Latest Pollen Stories

ANTONY, France, October 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Stallergenes has just obtained authorization (IND(1)) from the FDA for immediately launching a phase III clinical trial in the United States with Oralair(R) Grasses in the treatment of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis to grass pollens in adults. The aim of the study, which will be conducted in 450 American patients during the 2009 pollen season, is to confirm the efficacy and good tolerance of the product in adults and to support the...

MU researcher identifies pollen proteins that provide insight into the fertilization processWithout eyes or ears, plants must rely on the interaction of molecules to determine appropriate mating partners and avoid inbreeding. In a new study, University of Missouri researchers have identified pollen proteins that may contribute to the signaling processes that determine if a plant accepts or rejects individual pollen grains for reproduction.Like humans, the mating game isn't always easy for...

By ANDERSON, Malcolm Tony brought young Cosmo in to see us this week with one of his regular cat bite abscesses. But it was his owner I felt sorry for, because every time I see Tony he has red eyes and is rubbing his face furiously. Not because he has been crying, but because he is allergic to Cosmo's hair as well as all the other animal hair wafting around the hospital. Summer is the busiest time for us with all the itchy cats and dogs. But with all the fine days lately, the plants...

When you stroll through your front door in the morning, does the yellow haze coating the porch send you leaping back into the house? Can the mere word "pollen" make you start to sniffle, sneeze and reach for the tissue to blow your nose?If you answered "yes" to these questions, you're probably one of millions of people in the United States suffering from hay fever. Pollen can do more, however, than just make you sneeze. If you have asthma, cardiovascular disease, chronic...

An allergy educational group has named Greensboro, N.C., as the most challenging place to live for people with seasonal allergies. Greenville, S.C., Little Rock, Ark., Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Jackson, Miss., rounded out the top five on the list compiled by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. The group said fall brings new allergy triggers that are not prevalent in the spring, such as ragweed. "During the fall when outdoor allergy triggers peak, people may continue to suffer from...

By ROGER MCBAIN Courier & Press staff writer 464-7520 or mcbainr@courierpress.com In case you haven't noticed, ragweed is back, and it's bad. Mold is, too, says Dr. Anne McLaughlin, a Welborn Clinic immunologist and allergist who regularly captures spores, grains and assorted airborne allergens on slides and counts them under a microscope. McLaughlin's latest tallies show ragweed at 149 grains per cubic meter of air. That's high, she says. It's in the orange range, the next-to- worst...

By Madhavi Rajadhyaksha MUMBAI: If you've been blaming your allergic cough, running nose and itchy skin on flowering trees or neighbourhood pets, it's time to do a rethink. Insects, particularly mosquitoes, cockroaches and dust mites, are to blame for nearly 50% of the allergies in India. And food - especially peanuts, chocolates and legumes - is the other big culprit. This is what a Mumbai allergy specialist found after he set out to map the "desi" allergy index. "Since we are a tropical...

Greer, a leading developer and provider of allergy immunotherapy products and services, has completed enrollment for its pivotal Phase III clinical trial designed to study the efficacy of sublingual-oral immunotherapy (SLIT) as a treatment for adults with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis caused by short ragweed pollen. It is estimated that 30 million Americans are allergic to short ragweed pollen, making it one of the most common allergens. Between March and June, 556 patients were screened...

By Ted Gregory, Chicago Tribune Jun. 22--Joseph Leija is a soft-spoken 78-year-old allergist who has been practicing medicine for 50 years. But when he makes his way to the rooftop of a suburban medical building, he becomes something more: Dr. Pollen. Leija is the sole provider of official pollen counts in Illinois, a critical role considering that an estimated 60 million people are suffering from allergies in the U.S. And that number is growing. An assortment of news outlets,...

Researchers in Britain reported today that consumption of a daily probiotic drink can alter the immune system response to common causes of allergies."These data show that probiotic supplements modulate immune responses...and may have the potential to alleviate the severity of symptoms," Claudio Nicoletti and colleagues at Britain's Institute of Food Research wrote in a report about the study.Probiotics contain live micro-organisms that colonize the intestine. They are found...