In today’s age, it’s common to encounter a myriad of protocols, often promoted by celebrity doctors or health gurus, each promising solutions for various health concerns, from thyroid and adrenal issues to immune system and gut health. But what exactly is a protocol in this context? It is essentially a set of guidelines or rules designed to address specific health issues or optimize well-being. These protocols often come with dietary …
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Join Kara Wada, a board-certified academic adult and pediatric allergy, immunology, and lifestyle medicine physician. We’ll delve into the world of ragweed allergies, exploring their prevalence, causes, and practical tips for managing symptoms. Discover how factors like …
Not only is it kickoff time for college football season, but it’s also prime time for fall allergies. For the 50 million Americans who suffer from ragweed allergy, the late summer and early fall signal the onset of runny noses, sneezing, congestion, cough, itchy watery eyes, and in more severe cases, sinus infections and asthma exacerbations.
Seasonal allergies are a huge source of frustration and fatigue for many of us, causing …
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Join Kara Wada, an adult and pediatric allergy, immunology, and lifestyle medicine physician, as we discuss the epithelial barrier hypothesis. What is the epithelial barrier hypothesis? What are some of the diseases that have been linked to …
We’re in a rapidly growing food allergy epidemic. 1 in 13 American children have food allergies—a number that’s only growing. Private insurance claims of anaphylactic food reactions, which are severe and potentially life-threatening, rose 377 percent from 2007 to 2016. Yet despite their increased prevalence in recent years, one thing hasn’t changed: Undermining the very real risks and anxieties associated with living with food allergies.
Beyond the risk of …
Inflammation is currently a popular topic, and I must admit that I’ve fallen into the trap of vilifying this natural physiological phenomenon. Simply put, inflammation is our body’s response to infection, injury, or insult. Heat, redness, swelling, pain, and pus signal that you are injured or sick and provide the necessary feedback to seek treatment or avoid further injury.
Human nature often leads us to categorize things as either good or …
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Join us for an insightful podcast episode with guest Kara Wada, a board-certified academic adult and pediatric allergy, immunology, and lifestyle medicine physician. Together, we explore the profound impact of disconnection in our modern existence, particularly within …
In addition to a steep increase in prevalence, in recent decades, we have seen an evolution in the ways our immune system misbehaves: eosinophilic esophagitis, mast cell disorders, and early onset colon cancer, among many others. This data alone should remind us that we are an ever-evolving species. With our rapidly changing lifestyle over the last century, it shouldn’t be surprising that we are seeing some sort of physiologic hangover.
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Join us for an insightful podcast episode as we discuss the critical issue of food allergies and the recent incidents of food-induced anaphylaxis deaths that have deeply impacted the food allergy community. Our guest, Lianne Mandelbaum, is …
When I speak with my less “crunchy” peers, I encounter a considerable amount of resistance to ideas that have initially gained traction in naturopathic or integrative spaces: food as medicine, making “non-toxic” swaps, meditation, or reiki, to name a few.
As humans, we certainly love a good us vs. them mentality, tribalism and all.
But the reality is, many of us have witnessed harm inflicted on patients who sought care in less …
Artificially separating the body from the mind has been one of the biggest missteps of modern medicine. Over the last few years, we have increasingly read studies confirming the mind-body connection, the gut-brain axis, and now we are learning more about the nose-brain connection.
Given the direct proximity between our nose and our brain, this connection shouldn’t be much of a surprise. The olfactory nerve, cranial nerve 1, wires directly to …
Food should not kill, but in the last three weeks alone, the food allergy community has grappled with three food-induced anaphylaxis deaths. All were young adults in the prime of their lives; one in middle school, another going to a school dance, and one just engaged to the love of her life.
No one is perfect in how they conduct themselves daily, but for those with food allergies, falling short of …
Unfortunately, at least from where I sit, suboptimal medical care seems to abound. And every encounter of my family members with the health care behemoth is an opportunity for them to become a recipient of it.
When it comes to shielding them, I have had some failures in the past — it took a minor stroke in my father, who lived in England, for me to realize that he had never …
Jumping on the recent TikTok trend of medical professionals sharing the things they would never do given their knowledge and expertise, I am sharing the five things I would never do as a board-certified allergist-immunologist.
1. I would never rely on a Primatene mist inhaler to treat my asthma or breathing symptoms alone. Primatene mist is a controversial over-the-counter epinephrine inhaler that can be used for mild intermittent asthma. This inhaler …
A hungry college student was on a plane flying to Italy. She was alone, as her parents had bought her a ticket to join them on the trip, but their own flight had been sold out. About an hour after take-off, the flight attendants came down the aisle with their carts to serve dinner. She chose the chicken and quickly ate the entire meal. It was Indian-style cuisine, an odd …
Recently, singer and musician Halsey shared her recent allergy testing results on TikTok along with the news of her recent diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and Sjogren’s Disease. Pictured were the telltale red welts we inflict day in and day out in allergy clinic with our scratch tests and a long list of foods to which she was possibly allergic.
Halsey has a history of being …
I was truly gutted when watching the recent Saturday Night Live that joked about nut allergies. My son Joshua, who is 16 years old, has an anaphylactic peanut allergy. I found the segment to be insensitive to the millions of people globally who live each day with food allergies, an invisible but potentially fatal disease.
How do I explain to my son that it is OK to make …
Like most parents, my children are my world. I would do anything to protect them and keep them healthy. It is Darwinian. Instinctual.
Most of us get by with a combination of sage advice from generations past interspersed with a “know better do better” approach. Personally and professionally, I encountered this duality pretty quickly. In March 2016, my husband and I hopped on a plane to Los Angeles with our 4-month-old …
It seems that adults need to be reminded and educated of the dangers life-threatening food allergies possess. If you think taunting people that have life-threatening food allergies occur only with very young children, you would be sadly mistaken. Case in point, comedian Jimmy Fallon’s in his recent sketch “Masculine Man Masks Commercial” states that his character’s masks “don’t have to make you look like a big sissy with a shellfish …
Sometimes, old ideas and time-tested treatments remain the best. Newer doesn’t always mean better. Except in the case of one of our oldest antihistamines, tried-and-true Benadryl. It is time for that old drug to be retired, sent off to pasture, and never used again. Goodbye, Benadryl. Fare thee well, adieu, and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Benadryl (diphenhydramine) was introduced in 1946. The top single that …
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