TulsaAllergyNews

Help with Allergies, Asthma, and Sinus Conditions

Category: Is my immune system normal?

  • When You Just Can’t Fight It Anymore

    I’m often asked about #immunodeficiency–does my body fight infection like it’s supposed to? Is this baby’s immune system normal? Obviously, probably not. Fortunately, #Stevens Johnson syndrome is quite rare, but antibody deficiency is NOT rare and many strategies can be performed to improve the situation. I often start the conversation about #immunodeficiency: “are you worried…

  • Do Vaccines prevent Cancer?

    This article appeared in KevinMD’s blog and has a very interesting chain of comments.  From just reading the article you would think that certain #vaccines prevent #cancer.  I would like to think that’s true, but nothing is so simple in medicine.  The “cause and effect” relationship to what we do is always the elusive holy…

  • Why Doctors Order Too Many Tests

    You blurt out an insult to your girlfriend, the quarterback throws for an interception, I bought a stock that tanked….if only I could take back decisions I’ve made.  We all feel that way at times, but how can a lab test be a bad decision?

  • Blood work can be a problem

    Normally, I like to include lab studies for evaluation of patients with chronic infections.  It’s very important to find out if your body can make the right amount of antibodies to fight infection.  But…there’s always the exception.  In this case, IgA can be absent from your bloodstream and not cause a problem because it’s gone. …

  • Flesh-eating bacteria….what is this?

    USA Today has some answers for this very serious infection.  The courage of Aimee Copeland’s family is remarkable and should be an example to all of us.  Questions answered about this scary bacteria

  • How Do I Find Immunodeficiency?

      Immunodeficiency–does my child get too many infections?  How can I tell?  Read on in the following journal article.  Author information and citation listed at the end.  I’ll summarize for you.  Before I begin, take a look at this 3 minute (yes really) video on immunodeficiency; it will help with background information.    April 11, 2011…

  • Vaccine update for Adults!

    WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration says it has approved Pfizer Inc.‘s best-selling Prevnar 13 vaccine for use in preventing pneumococcal disease in adults age 50 and older.  The agency’s move on Friday was widely anticipated, coming a little over a month after a panel of federal health experts voted overwhelmingly to recommend the use…

  • To Test or Not to Test, that is the question!

    If you’re like most doctors, who doesn’t spend the winter months prescribing antibiotics and treating upper respiratory infections?  But when is it serious enough to pull the trigger on a detailed work-up for immunodeficiency? As with everything in medicine, when symptoms are outside of the “norm,” it’s time to intervene and start your work-up.  Consider…