New research hints that the common belief that kids who go to daycare have lower rates of asthma and allergy later in life might be nothing more than wishful thinking. While young children in daycare definitely do get more illnesses and experience more respiratory symptoms as a result, any perceived protection these exposures afford against asthma and allergy seem to disappear by the time the child hits the age of eight.

Crack open the latest medical textbook to the chapter on type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes, and you'll be hard pressed to find the term "immunology" anywhere. This is because metabolic conditions and immunologic conditions are, with a few exceptions, distant cousins.

On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers to stop using certain products from Zicam, as use of these products have been linked to anosmia, or loss of the sense of smell.

One reason for the development of allergy may be malfunction of the respiratory epithelium, which allows allergens to bind to, enter and travel through the epithelium. Two studies by Finnish research groups on this subject have recently been published in two international biomedical journals Allergy, and Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Hypersensitivity to perfumes is the most common contact allergy in adults. Research at the University of Gothenburg has demonstrated that even natural aromatic oils, which many deem harmless compared to synthetic perfumes, may cause allergic reactions.

It's not as bad as fears over cell phone radiation, but it seems we have a minor "irritant" for cell phone users. The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) said on Thursday that doctors an unexplained rash on people's face, ears or cheeks might be a skin allergy caused by too much cell phone use, holding the phone to those areas.

Hay fever, the often seasonal allergy that affects between 10 and 20 percent of the American population, is best controlled through a course of patient-adjusted dosing, according to new research published in the September 2008 edition of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.

Together with colleagues from the Department of Dermatology and Allergy and the Center for Allergy and Environment (ZAUM) of the Technische Universität München, scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum München have pinpointed a major gene for allergic diseases. The gene was localized using cutting edge technologies for examining the whole human genome at the Helmholtz Zentrum München

Patients who have had acute allergic-like reactions to nonionic iodinated contrast material rarely develop any serious long-term problems and can be treated safely with commonly used medications according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan Hospitals in Ann Arbor.

There is a link between alcohol consumption and increased risk of perennial allergic rhinitis, according to a recent Danish study of 5,870 young adult women.

In an ongoing effort to determine the anti-inflammatory value of diets rich in some types of fish, scientists studying asthma and allergic reactions have found that a molecule produced by the body from omega-3 fatty acids helps resolve and prevent respiratory distress in laboratory mice.

As if the emotional and financial impact of flood damage isn't bad enough, floodwaters can also bring health problems. H. James Wedner, M.D., professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, says after the water recedes, damp homes and businesses are fertile grounds for mold growth, which can cause allergic reactions and asthmatic symptoms in sensitive people.