Read More: http://abc7ny.com/health/allergy-levels-at-their-worst-/1945491/
Dr. Bassett on ABC Eyewitness News – Allergy Levels at Their Worst
ABC News
Dr. Bassett on ABC News – Warmer Weather Could Be Tough On Allergy Sufferers
While most of us are enjoying the warm weather, some people will be paying a price.
The warmer temperatures, 30 degrees above average for two straight days, may wreak havoc for allergy sufferers.
“This year takes the cake because the weather got so warm so quickly, root systems are really healthy because of all the precipitation we had during the late winter, they’re primed and ready to go and there’s an early pollen release,” said Dr. Cliff Bassett, Medical Director of Allergy and Asthma Care of New York.
Link to Video: http://abc7ny.com/health/warmer-weather-could-be-tough-on-allergy-sufferers/1240367/
Are You Allergic To Exercise? Dr Bassett Explains on ABC News
ABC US News | ABC Business News
It may sound like an excuse, but some people are actually allergic to exercise. This condition can trigger serious consequences that could land you in your hospital’s emergency room. Dr Clifford Bassett joins ABC News reporter to help explain this unusual situation.
Dr Bassett Discusses Spring Pollen Onslaught with ABC News Meteorologist Jeff Smith
New York moves up in worst cities for allergies list. ABC News Meteorologist Jeff Smith explains why with Dr Clifford Bassett.
Dr Bassett Contributes to ‘Unexpected Spring Allergy Triggers’ Report on ABC News
In an ABC News report by K. Aleisha Fetters entitled ’11 Unexpected Spring Allergy Triggers’, Dr Bassett reminds us of frequently overlooked causes of Spring allergies. Here is an except from the ABC News report;
Hair products
The perfect ‘do’ comes at a cost. “Hair gels and pastes cause the hair to become a pollen magnet,” says Clifford Bassett, MD, medical director of Allergy and Asthma Care of New York and associate professor of clinical medicine at New York University.
Fight It
Use as few hair products as your hairstyle will allow, Dr. Bassett advises. If you just can’t get by without your full arsenal of gels, sprays, and serums, make sure to wash your hair every day to remove the tag-along allergens from your locks.
Thunderstorms
April showers bring May flowers…and “thunderstorm asthma” attacks. While gentle drizzles can decrease pollen counts, thunderstorms actually stir up pollen, which can easily rupture and spread through the air as tiny particles, according to research in Allergy. In fact, thunderstorms are linked with a greater incidence of asthma-related hospitalizations, Dr. Bassett says.
Fight It
This one’s pretty easy: Stay inside during and immediately following rough weather, and keep your windows shut.
READ THE ENTIRE ABC NEWS REPORT HERE
Are You Allergic to Your Workout?
Dr Bassett recently discussed this topic with ABC Health News Reporter, Dr. Sapna Parikh…
NEW YORK (WABC) — Three years ago Jason Schramm was getting ready to workout. He ate some dried cranberries, got on the treadmill and 10 minutes later, he did not feel so well.
“I noticed my throat felt itchy my eyes were watering so I stopped,” Schramm said.
He’s battled allergies all his life and recognized the early signs, but this time it was the exercise that caused reaction.
For some people, it’s thought that exercise triggers an immune response, causing the body to go on attack and release histamines.
“In an exercise induced allergic reaction, people can have hives, lip swelling, facial swelling, tightness in chest abdomen, respiratory system and it can be life threatening,” Dr. Cliff Bassett, medical director Allergy and Asthma Care of New York, said.
Allergist Dr. Cliff Bassett says it’s rare, but for about half the patients with an exercise allergy, it’s triggered by certain foods.
“Many people that have this condition cannot eat any food within at least 6 hours of exercising,” he said.
Heat and humidity can also make it worse, so can alcohol and anti-inflammatory medications like aspirin and ibuprofen
So how do you know if you have it? Like most allergies part of it is putting 2 and 2 together, recognizing when the symptoms happen and knowing this condition even exists
“If people have symptoms with exercise they feel warm flushed itchy they have hives get it checked out and see a specialist,” Bassett said.
There are tests that can help confirm the diagnosis it. Dr. Bassett says those with a severe exercise allergy may need to take medication before working out. Jason did not give up exercise, but now he only works out first thing in the morning and doesn’t eat anything before.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ABC HEALTH NEWS REPORT
Study Questions Daily Doses of Inhaled Corticosteroid Asthma Meds
“This is very surprising and very provocative data in that it seems to show that ‘less may be the same’ in the treatment of some patients with persistent asthma,” said Dr. Clifford Bassett, an allergist and immunologist at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Bassett added that although inhaled corticosteroids are very safe drugs, decreasing their use could have major cost benefits. But physicians also warn that asthma patients — or parents of children with asthma — should not act on these findings without talking to their doctors.
ABC NEWS – Reported by Maureen Braun, M.D., ABC News Medical Unit:
Millions of patients with asthma may not need to take their medicine every day after all.
Nearly 25 million people in the United States suffer from asthma, and many of them use an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) medicine two times per day, every day, to prevent asthma symptoms. Unlike albuterol, a medicine that opens the airways and is used only to treat symptoms or asthma attacks, patients on inhaled corticosteroids are told to use this medicine even when they are not having symptoms.
Now, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests this twice-a-day medication may not be needed.
This may be important news for patients suffering from a disease that not only costs billions in health care dollars, but also leads to missed days of work and school, as well as early death.
Researchers from 10 different institutions in the U.S. looked at 342 adults with mild to moderate asthma who were taking inhaled corticosteroids. They randomly put patients into three groups to study the effects of different medication management approaches.
Members of the first group had their medication adjusted by a physician every six weeks based on standard clinical guidelines. The second group had its medication adjusted every six weeks based on results of a breathing test, and members of the third group adjusted their medication daily based on their symptoms.
Researchers found that patients in the third group — those who used their inhaled corticosteroids only when they had symptoms — did just as well as the patients who used it every day. These patients had no difference in lung function and days missed from school and work, worsening of symptoms, and asthma attacks.
They also had no difference in what is called the reactivity of their lung tissue — the factor behind asthma attacks.
Inhaled corticosteroids are considered generally safe; side effects tend to be mild and include irritation and dryness of the throat as well as an increased risk of thrush, a yeast infection of the tongue and mouth. A few studies, however, suggest the possibility of more serious, systemic consequences, such as decreased growth in children, decreased bone density, and suppression of the immune system. The jury is still out on these effects, though, and these problems may be more likely linked to incorrect use of the drugs.
Experts not involved in the study said the findings are important.
“This is very surprising and very provocative data in that it seems to show that ‘less may be the same’ in the treatment of some patients with persistent asthma,” said Dr. Clifford Bassett, an allergist and immunologist at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Bassett added that although inhaled corticosteroids are very safe drugs, decreasing their use could have major cost benefits.
But physicians also warn that asthma patients — or parents of children with asthma — should not act on these findings without talking to their doctors.
Dr. Andrew Ting, a pediatric pulmonologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said he feared that some parents might think this means that they can stop giving their children inhaled corticosteroids every day — despite the fact that in younger patients a daily dose is still believed to be necessary to keep asthma at bay.
“I’m concerned it may be misinterpreted in the pediatric population,” he said, explaining that children differ from adults in the way asthma affects their lungs.
And Bassett said that for all patients, more data is needed before doctors can make a formal recommendation.
“This is one study, we need to get more information as well as clinical data to support this change in regimen,” he said.
Summer Allergy Triggers – Dr Bassett on ABC News
ABC News — No matter what the season, pollen is in the air, ready to set off allergy attacks.
“Pollens will vary from region to region, but they follow a sequential pattern everywhere,” said Dr. Harold Nelson, an allergist at National Jewish Health in Denver. “It’s tree pollen mostly in the spring before the leaves come out. In late spring it’s grass pollen, and starting usually in late July or August it’s weed pollen. And the most important one is ragweed.”
“There’s a global expansion of pollen. There’s more of it and it’s more powerful,” said Dr. Clifford Bassett, a clinical assistant professor at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Allergy experts say of the summer allergens, pollen is the most common and affects the most people. While it’s not possible to avoid pollen entirely, Bassett offered a number of tips for minimizing its effects.
“Avoid bringing in those pesky pollens and mold spores into your home via an air sucking fan, especially during the allergy season if you are a sufferer,” he said.
He also recommends exercising indoors on days when pollen count is high, which is often on dry, warm and windy days. Levels are also typically highest in the mid-day and afternoon.
And not only is accessorizing fashionable, it can also help minimize exposure to pollen. Bassett recommends wearing oversized sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat to prevent pollen from getting on the face and into eyes.
People should also wash their hair at night to eliminate pollen and change clothing before getting into bed. Additionally, keep windows closed while driving and keep air conditioners running on the ‘re-circulate’ setting, Bassett added. — by Kim Carollo, ABC News
Dr Bassett on ABC New York Debunking Common Allergy Myths
NEW YORK (WABC) — This is the worst allergy season in 10 years. That means those 93 million sufferers across the country are putting up with lots of itchy eyes, runny noses and wheezing lungs.
Residential broker Michelle Jason says her allergies got in the way. That is until she started getting regular shots at Dr. Clifford Bassett’s Kips Bay office.
“I didn’t realize that over the summer and the winter when I wasn’t feeling well was still allergy related,” Jason said.
“Sometimes we put the blame in the wrong place. Here’s a myth. If you use one brand of allergy medication, you build up a tolerance and it will stop working,” Dr. Bassett said.
“The good news is you cannot build up a tolerance to allergy medications particularly antihistamines,” said Dr. Bassett. “They work on day one, day 50, or day 100.”
Myth number two, is that you should only take medication when you have symptoms.
“We know that medications work in lower doses early on in the season before the symptoms really take hold. Early treatment is excellent treatment,” Dr. Bassett said.
Myth number three is that allergy shots only work in children.
In fact, experts say immunotherapy has nothing to do with age.
Four, flowers are a leading allergy irritant.
“Just because something looks good and smells nice doesn’t mean it will cause an allergy. Get a list of good allergy plants and ones that are not so great for allergy sufferers,” Dr. Bassett said.
Myth five is that if you eat local honey you won’t get seasonal allergies.
“It sounds nice it sounds holistic,” said Dr. Bassett, “It’s not something I would count on for allergy relief this season. Occasionally, there are people who have a reaction to the honey.”
Six, if you didn’t have allergies as a child, you’re in the clear as an adult.
“We see people in their 50s 60s and 70s and beyond who have allergies for the very first time because we’re seeing a pollen explosion because climate change and pollen production,” Dr. Bassett said.
Last but not least, short-haired pets won’t irritate allergies.
“We get this all the time. My mother-in-law’s dog or cat is bothersome but mine is not. The bottom line is there are differences in the proteins in the salvations glands and the skin of the animal that comes out in the fur or saliva. In some cases there may be difference. It’s really not clear,” Dr. Bassett said.
One thing is clear, you can take easy steps now to help.
“Wear a hat, wear sunglasses on a windy day, wash your hair at night you’ll wash away the pollen that accumulates during the day. Those are three simple things that actually work and do the trick,” Dr. Bassett said.
Hurricanes and Allergies – Dr. Bassett on ABC News
Dr. Clifford Bassett is interviewed by on ABC News Healthy Living host Dan Kloeffler on the subject of allergies and asthma aggravated by post storm flooding and standing water. As Dr Bassett explains at this time of year we are getting hit by a double whammy: ragweed pollen and post storm mold spores.
