Allergies = lower risk of heart attacks??!!









 I was reading some updates from the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology's (AAAAI) annual conference. The one that caught my eye is:


Wow! Finally! Something positive can come out of having allergies?!

The article also states that:
"In addition to heart attacks, the study also found that those with allergic rhinitis were also at lower risks for cerebrovascular disease { stroke} and all-cause mortality" If I am reading that right, if you have hay fever, you have a lower risk for heart attack, stroke and death. (Not sure why)
 
But when I read further, it said:
 
"The asthma patients were found to have a higher risk of heart disease, although they had no
significantly increased risk of cerebrovascular disease {stroke} or all-cause mortality." So if I have asthma, I have increased risk of heart disease but no increase in risk of stroke and death. 
 
What does that mean for those of who have allergies AND asthma??!! If you just have allergies, you have lower risk of heart attack, stroke and death. But if you have asthma, you have a higher risk of heart disease (but no increase in stroke or death).  I'm so confused.

I'm hoping I can read the entire study in a medical journal. Until then, I am left to scratch my head.  


If anyone else can make sense of that story, let me know....

Comments

  1. Hmmm, I heard something very different. My doctor told me, that if You take anti-asthmatic medicines, You have greater risk of cardiac arrythmia. Greetings for You :)

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    1. I look forward to reading the whole study if I can find it.

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  2. I am a microbiologist. I'm about to go to bed, but I'll read it later and let you know what I find

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  3. Hi there, I’m Judy! I have a question and would love to speak with you more. Please email me when you get a chance, thank you!

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    1. Judy, leave your email address and I can contact you :)

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  4. I did some research and all I could find was on pubmed article on allergies and lower heart disease risk. So it is too early to start jumping the gun on this one until more studies are published. A few guesses as a microbiologist. Anemia lowers the risk for heart attack, perhaps some people with immunodeficiencies don't absorb iron as well and are anemic. Perhaps imunodeficiencies allow for in general less nutrient absorption and lipids aren't absorbed creating less plague. It could be something I haven't even fathomed. That's why I love science, I'm always discovering new things. And I have a question for you now. What happened to your son with allergy shots after he had anaphylaxis? I was anaphylaxised a week ago from allergy shots. It actually happened at 2am about 14 hours after I had my shots. I woke up and I felt burning all over my body and I had trouble breathing. I thought I was having an asthma attack so I fired up the nebulizer but to no avail. I started to panic and turned on the lights and saw that my lips were swelling and there was hives all over my body. I woke my roommate (I live in a college dormitory) and she gave me my auvi-q and called 911. I still had no improvement so she gave me my second auvi-q. I blacked out before the paramedics arrived, but I was told I needed 19x the usual dose of epinephrine. That was the scariest event in my life and i've been raped. I was so sure I was going to die I had my final thoughts about my family and hoped there was something after death. I'm so glad I educated my roommate on how to use my auvi-q and told her I was taking allergy shots. Had she not known, my family could be planning my funeral right now. Sorry for the long story I wanted to let it out as it has been on my mind a lot lately. Anyways, did your son continue to get allergy shots after he was anaphylaxised? What did his allergist do? Of course I'm going to see my allergist but I want to get a rough idea for what may happen.

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    1. Here's the link to another article by Angelina Crans Yoon, MD, from the Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center.

      http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/821205

      What a horrible story about anaphylaxis! I'm glad your room mate knew what to do.

      Did you call your doctor and let him know what happened? If so, what did he/she say?

      When my son experienced anaphylaxis after allergy shots, it was immediate. After they treated him with epinephrine and breathing treatments, they re-evaluated his allergy shots.

      It was years ago, but it seems like we took a few weeks off, then they dropped his level back down for a while to see how he would do. Then gradually increased his amounts again.

      He finished 5 years worth of allergy shots without another reaction, but now carries an Epi pen everywhere he goes.

      When your serum is mixed for allergy shots, there are so many allergens in the serum, that it's impossible to tell which one caused the reaction.

      SOOOOO scary!!

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  5. ok I tried to do some more research on this but I could not find any literature or scientific papers she has written about this. Because of this, I would be skeptical about her claims until she publishes a paper for the public to view. It's probably pending publications, but good scientists don't jump the gun and make statements before they have a publication to back themselves up. If I were her, I would have waited until my paper was published until I made statements to avoid misinforming the public, or at least make a statement that a paper is pending or even say it's my humble opinion like I did in my last comment. I've been there, I have co-written scientific papers and I have a paper pending right now. It takes about a year after you submit a paper before it actually gets published even if you know it's approved. I'm actually writing one right now on the effect of chronic alcohol consumption on lung function. I'm actually only a sophomore in college but I'm also very smart. I have autism and am very focused on biology. Most college students want to party, but all I want to do is work in the lab.

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  6. Replies
    1. I missed your last comment somehow. The paper was presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI)

      I know that you must go through proper channels to present a paper. The abstracts from the conference are included in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

      If you want to learn more about what was presented during the conference, you can see the abstracts here

      http://www.jacionline.org/

      Good luck and happy reading!

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