briefs

(MCT) MIAMI, Fl. – According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, about 12… (MCT) MIAMI, Fl. – According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, about 12 million Americans have food allergies, but it’s hard to be sure. You might think you’re suffering from fatigue, the flu or some other low-level crud.

Seafood and peanuts seem to trigger the most severe food allergies – those causing anaphylaxis, a sometimes-fatal allergic response. Each year, food allergies account for 30,000 emergency room visits and up to 200 deaths, and the numbers are rising.

According to FAAN, the incidence of food allergies has doubled in the past 10 years. South Miami pediatrician Dr. Kathryn Eisermann-Rogers sees it every day. In the 20 years of her practice, the rise in food allergies has been exponential. “Especially peanuts. It’s three times what it was 10 years ago,” she said.

Why the spike? And why, all of a sudden, peanuts?

“We really don’t understand the whys,” FAAN’s Deb Scherrer said.

What is known is true: Food allergies, unlike food intolerances or sensitivities, are triggered by your body’s immune system flipping out when a food – harmless to most – crosses its path. Eating a sandwich might cause someone with a true wheat allergy to risk immediate anaphylaxis – breaking out in hives, having trouble swallowing and, in some extreme cases, dying. Someone with wheat-sensitivity might feel itchy or have gastric misery after eating the sandwich bread.

With environmental allergies such as dust, treatment usually involves a series of injections introducing low levels of the substance into the body, encouraging resistance. With food allergies, there is no cure. Medications treat only symptoms – antihistamines like Benadryl or in an extreme case, where the patient risks anaphylactic shock, epinephrine. To avoid an allergic reaction, the only route is to completely strike the food from your diet.

The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, which went into effect last year, makes it easier. In addition to providing a standard list of ingredients, all packaged foods sold in the United States must clearly state whether they contain any of the major food allergens.

Ellen Kanner, McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT) DETROIT, Mi. – You count on them for relief when allergy season kicks in and your runny nose, stuffed-up sinuses, itchy eyes and nonstop sneezing make life miserable.

An estimated 50 million Americans suffer from seasonal allergies.

It’s hard for anyone to escape the culprits – ragweed, molds and dust mites. Ragweed pollen can travel hundreds of miles and carries well on warm, windy fall days. Molds can be found both indoors and outdoors. Dust mites, year-round allergens, thrive in warm, humid conditions such as those in late summer and fall.

Most allergy sufferers will feel relief once the first frost arrives. But how to cope in the meantime?

Allergy shots can be expensive initially because patients generally need to get them weekly before tapering down to once a month. Even though many insurance policies cover the shots, co-pay costs can add up.

To minimize allergens at home, [some use] allergy-proof pillowcases and mattress covers.

Nana Mireku, allergy fellow at Detroit Medical Center Children’s Hospital, is accustomed to treating allergies in both children and adults.

When it comes to treating herself, Mireku, 31, sticks to a simple plan.

She uses a nasal spray and an antihistamine to head off the nasal congestion, itchy eyes and sneezing that she usually experiences.

“When the season starts, I will start using them,” she said.

She also follows practical allergy-reducing recommendations such as using air conditioning in her car and home rather than opening windows.

Cecilia Oleck, Detroit Free Press

(MCT) WALNUT CREEK, Ca. – An easy-to-use test can be effective at detecting many colon cancers and could help improve the nation’s poor screening rates, which have lagged behind other cancers, Kaiser Permanente researchers said Tuesday.

Colorectal cancer is the second deadliest cancer in the United States, killing more than 56,000 people annually.

A colonoscopy is the best method for detecting such cancers, but many people balk at the procedure because it can be invasive and uncomfortable.

Kaiser studied a non-invasive screening method, known as a “fecal immunochemical test,” which looks for human blood in the stool.

Colorectal polyps or cancers often have blood vessels at the surface that are easily damaged. As a result, even small amounts of blood in the stool can be a sign of their existence.

An immunochemical test can be quickly performed at home and mailed to a laboratory for analysis.

It is a newer version of a stool test that has been around since the 1970s and is easier to use because it does not require dietary restrictions.

It also has fewer false positives.

The study, published this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found the test could detect 81 percent of cancers.

Sandy Kleffman, Contra Costa Times

(MCT) CHICAGO, Ill. – A vigilant label reader, 36-year-old Karen Altschul of Vernon Hills, Ill., has known her favorite lotions and sunscreens contained parabens, or synthetic chemicals used as preservatives. But now that she routinely sees products at Sephora touted as “paraben-free,” she wonders: “What, exactly, are parabens, and are they dangerous?”

Those are questions more consumers are asking now that “paraben-free” offerings have hit the mainstream. Products made by Burt’s Bees, which has never used parabens, are available everywhere from Whole Foods and Target to Borders, CVS, Walgreens and even Hallmark stores.

For years, parabens (methyl, ethyl, propyl and benzyl) have been considered a cheap and indispensable way to inhibit the growth of bacteria, yeasts and molds in personal-care products such as shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and sunscreens. Parabens are why products can survive the three-month boat trip from China, sit on store or warehouse shelves for years or be exposed to extreme temperatures.

But studies have shown that some parabens can mimic the activity of the hormone estrogen in the body’s cells. Estrogenic activity in the body is associated with certain forms of breast cancer. And parabens are turning up in breast tumors.

What further concerns some scientists is that parabens aren’t the only potential endocrine disrupter out there. Breast tissue and breast milk are exposed to a range of chemicals, including pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls.

New research, meanwhile, has shown that parabens can be measured in human urine. And a recent Danish study showed that when parabens are applied as a cream to the backs of healthy male volunteers, the chemicals can be measured in the blood within hours.

“This demonstrates that parabens do indeed penetrate the human skin from cosmetic products,” University of Reading researcher Philippa Darbre, whose research team was the first to detect parabens in human tissue, said.

“Whether parabens cause any harm in the body remains unknown,” Darbre said. “But I think that there is no doubt that parabens do get into the human body intact, something that was previously dismissed as impossible.”