Archive for March, 2010

Update from AANMA Friends in Haiti

Published March - 17 - 2010

We received the following update from Caleb and Debbie Lucien at Hosean International Ministries (HIM) in Pignon, Haiti. AANMA members and friends generously donated supplies to HIM, a nonprofit organization that has a large school campus and an orphanage — HIM has taken in about 300 adults, teens and childrens since the earthquake. Caleb, director of HIM, and his wife, Debbie, are friends of AANMA and have children with asthma and respiratory issues. Here is Debbie’s note.

Go Fly a Kite

Published March - 11 - 2010

kid flying a kiteby Chef Michelle Austin with Lisa Dorfman, RD, CSSD

Remember being 10 years old and begging to go outside to play? As soon as the first daffodil poked through the crusted ground, I was raring to go. It was my neighborhood’s version of the Little Rascals, hanging out, losing all concept of time, until that whistle from the porch came barreling through the wind calling us to race home before dusk for dinner. Read the rest of this entry »

Fit to Breathe

Published March - 11 - 2010

By Lisa Dorfman, RD, CSSD, and Chef Michelle Austin

Be honest. You’re among friends–you can admit the truth. That New Year’s resolution to be fit and healthy is teetering just a wee bit, right? After all, this has been a tough asthma, cold and flu season for most of the country, and darned near impossible to keep up with work, kids and running errands—much less running a mile.

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FDA LogoNancy Sander, founder and president of AANMA, testified during the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s open public hearing segment of the March 10-11 meeting of the Joint Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee. Read the rest of this entry »

Whooping cough: Not a laughing matter

Published March - 11 - 2010

By Jan Gambino, MEd

When my daughters Rebecca, 15, and Jenna, 18, started coughing last year, I opened the medicine cabinet and reached for the inhalers, peak flow meters and nebulizer as usual. After years of dealing with their asthma, I knew how to wear the Dr. Mom hat pretty well. But this cough was worse than the ones we’d dealt with in the past. Read the rest of this entry »

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is seeking public comment on a draft of Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy. The public comment period is open until May 3. Health care professionals and interested members of the public are encouraged to review the guidelines and participate in the open comment period by visiting the NIAID Food Allergy Clinical Guidelines public comment site at www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/clinical/comments.htm. Read the rest of this entry »

noneAllergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA) encourages patients to make informed decisions about recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommendations affecting patients using asthma medications known as long-acting beta agonists (LABAs) or 12-hour bronchodilators: Advair, Foradil, Serevent and Symbicort.

This was also the message presented by allergists speaking this week at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) annual meeting in New Orleans. Allergists are concerned that FDA’s recommendations are not consistent with Expert Panel Report 3: Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma (EPR3) or with significant clinical practice in real-world settings. Furthermore, experts stated that FDA may have given more credence to some research that EPR3 authors considered unsupported by evidence. Read the rest of this entry »

AANMA hails South Dakota lawmakers for making it the 50th and final state in America to establish laws protecting students’ rights to carry and self-administer their lifesaving asthma medication at school.

South Dakota’s law also enables children with anaphylaxis to carry and use auto-injectable epinephrine, making it the 45th state to protect students’ rights to carry and use anaphylaxis medication at school. Five states — Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin — remain without laws allowing students to carry and self-administer anaphylaxis medication. Read the rest of this entry »