BACKGROUND The increasing prevalence of allergic diseases and atopy is affected by sex, age and lifestyle factors. Obesity and excess weight are reported to be potential risk factors for atopy and specifically for asthma symptoms in children and adults. OBJECTIVE To assess the relation between body mass index (BMI) and allergic diseases in patients of both genders, as well as association of B...

background: occupational contact dermatitis, especially in hand, is one of the most common occupational disorders. the present study aimed at evaluating patients with occupational allergic contact dermatitis (acd) caused by common allergens based on occupation type and disease history.   methods: this cross-sectional study aimed at evaluating the data of the patients with probable diagnosis of ...

BACKGROUND As a modification of patch testing, the strip patch test was established to obtain more sensitive and reliable test results. Comparative data on diagnostic accuracy for both tests are missing. OBJECTIVES To compare the diagnostic accuracy of strip patch tests and patch tests in detecting sensitizations in patients with suspected allergic contact dermatitis by using patient history ...

Background: It has been postulated that there is an inverse association between mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and atopy. We aimed to investigate if there is a similar relation in our study group, consisting 252 asthmatic children. Methods: In tuberculin testing indurations greater than or equal to 5 mm were accepted as positive. The most common aeroallergens were used in skin prick testi...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of allergic respiratory disease tends to increase in populations that adopt the so-called Westernized lifestyle. We investigated the association between atopy and several possible lifestyle-related factors in seven Danish population-based studies. METHODS A total of 20048 persons participated in the seven studies. We used logistic regression to analyse the associatio...

Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) is a proinflammatory cytokine that increases human airway tissue responsiveness and is considered a candidate gene for asthma. Two common polymorphisms (LTalphaNcoI and TNFalpha-308) in the TNF gene complex were studied in 600 subjects from 131 Italian families with atopic asthmatic children. Skin prick test (SPT), total IgE levels, atopy (defined as increased IgE l...

Atopy is a common finding in asthma, but at least one third of severe asthmatics have no evidence of atopy (so-called ‘‘intrinsic’’ asthma) [1–4]. Despite the uncertainty of the mechanisms leading to nonatopic asthma, these patients have no history of allergic respiratory disease, no detectable specific IgE to common aeroallergens, and no positive skin-prick test. One hypothesis suggests that d...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to investigate bronchodilator responsiveness (BDR) following methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction and to determine differences in BDR according to clinical parameters in children with asthma. METHODS The methacholine challenge test was performed in 145 children with mild to moderate asthma, and the provocative concentration causing a 20% decline in FEV1 (...

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease worldwide and poses a significant health and socioeconomic burden. The prevalence of this disease differs geographically and seems on the rise in many parts of the world. (1). Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have identified several indicators associated with high risk of asthma (2). Personal history of atopy in early life seems to be ...

OBJECTIVES This is a preliminary report of a relatively new method, Phadiatop, in screening atopic adult patients with recurrent secretory otitis media (SOM). The sensitivity and specificity, and its use in atopic adult patients with recurrent SOM were evaluated. PATIENTS AND METHODS Eighty-four patients (54 females, 30 males; mean age 36.7; range 19 to 62 years) who were diagnosed as recurre...