Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Allergies are an abnormal response of the immune system. People who have allergies have an immune system that reacts to a usually harmless substance in the environment. This substance (pollen, mold, animal dander, etc.) is called an allergen.
Some of the most common seasonal allergens are grass, tree, and weed pollens. Other allergens such as pet dander, dust mite, and rodents can cause symptoms year-round. If you’re among the 25 percent of the U.S. population affected by allergies, there are three things you can do to provide much-needed relief:
- Take preventative measures. This usually means avoiding the allergen, which is useful for pet dander, but difficult for seasonal allergies. Keeping windows closed, washing your face and hands after being outdoors, or even changing clothes to remove pollen can help.
- Medications. Antihistamines and decongestants are very effective for relieving symptoms. If you prefer to use steroid or non-steroid medications, such as nasal sprays, begin taking them before the allergy season begins because they aid in blocking allergens from causing symptoms.
- Allergy vaccines, or allergy shots, are 80 percent effective and are also beneficial for allergy-related asthma.
Want to know what you’re allergic to? A skin test is a quick, inexpensive, painless and accurate way to diagnose specific allergies.
Clinical Immunology refers to the spectrum of diseases that are also abnormal responses of the immune system; including deficiencies that cause reduced ability to combat infections and over activities of the immune system that cause reactions to drugs and insect stings.
Among diseases associated with an overactive immune system are those characterized by increased eosinophils. The eosinophil is a distinctive blood cell that is elevated in numerous diseases, including allergy and skin diseases.
Some patients show marked increases in eosinophils and suffer from the hypereosinophilic syndromes. The hypereosinophilic syndromes are defined as a persistent and marked increase in the numbers of eosinophils in the blood and tissues with damage to organs such as the lung, the gastrointestinal tract and the skin. In the past the hypereosinophilic syndromes were very difficult to treat, but a series of recent advances have led to a better classification and to improved treatments. Both Drs. K.M. Leiferman and G.J. Gleich are internationally recognized experts in the diagnosis and treatment of the hypereosinophilic syndromes.
