Mold allergy is difficult to diagnose due to lack of standardized test material.
Two large trials, DREAM and MENSA have found IL-5 therapy with mepolizumab to lower risk of exacerbation in patients with asthma with an eosinophilic phenotype. The studies had patients 12 years or older with asthma, at least two exacerbations requiring oral corticosteroids, and eosinophilic airway inflammation.
The rate ratio for reduction in exacerbations was 0.48 for patients with blood eosinophil count of 150cells/ul or higher to 0.30 for those with eosinophil count of 500cells/ul. Improvement in lung function was greater for avove the 500cells/ul threshold.
With the addition of new biologic agents, we can personalize care to our patients as we assess each phenotype of asthma. We provide Mepolizumab as well as Omalizumab injections in our office.
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Mold allergy is difficult to diagnose due to lack of standardized test material.
The current standard for diagnosis of Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) is endoscopy with esophageal biopsy to determine the eosinophil count
Skin prick testing and serum IgE measurement are limited in their ability to predict positive or negative responses to oral peanut challenge.
Bronchial Thermoplasty (BT) has been shown to result in significant improvements in a number of asthma control measures in three randomized clinical trials in patients with moderate-to-severe, persistent asthma.
Recent studies have suggested that early regular exposure to allergenic foods may reduce the risk of food allergy.
We are closer to having the first FDA approved therapy for peanut allergy; this is truly a groundbreaking development. Patients are exposed to controlled doses of peanut protein, with the dose increased over time. Ideally this will induce a tolerance.