Poison Ivy Grows Faster and More Allergic Due to Global Warming

Global warming creates conditions for increased and itchier poison ivy. Poison Ivy grows faster and bigger as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rise.

And a CO2-driven vine also produces more of its rash-causing chemical, urushiol, conclude experiments conducted in a forest at Duke University where scientists increased carbon-dioxide levels to those expected in 2050.

Poison ivy is common in woods around the country, making it a bane of hikers, campers, fighters of forest fires, even backyard gardeners. Its itchy, sometimes blistering rash is one of the most widely reported ailments to poison-control centers, with more than 350,000 reported cases a year.
Compared to poison ivy grown in usual atmospheric conditions, those exposed to the extra-high carbon dioxide grew about three times larger and produced more allergenic form of urushiol, scientists from Duke and Harvard University reported.

Their study appears in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The fertilization effect of rising CO2 on poison ivy … and the shift toward a more allergenic form of urushiol have important implications for the future health of both humans and forests," the study concludes.

Exposure To Cats Can Increase the Risk of Eczema in Children Risk

Young children who are exposed to cats soon after birth face an increased risk of developing eczema.
Esmeralda Morales at the University of Arizona in Tucson and other researchers studied 486 children and asked their parents how many cats and dogs they had in the house at the time the child was born, according to science portal EurekAlert.
The researchers then followed up one year later to see which children had been diagnosed with eczema. Of the 134 children with cats in the household, 27.6 percent had eczema by one year of age, compared with 17.8 percent of 286 children without cats.
Previous studies have found that people with eczema have a higher chance of also having allergic conditions, including hay fever and asthma.
"Other studies have found that having cats or dogs at home seems to be protective against allergic diseases, so we expected to have similar findings," said Morales.
Being exposed to two or more dogs at home suggested a slightly protective, but not significant, effect on children’s risk of developing eczema, he however said.
"Pets are a source of a compound called endotoxin, and if a child is exposed to endotoxin early in life, the immune system may be skewed away from developing an allergic profile," she said.
It is possible that the children in the study who developed eczema at age one might end up having a reduced risk of asthma or other allergic diseases later in life, Morales noted.
"The findings do seem to add more questions about pets and asthma and allergies," she said. "Since there are a lot of contradictory data out there already, clearly it’s a topic that needs further research."

Fabric Fiber May Soothe Eczema

After due research, Daiwabo Neu Co, an Osaka-based textile maker has developed a fibre that reduces itching for the atopic dermatitis affected people, generating soothing effect.In an experiment, financed by Shinshu University and other such institutions, it was concluded that among the 100 subjects, 80 felt relief when they wore undergarments made from this fibre.Atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema, is a condition where the sufferers have extreme itching sensation on skin and intense scratching causes infection, bleeding and discomfiture.This fibre is dyed in iron phthalocyanine, an organic chemical that destroys the protein that accelerates itching sensation and decomposes allergens such as dust mites and house dust; all major causes of such irritation.Professional doctors examined patients during the trials for the scars and blemishes, sources informed.

Soy Products May Be Causing Your Eczema

As dairy products are common allergens, many people with eczema have switched to soy. However, a number of studies have proven that soy, in most forms, is not a healthy alternative, and you may be trading your eczema for a worse fate. If you have an allergy to dairy and are substituting it with soy, you need to know the facts – when soy is safe, and when it’s not.

Although soy does contain some nutrients that are beneficial, it also contains substances like isoflavones – which are quite easy to overdose. The main problematic isoflavones are genistein, daidzein, and glycitein, which act like estrogen in the body. This has a number of ill-effects, not the least of which is hormonal imbalances, which, in turn, cause problems like eczema and other skin conditions.Soy also contains a number of natural toxins, ‘anti-nutrients’, that interfere with several bodily functions, including digestive system and thyroid function. An unhealthy digestive system inhibits the body’s ability to get rid of toxins, forcing the body to eventually eliminate them through the skin – often resulting in eczema. Thyroid conditions are also frequently associated with dry skin and eczema.

So, if soy isn’t the wonder food that it’s cracked up to be, how did it become so popular? Much of the hype about soy has been based on the alleged high consumption in Asia. However, contrary to popular belief, Asians have historically consumed very little soy, and their diets still contain only a fraction of that consumed by many vegetarians in the U.S. In China, it is always in small amounts, and it is almost always fermented. The Chinese learned about the toxins centuries ago, and developed the fermentation processes that made it safe for human consumption.

Could Insects In Your Food And Makeup Be Causing Your Eczema?

Never mind that fly in your soup. Consider the bugs that may be in your juice, yogurt and eye shadow.
The Food and Drug Administration is deliberating a rule that would require food companies to state on their labels that the product contains an additive made out of bugs that, when crushed and processed, yields a rich red or a vivid orange color.
The additives, carmine and cochineal extract, have been used for centuries and come from a female beetle imported from Peru, the Canary Islands, Bolivia, Chile and South Africa.
The agency said the beetle-derived ingredient is used in some 815 cosmetic preparations most of which already are labeled. The additives produce the lovely pinks, purples and reds that perk up juices, popsicles, cosmetic face blush, the cherries in fruit cocktail that little kids love, port wine cheese, artificial crab meat, strawberry milk drinks, caviar, a fruit-based aperitif and other products.
Some Yoplait yogurt made by General Mills Inc., for example, uses carmine. It is listed on the ingredient label, and the company said it had no plans to discontinue its use.
In the 1960s, the FDA, based on company testing, declared the substances safe. And companies at that time said they had received no adverse reports from the substances' use.
It wasn't until about a decade ago that medical reports surfaced showing that the additives can cause allergic reactions in some people, including flushing, hives, eczema, sneezing and anaphylaxis, a severe, sudden allergic reaction that can result in death.
Though not widespread, the problem caught the eye of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The watchdog group and several physicians petitioned the FDA in 1998 to ban the additives or to at least list them and their insect derivation.
"We're urging the FDA to get rid of it. Here is an opportunity to protect people from unnecessary reactions. When reactions are life-threatening, they the FDA should get it off the market," said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the CSPI.
Jacobson said the dyes can be replaced by other artificial or natural dyes that don't elicit the same reaction.
The FDA has taken a different tack. It proposed in January that foods containing carmine and cochineal extract list them on their labels. Retail cosmetics already must list them as ingredients, but the FDA proposal adds "professional-use" cosmetics and gifts or free samples that often come with promotions to buy cosmetics.
"FDA is proposing this action to protect the small number of consumers who are allergic to these color additives. By requiring label declaration of cochineal extract and carmine, these consumers will be able to avoid food and cosmetics containing these color additives. Cochineal extract and carmine are safe for the majority of the general population," the agency said in a statement last week. The comment period ended May 1.
Companies would have two years to change their labeling under the proposal, which could cost up to $3 million, the FDA said. The benefit for avoiding the consequences of allergic reactions was estimated at anywhere from $1 million to $26 million.
Because it comes from an insect, carmine is considered a natural additive and can be accounted for on a label as simply "artificial color" or "color added." There are many other natural color additives in that group, including annatto extract, beet powder and grape skin extract.
Under FDA rule, other colors used in food processing that are not derived from plants or animals must be listed by name, such as FD&C Red No. 40.
In its proposal, the FDA cited 35 cases of allergic reactions since 1994 from Ruby Red grapefruit juice, purple eye shadow and other products. Jacobson said the number is likely to be much higher because his group assumes that many cases are not reported.
Pediatric allergist Scott Sicherer at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York said he has not seen reactions in his patients. But he urged the FDA to list the additives as ingredients. "It's a rare allergen, but there's no reason not to label it," Sicherer said.
The Food Products Association, the country's largest trade group serving the food and beverage industry, doesn't object to putting the words on the label, said Robert Earl, senior director of nutrition policy. "Many of our companies have been listing it for years," he said.
But the group complained in its comment: "Numerous food ingredients and additives are derived from animals, including insects. FDA does not require a statement about insect derivation about any of those ingredients or additives, such as honey or shellac."
If the FDA doesn't ban the additive, the CSPI thinks the next best thing to is to tell consumers what carmine and cochineal extract are. The group suggested that people with dietary restrictions might be surprised to know the colors' origin.
In the proposal, however, the FDA said if people don't know what the words mean, they can look them up. "Information on the origin of these color additives is readily available to those consumers who want it. This information is provided in standard dictionaries for the words 'cochineal' and 'carmine.' "

Baby Eczema

If your baby has an itchy skin rash the problem may be eczema (also called atopic dermatitis). Baby eczema can crop up on a baby's skin when a child is as young as 2 months old. It generally appears on the forehead, cheeks, or scalp and sometimes spreads to the arms or chest. The rash often shows up as dry, thickened scaly skin, but is sometimes made up of tiny red bumps that may ooze or become infected if scratched.

Eczema is thought to be a reaction to allergy-causing substances in the environment. About 10 percent of infants have eczema at some point, but many improve before they're 2 years old.

Because the condition is often inherited, your child is more likely to develop eczema if you or some other close family member has any kind of allergic condition, says Amy Paller, professor of pediatrics and dermatology at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago.

Seaweed Wine May Be Effective Eczema Treatment

Germans scientists have turned their talents to the world of gastronomy and produced seaweed wine – which, in addition to its epicurean delight, will apparently help improve eczema.

What does seaweed have to offer? It has long been considered a ‘super food’ – fat-free, low calorie, and full of vital minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, iodine and sodium. In fact, some seaweed contains those minerals in the same ratios and concentrations found in human blood.

In addition to nourishing the body, one of the most important health benefits of seaweed is its ability to remove radioactive strontium and other heavy metals from the body. Whole brown seaweed, such as is used in seaweed wine, contains alginic acid which binds with the toxins in the intestines and carries them out of the system – preventing them from being eliminated through the skin, as is the case with eczema flare-ups.

If you don’t fancy the wine, you might try adding seaweed to your diet in other forms. It can be found in most health food stores, or those that sell ingredients for Japanese food. You can add strips of it to soup, use it to make a soup broth, or eat it dried as a snack. The red algae seaweed, such as nori, agar-agar, and Irish moss are also very good for you. Nori is the seaweed used to wrap sushi, but Gaelic people also mix it with flour to make bread. Agar-agar is a gel used as a base in many Japanese desserts, and dried Irish moss is most often used in relishes, breads, soups and fritters.

In addition to shoring up your diet with seaweed and other healthy foods, the skin also requires protection from harsh chemicals and other external toxins if you want to avoid eczema flare-ups.

Thoughts On Eczema Treatments

Eczema is a chronic skin condition which can mean itchy, dry skin. It can erupt into lesions or, over time, thicken into scales. The condition affects both children and adults. Treatment often depends on the age of the person and where the eczema is located.
Children and babies tend to have involvement in the cheeks and involvements in the surface of the arms, the surface of the legs.
As people become older, the disease tends to localize in new sites. Often the creases, in the creases both behind the knees and behind the elbows are very common sites of involvement.
The first line of defense in treating eczema is something to keep the skin from being so dry. So we use lubricating creams or ointments. In the wintertime, when it's cold, you use an ointment to lubricate the skin. In the summertime, you might want to use a cream or a lotion, so you don't plug the pores.
If the person is flaring and they have lesions, then what dermatologists like to use topical steroids. And you have many classes, class basically 1 through 6, with 1 being the most potent.
We know that if they're used for prolonged periods, particularly if there are high-potency steroids used in a large surface area for long periods, that the patients can suffer from a number of things. One is thinning of the skin, atrophy of the skin or the development of large blood vessels over that area.
Systemic steroids may be appropriate when the topical steroids fail. You don't want to use them for a long period of time because they can cause shut down of the adrenal gland or a decreased function of the adrenal gland. So we try not to use them for long periods of time.
There's also a new group of medications out; the one's tacrolimus and one's pimecrolimus, Protopic and Elidel. And they have been found to work very well in patients who have eczema. The Protopic is an ointment, two different strengths, and the Elidel is a cream. It's not topical steroids where you have to be careful of atrophy and so forth. You can use them basically for years without the problem.
Thus far, they appear to be relatively safe drugs. Certainly with tacrolimus, we know that if you absorb too much, you could get some immunosuppression because that drug was used as a transplant immunosuppression. That doesn't appear to be the case with Elidel.
Deciding which treatment is a balancing act weighing several factors.
The area of the body involved is an important issue for you when deciding which treatment to use. There are certain areas of the body that are particularly high-risk when you use topical corticosteroids; those include the face, the eyelids, under the armpits, in the groin. The reason is those areas of the body have very, very thin skin. So the skin very easily can absorb more of the agent that you're putting on or be affected by it.
The age of the sufferer is also important. The smaller body size of children makes them even more susceptible to the affects of steroids.
Let's say a young child was smeared in these topical corticosteroids, they could absorb it, and it could have an affect on their growth. It could suppress glands in the body, the adrenals. So we know that too much steroid for too long is dangerous.
However, today, the non- steroidals give doctors a new element to factor into the decision on which treatment to use for each patient.
If there is a need to use something for a prolonged period, one of the new immunomodulators may be considered, on the face, particularly. It's a real gain to have an agent that can be used chronically that does not seem to have the risks of atrophy, thinning of the skin or cataracts. So, particularly around the eyelids, on the face, the choice may be the use the newer immunomodulators.
You think about the nonsteroidals with the age of the patient, the location of the lesions; if it's facial, if it's under the arms, if it's between the legs, if it's on the genitalia, then you would probably go with a nonsteroidal.
If it's recurrent, because they're taking their steroids and not getting better, then you would definitely think about them.
Having new non steroidal options is particularly good news for children and their parents.
There has been some new data that's come out with the newer immunomodulators, particularly with Elidel, and it has been found that it was very, very efficacious, very useful in preventing flare. And the absorption of the drug was minimal. So this is certainly an option that you can use with young children.
While eczema treatments are not cures, having a variety of options means people can have a broader range of safe and effective therapies to treat their condition.