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Thirty-three percent of readers responding experience difficulty recruiting well-qualified allergists.

Household mold exposure may lower infant wheeze risk
Household mold exposure may reduce wheezing risk in infants born to atopic parents, according to a study in Allergy. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, studied infants of atopic parents to see whether wheezing and allergen sensitization prevalence is inversely related to exposure to high indoor concentrations of (1,3)-beta-D-glucan and endotoxin. Infants with very high (1.3)-beta-D-glucan exposure levels were significantly less likely to have recurrent wheezing, while low-level exposure was associated with recurrent wheezing with or without allergen sensitization. The researchers saw no association between endotoxin exposure and recurrent wheezing or allergen sensitization. 

Study: Less asthma, allergic disease
in kids who drink unpasteurized milk
Drinking unpasteurized farm milk may reduce asthma and allergic disease risk, according to a study in Clinical and Experimental Allergy, with greatest benefits for children who began drinking it during their first year. Scientists at the University of Basel in Switzerland studied 14,893 children from 5 to 13 years old, from farm, rural, and suburban areas throughout Europe. Food consumption was determined through parent questionnaires. While consuming unpasteurized milk is not recommended, authors noted that farm milk consumption was inversely linked to risk for asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, pollen, and food mix fx5 sensitization, as well as horse dander sensitization. The benefits were noted regardless of where a subject resided. 

People with mild asthma may be able to use less medicine
Two studies in the New England Journal of Medicine compared different treatment options for mild persistent asthma, investigating whether less medicine could be as effective as more. In the first study, researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, N.C., recruited 500 subjects with mild, persistent asthma whose asthma symptoms were well-controlled with 100 micrograms of inhaled fluticasone twice daily. They randomly assigned three groups to either continue their treatment; take 5 milligrams or 10 milligrams of montelukast at night; or take 100 micrograms of fluticasone and 50 micrograms of salmeterol each night. Cutting back to once-daily fluticasone plus salmeterol maintained treatment effectiveness, but switching to montelukast resulted in decreased asthma control. However, the percentage of asthma symptom-free days was not statistically different between the montelukast group (78.7 percent) and the fluticasone/salmeterol group (85.8 percent).

The second study by researchers from several Italian universities compared 455 subjects with mild asthma in four randomly assigned groups: placebo twice daily plus 250 micrograms of beclomethasone and 100 micrograms of albuterol, as needed; placebo twice daily, plus 100 micrograms of albuterol as needed; 250 micrograms of beclomethasone twice daily and 100 micrograms of albuterol, as needed; or 250 micrograms of beclomethasone and 100 micrograms of albuterol twice daily, plus 100 micrograms of albuterol, as needed. Using the morning peak expiratory flow rate as the primary outcome, the symptom-driven use of inhaled beclomethasone and albuterol was as effective as regular twice-day use of inhaled beclomethasone.

Get sneak peek at ACAAI’s “Hot Topics in Allergy,”
launching May 28 on XM’s ReachMD radio
ReachMD will launch a monthly radio program May 28 in partnership with the College. “Hot Topics in Allergy” will focus on allergic diseases, including asthma, and will air exclusively on XM’s ReachMD channel (XM 233) for medical professionals.

The short-form program will highlight articles and key studies from the ACAAI medical journal, Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, as well as related literature reviews from its publication AllergyWatch. Content from the ACAAI Annual Meeting scientific programs may also be adapted for future broadcasts.

ReachMD debuted on the XM lineup in March as the first and only satellite radio channel of its kind. Developed by health care professionals exclusively for health care professionals, the ReachMD channel offers breaking medical news, roundtable discussions, and other unique medical programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To accommodate the increased demands on today’s health care professional, ReachMD features compelling, short-form programming, providing new information every 15 minutes.

Dr. Charles J. Siegel, Gladstone, Mo., played a key role in initiating the collaborative venture. Content will be created under the direction of Drs. Todd A. Mahr, La Crosse, Wis., and J. Allen Meadows, Montgomery, Ala.

The first “Hot Topics in Allergy” program, beginning broadcast on May 28, features a discussion about allergic rhinitis and sleep disorders based on a study published in Annals. To listen to the program, visit the ACAAI Web site.

For program and scheduling information, click here.

Save the date for the 2007 College meeting in Dallas
The ACAAI Annual Meeting in Dallas, Nov. 9-14, 2007, and the Health Indoor Environment Conference, Nov. 8, will be held at the Gaylord Texan Convention Center.

The center is a tribute to everything Texas. Its atriums house 4.5 acres of gardens under glass. Its restaurants are the finest in regional cuisine, offering live music, entertainment, dining and dancing at the Glass Cactus overlooking the lake. Shoppers can visit the unique stores and markets on site, or take the free shuttle to downtown Grapevine or Grapevine Mills, the largest shopping mall in Texas.

For recreation and relaxation, there is something for everyone, including:
• Biking, jogging trails, and horseback riding
• World class spa and fitness center, a contemporary outdoor pool, and a 20-meter indoor lap pool
• 18-hole golf course at nearby Cowboys Gold Club
• Boating, waterskiing, jet skiing, and fishing on Lake Grapevine.

Join your colleagues in this wonderful setting brimming with authentic Texas style and hospitality. Look for more information about the College meeting in ACAAI eNews and ACAAI News.

View the new Annual Meeting Symposium vodcast
The College posts a new 30-minute vodcast (video podcast) of a key 2006 Annual Meeting scientific presentation on its Web site every other week. Each vodcast contains the original audio and presentation slides and can be viewed from a computer or downloaded to a portable media player (like an iPod). Previous vodcasts are archived for continued viewing.

Vodcasts from “Asthma Control: How Are We Doing? (An Evidence-Based Approach)” include:

• “How Should We Measure Asthma Control?” – Dr. Allan T. Luskin (May 9-22)
• “How to Search and Interpret the Medical Literature” – Dr. Lyndon E. Mansfield (May 23-June 5)
• “Asthma Management to Achieve Control” – Dr. Stephen A. Tilles (June 6-19)

The College will begin posting weekly 30-minute vodcasts featuring the popular Literature Review Course beginning June 20. Previous vodcasts of the International Food Allergy Symposium are archived for continued viewing.

The ACAAI vodcast program is sponsored by an unrestricted educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline.

CME-accredited webinar available on “Rethinking Asthma Control"
How we think about asthma is changing rapidly, as experts debate the best ways to define the disease, classify it, and ultimately manage it most effectively. A new online series of webinars, podcasts, monographs and bulletins on “Rethinking Asthma Control” explore some of the many challenges of asthma — how to diagnose it, why it’s important to understand the nature of its progression, and how to identify which of our patients are most at risk. The program also will address the latest recommendations for classifying our asthma patients and discuss some of the tools for assessing asthma, both current ones and those in development.

The complimentary CME program series is produced by INNOVIA Education Institute and supported by an educational grant from AstraZeneca.

Board Review Corner
Welcome to the Board Review Corner prepared by Dr. Soo Hee Kim-Delio, Senior Representative of ACAAI’s fellows-in-training (FITs) to the Board of Regents. The Board Review Corner is your chance to test your Board preparedness.

To refer to a previous Board Review Corner, click the “FIT Archive” link in the left column.

Review Questions: Chapter 1 of Pediatric Allergy: Principles & Practices, edited by Donald Y.M. Leung, et al. Review questions were written by Drs. Bret Haymore and Soo Hee Kim-Delio, Walter Reed Army Medical Center.