely.
Interviewer: And you could . . . even if you have to wait a day?
Dr. Madsen: Yes. Even if you had to wait a day, you're probably okay. I think the challenge for most parents is if their kid gets pinkeye, they're not going to let the kid come to school because it is highly contagious. You've got to make sure you're washing your hands, your kid's washing their hands. Kids get this at school, they pass it to other kids. So a parent's probably not going to want to wait a day to get in to see their primary care doctor. They'll go to an Urgent Care. If you have to come to the ER, you come to the ER. Either way, I'm guessing most parents want to get that treated and get their kid back to school and get them out of the house as soon as they can.
Announcer: Have a question about a medical procedure? Want to learn more about a health condition? With over 2,000 interviews with our physicians and specialists, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find what you want to know. Check it out at TheScopeRadio.com.
updated: October 2, 2018
originally published: August 19, 2016
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We know by now there is, unfortunately, no…
Date Recorded
March 31, 2016 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Family Health and Wellness Transcription
Interviewer: A new study is suggesting that watching funny cat videos can help expand your life expectancy. But there are a lot of funny videos, lots of cats, and lots of funny videos of cats. Which ones are the most beneficial to watch if you want to live a long and healthy life? This is coming up next on The Scope.
Announcer: Covering all aspects of women's health. This is "The Seven Domains of Women's Health" with Dr. Kirtly Jones on The Scope.
Interviewer: It's been said that laughing has great effects in life. Not only does it reduce blood pressure but it helps with stress and anxiety. Unless you're allergic to happiness, laughing just makes you happier. It's just that simple. But a new study out today is suggesting that laughter from watching a funny cat video not only brightens your day but it can actually help you live a healthier, longer life. Dr. Kirtly Jones is a woman's health expert and she knows all too well that emotional health is a key component of overall good health. But Dr. Jones, the study is telling me that even if I'm not a cat person, watching a funny video of a cat can help with my health. What's going on here? Let's talk about this.
Dr. Jones: Well, actually, there's been a great deal of research about funny cat videos and overall health. And it's important to know that various studies have shown that not only does it help your immune health, and we can talk about that, your cardiovascular health, and most importantly your emotional health. There are some caveats, though, some important things to know.
First of all, some of the early studies had men and women in the same group and those studies weren't as strong. You really have to separate men out because men watching videos, they really only laugh at videos of other men expressing gas or doing something incredibly stupid. So we really need to focus just on women.
Interviewer: Just on us?
Dr. Jones: Just the women. Now, secondly, you have to really identify women who identify with cats because so they did study comparing cat videos with dog videos and lo and behold, there was a subset of people who responded well to dog videos and not cat videos. So they separate them out by a questionnaire. The questionnaire had two questions: one, I think cats are incredibly adorable; and two, I think cats are useless bird killers. And if they separated out the women who responded that they thought that cats were useless bird killers, then the adorable cat lovers were perfect for studying. So indeed, in those women who watched cat videos then there were benefits in a wonderful number of domains. Let's talk about those a little bit.
Interviewer: Okay, yes. Let's break this down to health benefits. So if I want good cardio health but I hate cardio activities like running, cycling, the elliptical stairs, I hate it all, what's my alternative?
Dr. Jones: There's some very good evidence that watching cat videos and laughing is exercise because laughing is exercise. So looking at longer videos, 90-minute videos, you can increase your heart rate and you can increase your respiration and that's really wonderful and you return to baseline very quickly. So 90 minutes might give you an extra 10 calories. Now, a two-minute video doesn't have much cardiovascular benefit, but most people watch their cat video at least 10 times.
So the 10 times , times 2 calories, and then if you get up and have to go pee, which you will, if you keep laughing if you're a woman, so you're going to have to go pee a little bit and come back, you can get to 10 calories by watching it 10 times.
Interviewer: Okay. So now my cardio is good, but if my immune system is kind of just out of whack and I get sick every week, besides drowning my body in orange juice and eating an apple a day, what else can I do to maybe only get sick every other week?
Dr. Jones: There's some very, very good evidence on cat videos and immune function. So they have to laugh and that's important because some cat videos don't make people laugh. If you laugh, then that increases your salivary IgA. Also, laughing makes your killer T-cells, cells that help fight viruses and tumors, be more active. And that's been shown in men who watch videos . . . I can't really discuss about the kind of videos they're watching and laughing at, but for the women and cat videos, their T-cell function worked better. So also, watching cat videos calms people, particularly kitty videos. So if you're watching kiddy, K-I-D-DY and kitty, K-I-T-T-Y, putting them together makes people's cortisols drop and they feel much calmer.
Interviewer: And that in return helps my immune system.
Dr. Jones: Absolutely.
Interviewer: Okay. So because we're talking about women, beauty comes to mind, is there a cat video I can watch to maybe enhance my natural beauty? I mean, if I can deal without my current beauty products, I want to do it without them.
Dr. Jones: Oh great, right. Well, first of all, it's important to understand the smile. Now, you may not have your skin tone be that much more beautiful, but if you have a natural smile and practice your natural smile, you will be much more attractive to others. So practicing that smile, but it has to be a real smile so what they call the Duchenne smile, which involves your facial muscles and your eye muscles, not what they used to call the Pan Am smile or the . . .
Interviewer: Like the Hunger Games smile.
Dr. Jones: The Hunger Games, right. Right. Or the Botox smile. So in fact, it's not so much that your beauty itself and your skin tone, but when you smile, you look more beautiful and practicing your smiles. You practice your smiles in front of the mirror when you're looking at yourself, but the real smile, the Duchenne, named after a very famous neurologist, that reaches your eyes which you only get watching cat videos. So practice those cat videos and your smile will be much more natural.
Interviewer: Remembering all this is going to just stress me out. I'm just going to get stress anxiety because I have to remember every single cat videos that you're telling me about.
Dr. Jones: Think about that "aw". What makes you go "aw"? and there's a cat video for stress relieve as well and this is any video with a cat and a toddler. So if you just Google or go to YouTube and put in "cats and toddlers," you will have definitely an option for stressing out.
Interviewer: It's cuteness overload.
Dr. Jones: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Interviewer: Okay. All right, all right. I don't suppose there's anything that's going to give me abs, is there? Or that just seems way too much now?
Dr. Jones: No, no. Nothing but ab workouts are going to make your abs. But if you want to get rid of that bloating feeling, that unwanted water in your system, you can try watching videso of cat ambushes.
Interviewer: Cat ambushes.
Dr. Jones: Now you may be passing gas when that happens. So if you're startled, but if you have a certain way that you respond to cats ambushing other cats or human beings or birds, anything really of an ambush, you may actually . . . it may help with the bloating.
Interviewer: Earlier, you mentioned that watching kitty videos helps regulate my immune system. What about allergies? Is there anything I can watch to calm them down, keep them at bay?
Dr. Jones: Sometimes, your allergies are an overwork of your immune system. So allergies are complicated and it gets their own category of cat video. I always prescribe the cat cucumber video for people who say that they have allergies, their eyes get red and puffy, they feel kind of puffy in the springtime, that's the perfect video for allergy symptoms.
Interviewer: What if I'm allergic to cats themselves?
Dr. Jones: Well, that's no problem because cat videos had been proven to be hypoallergenic, safe for all ages and persons.
Interviewer: Okay. What about pain? If I'm dying of pain, can a cat video help me?
Dr. Jones: No, Chloe. If you're in pain, you need to see a doctor.
Interviewer: Okay. That's fine. I'm just checking because there seems to be a cat video for everything. Okay, no cat videos for pain relief.
Dr. Jones: Well, that's not exactly true in people with chronic pain. So acute pain, no. So if you ruptured your appendix, I strongly recommend . . .
Interviewer: I got to go see a doctor.
Dr. Jones: That you see the doctor. However, chronic pain, back pain, laughing at videos and the "aw" of cats and babies decreases the sensation of chronic pain, back pain, fibromyalgia, that kind of thing. It just calms . . .
Interviewer: It just calms me down.
Dr. Jones: It calms you down, decreases, and especially as you watch it over and over, you'll feel more calm. As you search the Internet more broadly for even more cat videos, you'll find you won't be thinking about your pain at all.
Interviewer: Okay. Now, this just sounds ridiculous now at this point. Are we . . . Is this study even real or what's going on? Because I feel like you're just playing with me here. Can cat videos actually help me live a longer life?
Dr. Jones: Sorry. Sorry, Chloe.
Interviewer: What's going on? You're laughing? You're laughing and I know why. I know why you're laughing. It's because we just played a prank on everybody. April Fools. Watching cat videos does not help you live a long and healthy life. But, Dr. Jones, tell everybody what does.
Dr. Jones: Laughing is good for you. Those things I said about laughing have been studied in looking at funny videos versus videos, watching, telling you how to repair your vacuum cleaner so people who watch funny videos versus that instructional videos actually do have an improvement in their immune function, a decrease in chronic pain and improvement in their cardiovascular response. And smiling the real smile, not the Botox smile, actually improves not only your sense of wellbeing but those around you. So on this April Fool's Day, I hope everybody gets a smile.
Announcer: TheScopeRadio.com is University of Utah Health Sciences radio. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content by following us on Facebook. Just click on the Facebook icon at TheScopeRadio.com.
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It is gross to talk about, but you can learn…
Date Recorded
December 05, 2024 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health
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Cows’ milk is one of the eight foods…
Date Recorded
December 07, 2015 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Diet and Nutrition
Kids Health Transcription
Dr. Gellner: Like all food allergies, milk allergy can be difficult to manage in a child. How can you help your child when milk is a common ingredient in so many foods? I'm Dr. Cindy Gellner with some tips for this tricky food allergy on today's Scope.
Announcer: Keep your kids healthy and happy. You are now entering the Healthy Kids Zone with Dr. Cindy Gellner on the Scope.
Dr. Gellner: A milk allergy is not the same as lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance only affects the digestive tract and it cause symptoms such as bloating, gas, and diarrhea. A milk allergy is a reaction by your child's immune system to the protein in milk. Our immune systems normally respond to bacteria or viruses that attack the body, but sometimes the body's immune system mistakenly believes that a harmless substance such as the proteins found in milk are harmful.
In order to protect the body, the immune system goes on attack with antibodies against that food. And the next time you eat that food, your immune system releases huge amounts of histamine to protect the body against the evil food proteins. That is what causes the symptoms that make us so miserable.
Casein is the main protein found in milk. It is found in the solid part of milk called curd when the milk goes sour. Whey, which is the liquid that remains once the curd is removed, contains the rest of the proteins. Your child can be allergic to the proteins in the curd, the whey, or both.
In very young children, cow's milk is the leading cause for allergic reactions. Milk is one of the eight foods that are responsible for food allergies in children. The other foods include eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, fish, and shellfish. The good news is that most kids outgrow milk allergy by two or three years of age.
If you think your child is allergic to milk, dairy products, or any other food, it is important to get a diagnosis from your pediatrician or an allergist. Usually the history of the reaction is all we need to determine the allergy. But there are blood tests to confirm for some of these foods.
Milk allergies are typically discovered very early in formula and breast-fed babies. If a mother drinks cow's milk, the milk protein also comes out in her breast milk. The symptoms seen in milk allergy depend on whether or not the child has a slow or rapid reaction to milk.
The slower reaction is more common and the symptoms develop over time. Symptoms that occur slowly over several hours or sometimes days include diarrhea, often with streaks of blood, wheezing, rashes like eczema flares, and failure to grow very well. Symptoms that occur rapidly within seconds to hours may include severe wheezing, vomiting and hives.
If a mom is nursing, the pediatrician will most likely recommend avoiding milk products to the mom and taking calcium and vitamin D supplements instead. If your baby is formula fed, sometimes pediatricians will recommend a soy-based formula. These formulas contain soybean proteins, vitamins and minerals. The switch to soy formula helps for about half of the baby's allergic to milk. For those babies who still have reactions to milk proteins, pediatricians recommend hypoallergenic formulas. There are two types.
Hydrolyzed formulas contains proteins that have been broken down so they are easily digested and less likely to cause a reaction. These include Nutramigen, Alimentum and Pregestimil. Elemental formulas have proteins in their simplest form and are used when hydrolyzed formulas continue to cause symptoms. These include Neocate and EleCare.
The only treatment for a child with a milk allergy is to completely avoid milk and foods that contain milk products. Many processed food and restaurant foods contains milk or processed milk products. And you will need to change the way you shop and prepare foods.
The first step is to learn how to read labels and become familiar with ingredients that contains milk or dairy products. Always ask about ingredients if you are not sure. Foods and ingredients that contain milk include milk from other animals such as a goat, as well as yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, cream, anything with casein or whey, butter and sadly chocolate. And also be careful of any ingredients that begin with "lac" such as lactose, lactate, lactalbumin, and lactic acid, and also fat replacers such as Simplese.
Reading labels to avoid allergens has become a lot easier. Foods that contain common allergens must be listed in plain language on the ingredient list. There are still some things to watch out for when reading food labels. Watch out for the words "may contain". Milk may not be an ingredient but the food may be made in a factory which also produces foods made with milk. If you see the words "may contain," there may be very little of the allergen or there may be a large amount.
A common question from parents is how to avoid cross contamination. Avoid battered or fried foods. The oil is often used for many different items, some of which may contain milk. Separate cooking utensils, cutting boards, and dishes used to prepare dairy products from those used to prepare food for your child.
Your child can still have a healthy diet as well as continue to enjoy some kid favorites. The main nutrients found in milk are protein, calcium, vitamin D and riboflavin. It is important to either take supplements or eat foods that are high in these elements. There's a lot of protein in milk, poultry, pork, fish, beans, nuts, and seeds. Ask your pediatrician about calcium and vitamin D supplements. Good sources of riboflavin are meat and eggs, whole grain or enriched cereals, and dark green leafy vegetables. Many foods such as bread and orange juice are now supplemented with calcium and vitamin D.
There are several brands of soy and rice milks that are enriched with calcium. They can be used for drinking and to pour on cereal. If milk is part of a recipe just to provide liquid, you can substitute water. Soy and rice milk, as well as fruit juice works well when substitutes baking. Oils, milk-free margarines, and soy butter can take the place of butter.
You can also visit foodallergy.org where there are many other helpful tips. Prepare your child's lunch at home. Talk with teachers about your child's needs. Ask the teachers to keep an eye out and explain the situation to other children if needed. Have the teacher call you if there is a special event or party planned so that you could bring a few modified treats that your child enjoys and can share with other kids. Make a card that lists foods and ingredients that should be avoided and give one to the teacher.
Living with food allergies is possible. I'm proof of that. By making others aware of your child's food allergy, you will keep your child safe. If your child is old enough, even as young as three or four, make sure they are aware of their food allergy. This will empower them to be in charge of their own health.
Announcer: TheScopeRadio.com is University of Utah Health Science's Radio. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content by following us on Facebook. Just click on the Facebook icon at TheScopeRadio.com
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When you start sneezing and your nose starts…
Date Recorded
February 19, 2019 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Family Health and Wellness Transcription
Dr. Miller: Allergies, colds or something else? How do you tell and how do you treat them? That's next on Scope Radio.
Announcer: Access to our experts with in-depth information about the biggest health issues facing you today. The Specialists with Dr. Tom Miller is on The Scope.
Dr. Miller: Hi. I'm here with Dr. Jeremiah Alt. He is an ENT surgeon. That's an ear, nose and throat surgeon. He's a member of the Department of Surgery here at the University of Utah. Jeremiah, how does one tell the difference between an allergic symptoms of nasal discharge versus a common cold or sinusitis? Is there a way to sort of know if you have one or the other?
Dr. Alt: Yeah. That's very difficult. Even very difficult for the physician to figure that out in many cases and requires a thorough history with the patient to figure some of these things out. In general, allergic rhinitis if it's seasonal will occur during the season, where if you have hay fever, you'll get itchy eyes and a runny nose.
Dr. Miller: I always think of hay fever as being itchy.
Dr. Alt: Right.
Dr. Miller: Right? So people are scratching the corners of their eyes and they're blowing and sneezing.
Dr. Alt: Right.
Dr. Miller: The back of the throat is kind of scratchy. Sometimes when I think of the common cold or sinusitis that doesn't feel very itchy. That's [inaudible 00:01:15].
Dr. Alt: Right. So the common cold will have some of the similar symptoms, as there's definitely overlap where you can have increased congestion and nasal blockage. You'd probably be more likely, though, to have some facial pain and pressure. We commonly talk about the loss of smell occurring with sinusitis. But this can also occur with allergies as the inner lining inside your nose is swollen and angry, and inflamed and it can block off some of the ability to smell.
One of the big differences though, is we commonly think of discharge. So if the discharge is yellow or green, this is more signs that this is more severe than just an allergic reaction.
Dr. Miller: More inflammation, more at that issue of infection in the sinus.
Dr. Alt: Correct.
Dr. Miller: So one goes to the store to self-remedy what they would consider to be a fairly short course of this problem. If they have rhinitis, that is the itchy symptoms, what should they be using to treat that problem with? I think most of the medications now are purchased or can be purchased over the counter.
Dr. Alt: Correct. The oral antihistamines are a great option, and they've been used for many years. The second generation are non-sedating, like the Benadryls were that can make people very tired. Although, the second generations can make some people tired.
Dr. Miller: I've taken Benadryl and it works as an antihistamine. But man, does it knock me out. I think it does the same with some people and some people, they don't seem to have that fatigue that I get or that a number of people will get.
Dr. Alt: Correct.
Dr. Miller: Now, I've heard with Claritin, which is an example that comes generic as loratadine, that it's not sedating. But do you think it works as well as something like Benadryl or diphenhydramine?
Dr. Alt: Well, partly it's also what we're targeting. The itchiness, I think, works great. Another great antihistamine is Zyrtec. So if the patient has the itchiness with the runny, drippy nose, what we call clear rhinorrhea, or clear, drippy nose, the Zyrtec is actually quite more drying than let's say the Claritin. So we would push the patient more towards the Zyrtec, which is a more drying medication.
Dr. Miller: This is also listed as a non-sedating antihistamine.
Dr. Alt: Correct. One thing to consider is even if the second generations make you drowsy or feel a little fatigued, you can also take them at night which is an option.
Dr. Miller: So sleep a little better and maybe get a little bit better coverage for the allergic symptoms.
Dr. Alt: Yeah. A third option that's more recent is a topical spray antihistamine. This is not taken by the mouth and you can spray it in the nose. This type of antihistamine, I've never seen it cause drowsiness or fatigue in patients, and you can use it on contact. So if you know you're going outside you can quick spray it in your nose to reduce the antihistamine response that you have for your allergies.
Dr. Miller: So Jeremiah, does that require a prescription or is that available over the counter?
Dr. Alt: That one is still a prescription medication. So you really need to get that from you allergist or your ENT, or your primary care doctor.
Dr. Miller: Now, there's another class of medication used to treat allergic rhinitis as well, and that would be the nasal steroids.
Dr. Alt: Yeah. So the nasal steroids actually have great evidence to be used both for allergic rhinitis and for many of the diseases that we talked about in some of the other podcasts, including chronic rhinosinusitis or reoccurring acute rhinosinusitis, where there's just an overall inflammation inside the sinonasal cavity. This just calms the inside of the nose down. It's a topical steroid. It's sprayed within the nose, usually dosed once or twice a day. What I like to think of it, it addresses the root of the problem.
Dr. Miller: The inflammation.
Dr. Alt: The inflammation, correct. So it really reduces the overall amount of goblet cells in the nose, the inflammatory, or those mediators in the nose and the immune system that are really creating the immune system to start with to create this inflammation.
Dr. Miller: Now, do you think that a patient with allergic rhinitis could also take the antihistamine orally, antihistamine nasal spray, and a topical steroid nasal spray, or should they use them separately? What's your thought on that?
Dr. Alt: It really depends on the patient's response and the overall diagnosis that you've come up with your doctor and your treatment plan. However, commonly we like to use both and we feel like patients get a good response by both blocking with an antihistamine and using a topical nasal steroid like Flonase or Nasonex.
Dr. Miller: Both of which they could get over the counter.
Dr. Alt: Correct.
Dr. Miller: It's possible that they could start their own treatment and then if things weren't going well they could end up seeing their physician.
Dr. Alt: There is a new medication, Dymista, that has actually combined the two together. So you can get it in a single spray, which patients are noting that they've really enjoyed using just one medication instead of two separate.
Dr. Miller: Now, let's say they have the common cold or sinusitis. Do the same medications work?
Dr. Alt: Yes. In general, though, we don't typically use antihistamines for chronic sinusitis unless they have a comorbidity or that's one other disease process that they also have on top of the chronic sinusitis that we want to help control symptomology. So if they have allergies and we want to help control some of that drippy nose, postnasal drip symptoms, we can add on an antihistamine. But, yeah, the steroids are great, as we talked about. It's really disease of inflammation, so that topical nasal steroid is ideal for helping.
Dr. Miller: Would you recommend using an oral, what we call, sympathomimetic, like pseudoephedrine or Sudafed for someone who has the common cold or sinusitis?
Dr. Alt: Those are really two different diseases and two different applications for that. For an acute onset cold or viral rhinosinusitis or bacterial, this can help make the patient feel better. I don't think it really helps get you over the illness quicker. But it can help improve your overall well-being. Now, in sinusitis it can also improve your overall feel of increasing your ability to breathe through your nose.
But this doesn't get at the root of the cause of the disease itself, and we commonly don't like to think of using these long-term in a disease like chronic rhinosinusitis, which is a chronic condition. You'd have to use this over potentially months and years, which we're concerned about the possibility of hypertension.
Dr. Miller: Now, you could also use the same medication as the nasal spray for a few days, I understand.
Dr. Alt: Afrin or over-the-counter oxymetazoline is a great sympathomimetic, which really reduces the overall swelling inside the nose. We commonly like to really counsel the patient that these are great short-term. So these are two to three-day treatment options, and then they really need to consider trying to come off of them.
Announcer: Have a question about a medical procedure? Want to learn more about a health condition? With over 2,000 interviews with our physicians and specialists, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find what you want to know. Check it out at TheScopeRadio.com.
updated: February 19, 2019
originally published: December 1, 2015 MetaDescription
Differences between allergic rhinitis versus the common cold.
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If your child is allergic to latex, something as…
Date Recorded
November 30, 2015 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health Transcription
Dr. Gellner: Latex allergy is more common than you might think. I have it, and it's one of the main reasons latex is not found in medical offices anymore. How do you known if your child is allergic to latex or not, and what should you do about it? I'm Dr. Cindy Gellner on The Scope.
Announcer: Keep your kids healthy and happy. You are now entering the Healthy Kids Zone with Dr. Cindy Gellner on The Scope.
Dr. Gellner: Latex is a substance made from a milky fluid that comes from the rubber tree. With a latex allergy, the body treats certain proteins in latex as if they were harmful and triggers an allergic immune response. This may happen when products made from latex touch your child's skin, mouth, or even if they are just inhaled. Children who have chronic diseases, such as spina bifida, or have a lot of surgeries, may be exposed to latex from the medical procedures. They may become sensitive to it.
Children who have allergies to certain foods may also develop a latex allergy. Both the foods and the latex have some of the same proteins. These include fruits such as bananas and kiwis, vegetables including avocadoes and tomatoes, tree nuts, peanuts, and shellfish. If you think your child is allergic to latex, it is important to get a diagnosis from your health care provider or allergist.
Symptoms of a latex allergy can develop over several hours, or they may be immediate and severe. The most common reactions are skin reactions, such as hives and eczema flares. If latex is around the mouth or inhaled, your child may have wheezing, trouble breathing, itching and swelling around the mouth, and a rapid heartbeat.
It is possible to have an allergic reaction called anaphylactic shock. This is a serious reaction that is sudden, severe, and can involve the whole body. It can cause swelling of the mouth and throat, dangerously low blood pressure, and trouble breathing. This type of reaction is an emergency. It is treated with antihistamines and injectable epinephrine. Usually, parents or caregivers of children who have severe allergic reactions carry their own epinephrine in case of an emergency. If epinephrine is used, or your child has a reaction, and epinephrine is not available, call 911 immediately.
Many things contain latex, including baby bottle nipples and pacifiers, rubber bands, balloons, Band Aids, IV tubing and catheters, many kinds of medical gloves, and dental dams used in dental procedures. In general, any item that can be stretched may contain latex. There are many things that can be used instead of things that contain latex. These are made from vinyl, plastic, or silicone.
If your child has been diagnosed with a latex allergy, teach your child to known and avoid latex products. Make sure your child wears a medic alert bracelet or necklace. Know what to do in case of an emergency. Ask your child's health care provider about a prescription for injectable epinephrine in case of emergency.
Finally, be sure to tell all dentists, health care providers, teachers, daycare providers, babysitters, friends, and family members that your child has a latex allergy. Anyone your child's going to be spending time with needs to know about this. Something as simple as going to a birthday party with latex balloons can trigger a serious reaction. Be sure you are always prepared for your child.
Announcer: TheScopeRadio.com is University of Utah Health Sciences Radio. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content by following us on Facebook. Just click on the Facebook icon at TheScopeRadio.com.
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Certain research has shown that children growing…
Date Recorded
September 14, 2015 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Family Health and Wellness
Kids Health Transcription
Dr. Gellner: Even if cats and dogs make you sneeze, will you save your kids from aggravating allergies by getting them a pet? It's a theory we'll discuss today on The Scope. I'm Dr. Cindy Gellner.
Announcer: Keep your kids healthy and happy. You are now entering The Healthy Kids Zone with Dr. Cindy Gellner on The Scope.
Dr. Gellner: Early pet exposure reducing the risk of allergies in children. It's part of something called the hygiene hypothesis, and it's been tossed around for a few years now. Evidence is mounting that it may be true. Studies found that exposure to pets in early years of a child's life might significantly lower the risk according to some pediatric allergy specialists.
The allergy researchers followed a group of about 500 children almost equally split between boys and girls from birth to age seven. Children were checked regularly with blood tests to measure antibodies that cause allergies, skin reaction tests that show if someone is sensitive to an allergy, and a breathing test to measure their lung function commonly used to detect if their child has an asthma flare or not.
The researchers also collected information on exposure to cigarette smoke, home and daycare environments and measured allergen levels in the household such as dust and other air samples. They also asked about pets in the home.
So the allergists found that children who lived with two or more animals were significantly less likely to have a positive skin test, which signifies a reaction to the allergen rather than those who had no exposure to pets. Children with pets were also less likely to have allergen antibodies in their blood. Boys especially seem to benefit from pet exposure. Not only did they have lower antibody levels, they had better lung tests and less evidence of asthma if there were two or more cats or dogs in the house.
The study adds to the growing literature about the hygiene hypothesis that the cleaner we live, which is common in our western world lifestyle, the more likely we'll get asthma and allergies. It confirms that observation that children with a history of pet exposure in the first years of life may have less asthma. Boys do tend to get more asthma and allergies, though.
The study falls short of proving that pets can prevent allergies and asthma. You shouldn't automatically just go out and get two dogs and two cats. It's a correlation that may be true but it hasn't been proven yet. It could be that the study shows that only children who have a risk of allergy or asthma tend not to have cats or dogs in the house.
By working on this same hygiene hypothesis, pets may not even be a necessary factor in increasing a child's immunity. Siblings might also play the same role as pets. Infections in early life, especially with viruses, may help drive the immune system away from being sensitive and causing allergies. Kids can get the same kind of exposure from older siblings in the first month of a child's life. Usually the older siblings will bring home lovely viruses from school, or the child themselves will be exposed to viruses at daycare.
Just like we say don't go out and get two dogs or two cats just to keep your kids from getting allergies, we don't necessarily mean you have to put them in daycare in order to expose them to these viruses. More studies need to be done following children in their early lives before any conclusions can be made about the hygiene hypothesis.
So does this mean you should go out and get a pet? Well, not so fast. If there's someone in the house who has an allergy to a dog or cat, you really don't want to put that family member through misery. Also, genetics play a large role as well. Children have a one in three chance of developing allergies if just one of their parents has allergies. If both of their parents have allergies, their risk is nearly 70%. The risks increase by similar amounts for asthma. Pets are a lot of responsibility, too. Be sure to think about all family members, pets included, if considering a dog or cat.
Announcer: The ScopeRadio.com is University of Utah Health Sciences Radio. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content by following us on Facebook. Just click on the Facebook icon at TheScopeRadio.com.
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If you get itchy bumps on your skin, it’s…
Date Recorded
August 21, 2018 Transcription
Dr. Miller: Hives, what are they? How do we get them? And what do we do about them? This is Dr. Tom Miller on Scope radio. We're going to talk about that next.
Announcer: Medical news and research from University of Utah physicians and specialists you can use for a happier and healthier life. You're listening to The Scope.
Dr. Miller: Hi, I'm here with Dr. Mark Eliason. And he is a professor of dermatology here at the University of Utah. And Mark is going to tell us a little bit about hives. What are hives? What's a hive? I think of a beehive but I don't know if that's what a hive is.
What Are Hives?
Dr. Eliason: This is the right state for that. No, well a hive is simply... the easiest way to think about it is like a bug bite. Imagine a mosquito bite. Something that's raised, it itches, and it bothers you. Most all hives will itch. And there are a lot of things that will cause them as well. But generally speaking, they're raised areas on the skin that are red and usually they will draw your attention to them.
Dr. Miller: I mean, do they happen rarely? Do some people get them and others don't? I mean, who get's a hive?
What Causes Hives?
Dr. Eliason: So, we know that anyone who spends any time outside, especially in the morning or in the evening during mosquito season certainly knows what hives are. You can get a lot from the environment. But beyond just the hives that come from insects that bother you, a number of people develop hives spontaneously. And that can be because they have an allergy to something that they've taken, or something that they've eaten. Or they can also get hives sometimes without anything that they've done wrong, so to speak. Their body sometimes just makes their own hive.
Hives are interesting things to think about because it's an old reflex that our bodies have built into it that draws our attention to a part of us. And if you think about it, when something hurts, we pull away from something. Hurting is a way for our bodies to say, "Stop what you're doing." Itching and hives are a way to tell us that we need to pay attention to a part of our body.
Dr. Miller: Like a mosquito bite. You're near mosquitoes, move away from them.
Dr. Eliason: Right, or something is in us that's itching. Pull that thing out of us. And so it's sort of an opposite built in reflex that sometimes gets turned on inappropriately if something triggers it when it shouldn't.
Dr. Miller: Now, I think our audience might actually be interested in the spontaneous hives, because I've had patients who come in and they describe hives as being something that just pops up in an area that they didn't have any insect bite. So tell me about that a little bit. Because I think if people have hives that are due to, say mosquitoes, they kind of know what's caused that. But sometimes they just don't know.
Dr. Eliason: Sure, and hives can be scary. Because sometimes you get one or two little spots that will show up on your skin and that's not too much of a problem. But people will come in sometimes, they can be covered in hives. And not only are they just uncomfortable because they're itching like crazy, but it's frightening. Some people will feel parts of their body swelling. Like their lips can swell. They can feel like, sometimes they get nervous. Their breathing can be affected too. Hives can become something very worrisome.
Dr. Miller: But more rarely, correct?
Dr. Eliason: That's correct. I should be careful to tell you that most of the times hives that happen on the outside of the body, don't actually cause problems with breathing. But it is one of the things that people watch out for. The number one rash that people go into the emergency room for are hives.
Dr. Miller: So let's talk about that for a second. So let's say a person has never had hives before and they develop one or two episodes, do they need to see a physician? Or should they just maybe not worry about it so much?
Treatment for Hives
Dr. Eliason: That's a great question. And a lot of it depends on what the hives are doing to them. People that are developing a handful of hives, some that are bothersome but they're not affecting at all the way that they're working or their ability to do the things they do during the day, usually don't necessarily need to see a physician until they've tried some of the over the counter products that are available to treat hives easily.
Dr. Miller: And what would those be?
Dr. Eliason: Of course assuming that people don't have any reasons why they couldn't take them, simple things like Benadryl or some of the non-sedating antihistamines with names like Zyrtec or Allegra. Or of course the generic equivalents of those are very safe things for people to start to just try to treat their hives and see if you can get them to go away easily.
Dr. Miller: Is one better than the other? The non-sedating versus the sedating? Because some people will take Benadryl and fall asleep at work, which is bad. Or if they're operating expensive dangerous machinery. That could be a problem.
Dr. Eliason: Right. That's a great point because any medicine that you give someone, if you give them enough of it, you can get side effects with it. So during the day I usually advise patients to consider using things like Zyrtec or Allegra because those are non-sedating. And most people do great with them.
Spontaneous Hives (Urticaria)
Dr. Miller: Now how often do you find a reason for someone to have spontaneous urticaria? Aside from an insect bite.
Dr. Eliason: Yeah, this is a hard question. And with the spontaneous or acute urticaria, that's the kind that just shows up. It's only around for a couple of weeks. We don't always find the causes. In children it's usually related to an infection. And so it doesn't mean you have an infection that's creating your hive. You could have an infection like a common cold. You could have strep throat.
Dr. Miller: A virus.
Dr. Eliason: Exactly.
Dr. Miller: Or a bacterial pharyngitis.
Dr. Eliason: Precisely.
Dr. Miller: Sore throat.
Dr. Eliason: Those infections can, they don't cause hives, but your body's response to the infection accidentally creates hives on you. It's almost like your body makes a little bit of a mistake while it's cleaning out the infection and incidentally creates hives in the process.
Dr. Miller: Well when should that patient find their way to your office?
When Should You See a Doctor for Hives?
Dr. Eliason: We like to see patients when it bothers them. And so for some people that means that they get hives and they have a chance to try some of the over-the-counter antihistamines. And they don't work. In which case we certainly want to help them because there's a lot of other things that we have access to, prescription-wise, that can be stronger.
Dr. Miller: Do you have a definition of, sort of, mild, moderate, or severe hives in terms of how often they occur or how extensive they might be? Maybe that would help our audience know when they should seek medical advice.
Dr. Eliason: A lot of this isn't necessarily with the frequency but more of the severity. Hopefully I can make that make sense. When hives are developing and they aren't preventing people from doing what they normally do during the day, and they also are not causing any changes where parts of their body are swelling, then usually people can try over-the-counter products without having a worry that they need to rush in to see a physician for it.
If people are developing hives where they are getting swelling in their skin, so like I mentioned, lips can swell, ears can swell, or they can just have big welts. Their wrist gets too large. And it looks kind of doughy sometimes. Those are reasons to get into be seen by a physician sooner. Of course if people are having any difficulty breathing, it's a trip to the emergency room very quickly.
Sometimes when hives present, and they cause changes in breathing, people don't necessarily feel like they can't breathe. But they just start coughing sometimes. And those are things to watch for. Of course, you don't ever delay in that case. If you ever feel, if people ever feel like they can't breathe normally, it's straight to the ER.
Dr. Miller: Thank you very much. This is very helpful Mark.
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updated: August 21, 2018
originally published: February 23, 2015 MetaDescription
Do you get recurring hives for seemingly no reason? We talk about the causes and solutions today on The Scope
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Food allergies are commonly passed down from…
Date Recorded
November 10, 2014 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Diet and Nutrition
Family Health and Wellness
Kids Health Transcription
Dr. Gellner: Food allergies seem to be increasing. I have them, and chances are you know someone who has them as well. What to know about food allergies is today's topic on The Scope. I'm Dr. Cindy Gellner.
Announcer: Medical news and research from University of Utah physicians and specialists you can use for a happier and healthier life. You're listening to The Scope.
Dr. Gellner: Food allergies seem to be everywhere. You're seeing everything peanut free or dairy free or gluten free or soy free.
So what exactly is a food allergy and how is it different from just an intolerance? An intolerance means your child can still eat it. They just may have some feelings where they just don't react very well to it, but it's not a true allergy.
A true food allergy is actually an immune system reaction to the food. About 5% of children have true allergic reactions to food, and you will know that your child has a food allergy if the symptoms happen within two hours of eating certain foods.
So some common food allergy symptoms include swelling or itching of the lips, tongue, or mouth, and that's commonly called oral allergy symptoms. If your child has stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, hives, difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing to the point where they look like they're struggling to breathe, those are true allergies.
And some children have severe allergic reactions called anaphylaxis. Those reactions usually happen within minutes to two hours after contact with the food that causes the reaction, and they can cause significant trouble breathing, trouble swallowing, weakness from a sudden fall in blood pressure known as shock, or just being very confused and out of it because their whole body is just attacking the food that they just took in. Quite often you can also have food-induced asthma attacks that are anaphylaxis.
The tendency to be allergic to certain foods is inherited. If both parents have allergies, the chances of a food allergy rises to about 75% for each child, and often a child is allergic to the same food or foods as the parents or sibling.
Children who have other allergic conditions such as eczema, asthma, allergies in general, they're more likely to have food allergies than those who do not have allergies or what we call atopic conditions, which means your body is more sensitive to what it considers a foreign substance than somebody else's.
What are the most common food allergies? Well, pretty much the most common one we know of is peanuts. We see that quite a lot. And also cow's milk, eggs, soybeans, and wheat account for over 80% of food reactions. Fish, shellfish, and tree nuts also top the list.
At least half of the children who develop a food allergy in their first year of life outgrow it by the time they're two or three years old. But sometimes those food allergies, specifically those for, like, milk or soy, those are more outgrown than others, but peanut allergy, nuts, fish, shellfish, they often last a lifetime.
So how can you help your physician determine if your child is allergic to a certain food or not? Keep a diary of symptoms and recently eaten foods. If you already know what food is causing an allergic reaction, then make sure your child stops eating that food for about two weeks.
If you don't know what the food is, keep a diary so that you can write down what food did your child have and if they had a reaction or not. Usually this is best when you're introducing new foods in their first year or two of life.
If you know that your child has a suspected food allergy, you might be referred to an allergist's office. Some food allergies can be determined by a blood test, but others cannot. And if you think your child has a food allergy, ask your doctor for that blood test. If none is available, your child would be referred to an allergist's office.
They can do what's called a food challenge, and that's where in the office, the allergist will actually watch your child eat the food that they are allergic to and monitor for a reaction. It has to be done in an allergist's office because of the concern for a severe life-threatening reaction.
How are food allergies treated? Avoidance. Unfortunately, there are no allergy shots or medications that can prevent you from having an allergic reaction to a particular food. You need to keep your child free of the foods that you have found them to be sensitive to. If they do come in contact with those foods, make sure they have an antihistamine such as Benadryl, Claritin, or Zyrtec that they can have handy to them to help calm down the allergic reaction.
If your child has a severe allergy, this is those anaphylactic reactions that I mentioned, your child must have an EpiPen. That is epinephrine that can be injected into their thighs that can help stop an allergic reaction. If your child has an allergic reaction that they have used epinephrine for, you need to call 911 to have your child transported to the nearest emergency room for monitoring after the shot is given.
Many people ask me, "Can I prevent food allergies in my child?" There is no real way to prevent food allergies because the tendency is inherited. And recent studies have shown that delaying the introduction of high-risk foods such as eggs, fish, or peanut butter does not reduce the risk of becoming allergic to that food.
>Exclusive breastfeeding in the early months is helpful in preventing atopic dermatitis, but restricting the mother's diet from certain foods unfortunately has not been shown to be helpful either. We do always recommend that there is no solid food given to babies before four months old.
So what should I do for my child who has a food allergy when they enter school? If your child is in day care or school, you will need to let them know that your child has a food allergy and have a plan in place for if your child is exposed to those foods.
Make sure they have an EpiPen if they have a severe allergic reaction. Make sure they have Benadryl if it's a more mild reaction. Make sure the school knows that your child has this allergy so they can work with you.
Many schools have peanut-free programs so that your child may not be allowed to have peanuts in the facility at all or they would be moved to a table other than where food is being served. I see this mostly with peanuts.
But the most important thing is keep an open line of communication so that your child's school or day care knows exactly what to do in the case that your child has been exposed to one of these foods they are sensitive to.
While food allergies can be inconvenient and make it difficult for planning meals and parties and everything, remember your child or someone else's child's life is at stake if you serve them something that they are allergic to. So make sure you are aware of food allergies no matter where you go.
Announcer: TheScopeRadio.com is University of Utah Health Sciences Radio. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content by following us on Facebook. Just click on the Facebook icon at TheScopeRadio.com.
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