Pollen Allergy

Activities like camping can be fun, but they can also expose you to outdoor pollen as well as to stinging insects like bees, yellow jackets and wasps. If you have these allergies, avoid camping during high pollen seasons, take your medications with you and carry injectable epinephrine to treat reactions to stinging insects. If you have a severe insect-allergic reaction, get immediate emergency medical treatment.

Walking, leisure biking and hiking are typically good activities for people with asthma or allergies. If you enjoy the mountains and have asthma, be careful if you are thinking of going above 5,000 feet, as oxygen levels decrease.

Cold weather sports such as cross-country skiing and ice hockey are more likely to make symptoms worse. Also, snorkeling is much safer than scuba diving.

An asthma treatment plan can help you keep your symptoms under control so that you can enjoy exercising or sports activities while traveling.

Bon voyage and safe travels!



Healthy Tips

• If your allergies or asthma are causing problems, have a pre-trip physical.
• Pack all medications, a peak flow meter and a copy of your physician's phone number.
• Consider buying travel medical insurance.

Reference information: www.aaaai.org,  www.allergy.hk/, 

The information aims to provide educational purpose only. Anyone reading it should consult physician before considering treatment and should not rely on the information above.

Preventing the eczema itch is the main goal of treatment.

Treatment for allergic contact dermatitis depends on how severe the symptoms are. Cold soaks and compresses can offer relief for the acute, early, itchy blistered stage of your rash. You may also be prescribed topical corticosteroid creams. To prevent the reaction from returning, avoid contact with the offending substance. If you and your allergist cannot determine the substance that caused the reaction, your allergist may conduct a series of patch tests to help identify it.

Eczema
A common allergic reaction often affecting the face, elbows and knees is atopic dermatitis or eczema. This red, scaly, itchy rash is more common in young infants and those who have a personal or family history of allergy.

Common triggers include aeroallergens like cat dander or house dust, overheating or sweating, and contact with irritants like wool or soaps. In older individuals, emotional stress can cause a flare-up. For some patients, usually children, certain foods can also trigger eczema. Skin staph infections can cause a flare-up in children as well. Eczema patients usually have very dry skin and “allergic shiners” (an extra crease, called a Dennie’s line, across their lower eyelids). They are also more at risk for other skin infections.

Preventing the eczema itch is the main goal of treatment. Do not scratch or rub your rash. Applying cold compresses and creams or ointments is helpful. Also remove all irritants that aggravate your condition from your environment. If a food is identified as the cause, it must be eliminated from your diet.

Topical corticosteroid cream medications and topical calcineurin inhibitors are most effective in treating the rash. Antihistamines are often recommended to help relieve the itchiness. In severe cases, oral corticosteroids are also prescribed. If a skin staph infection is suspected to be a trigger for your eczema flare-up, antibiotics are often recommended.

Reference information: www.aaaai.org , www.allergy.hk 

The information aims to provide educational purpose only. Anyone reading it should consult physician before considering treatment and should not rely on the information above.

Enjoy Your Stay with Allergies and Asthma

Hotel rooms often have a lot of dust mites and molds in carpeting, mattresses and upholstered furniture. Fumes from cleaning products may also cause problems. Ask for a "green" room if available. If you are allergic to dust mites, you may want to bring your own dust-proof, zippered covers.

If you are sensitive to molds, request a sunny, dry room away from areas near indoor pools. Also, if you have allergies to any animals, ask about the hotel's pet policy, and request a room that has been pet-free.
Visiting family and friends in their homes can be risky if you have allergies or asthma. For instance, during the holidays, dust mites on ornaments and decorations, molds on Christmas trees, wet leaves and logs for wood-burning stoves and perfumes from scented candles can all trigger allergy or asthma symptoms.

If you have pet allergies, your trip may be more enjoyable if you avoid staying in the homes of family or friends with pets.

People with food allergies should be careful about eating home-cooked foods that may contain hidden food allergens

Reference information: http://www.aaaai.org/

The information aims to provide educational purpose only. Anyone reading it should consult physician before considering treatment and should not rely on the information above.

Allergy test: Skin Prick Tests

Allergic symptoms can be caused by different immunological mechanisms. The majority of allergic diseases are caused by either the Type I (or immediate-type) hypersensitivity response, or the Type IV (or delayed-type) hypersensitivity response. The type of tests needed to diagnose allergy depends on the type of allergic reaction being investigated.

Immediate-type hypersensitivity reactions are caused by antibodies called IgE produced by the immune system against allergens such as pollens, house dust mites, mold spores, animal dander, insect venom, food or drugs. When you are exposed to these allergens, the IgE attached to allergy cells called mast cells binds to the allergens and trigger the mast cells to release chemical mediators such as histamine. This leads to swelling, itching, redness, congestion and airway constriction within a matter of minutes.
IgE antibodies are involved in causing nasal and ocular allergies, asthma, insect sting allergies and some types of food and drug allergies.
Skin prick tests involve the introduction of a tiny amount of allergens into the surface layer of the skin, where there is a rich source of mast cells. A small swelling surrounded by redness will appear after 15 minutes if there is sensitivity to the allergens. The video above shows how this is done.

Skin prick tests are quick, safe and accurate. A large variety of allergenic extracts are commercially available for testing. However, the skin must be in good condition and the patient must not have taken antihistamines beforehand. Patients with active dermatitis or urticaria (hives) should not be tested because increased skin sensitivity might result in false positive results. 


Reference information:  www.allergy.hk

The information aims to provide educational purpose only. Anyone reading it should consult physician before considering treatment and should not rely on the information above.

濕疹的藥物治療

參考資料: www.allergy.hk


消炎治理

類固醇可有效消炎,不過有研究發現,類固醇會令患者的皮膚保護功能惡化,當濕疹病發時,類固醇可消退炎症,但長期使用會導致患者的皮膚保護功能受損。類固醇的其他副作用:皮膚萎縮, 皮膚變薄, 出現血管斑, 反彈性皮膚炎。 

因類固醇藥膏不適宜長期使用,目前市面上有售由抗排斥免疫藥物製造的非類固醇藥膏,亦可達消炎作用,但避免了類固醇的副作用,是較為安全的治療過敏性皮炎藥物。儘管如此,非類固醇藥膏的療效始終不及類固醇,所以只能作預防的角色,當患者的皮炎情況已受到類固醇藥物控制時,便可用非類固醇藥膏作預防性使用。  

口服消炎藥物 

嚴重過敏性皮炎的患者,單獨使用外塗藥物難以控制病情。一般來說,他們的免疫系統已是極度過敏,而血液內的IgE抗體相當高,如局部外塗藥物無效時,須使用口服藥物治療。

以上所提供的資訊僅作為教育及參考用途，如果你有任何醫療問題，

應向自己的過敏病科醫生查詢，而不應單倚賴以上提供的資料。

哮喘

曾患有過敏症的父母，難免會擔心下一代是否同樣地患上哮喘。全球哮喘的發病率不斷上升，如澳洲和英國的兒童，哮喘發病率已超過20%。

在醫學角度上，哮喘是支氣管收窄的疾病。患者發病初期，會有較多咳嗽但有可能末出現氣管收窄和氣喘的徵狀，而長期或經常咳嗽的病人，也許已經患有哮喘。

哮喘症狀：咳嗽,有痰涎, 氣管收縮, 胸口有壓迫感, 呼吸困難, 呼吸有喘聲, 氣促

哮喘運動

有些運動並不適合哮喘患者。特別是空氣污濁、天氣寒冷或乾燥時份，患者都應該避免做運動，減少吸入寒冷和乾燥的空氣，減低哮喘病發的機會。

參考資料: www.allergy.hk

以上所提供的資訊僅作為教育及參考用途，如果你有任何醫療問題，應向自己的過敏病科醫生查詢，而不應單倚賴以上提供的資料。

兒童過敏

食物過敏

食物也是重要的過敏原之一，也是一種免疫系統的反應。最常引起的是蕁麻疹、嬰兒濕疹及嬰兒胃腸障礙。最容易引起過敏的食物為牛奶、黃豆、雞蛋、花生、小麥、海鮮、果仁。食物過敏不一定是發生在胃腸之內，整個身體都可能有過敏反應，如果是初次接觸，可能是口部出現紅腫痕癢等。吃了過敏食物可以導致嘔吐或肚屙，若是被吸腸胃吸收了，就有可能出現其他的過敏反應，如水腫、風疹、血壓降低、休克，甚至死亡。

免疫療法

要根治過敏症可以嘗試使用免疫療法（Immunotherapy），又稱減敏治療（Hyposensitization），是漸進性的增加身體接受致敏原的劑量，希望可以調整身體對過敏原的免反疫反應。減敏治療的效果以過敏性鼻炎的效果最佳，其次是過敏性氣喘。可通過舌底或注射以吸收致敏原，刺激免疫系統，強迫免疫系統接受，減低過敏。

‧吸煙──若是家中有人吸煙的話，小朋友長大之後患過敏症及哮喘的機會大大增加。

‧寵物──最好不要飼養貓狗等寵物，免使小朋友有致敏的機會。

‧塵埃──塵埃是很普遍的致敏原，家中最好避免用地氈或厚窗簾，免使塵埃積聚。

參考資料: www.allergy.hk

以上所提供的資訊僅作為教育及參考用途，如果你有任何醫療問題，
應向自己的過敏病科醫生查詢，而不應單倚賴以上提供的資料。