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When some or all of these factors are at work, you may experience allergy symptoms when nothing else in your environment has changed.  The goal of allergy therapy is to reduce your allergic load.  Allergy injections will decrease your sensitivity to unavoidable inhaled substances such as pollen.  Depending on your allergies, specific recommendations given by your allergist will reduce the number of things dumped into your bucket.  How well you follow this advice will determine the degree of relief of your allergy symptoms.

What About Food Allergy?

    There is no doubt that foods can cause a variety of symptoms (itchy rash, nasal congestion, drainage, wheezing, cough, diarrhea, and headache).  Diagnosis of food allergy is often very difficult because there is no test (in the skin or in the blood) that is totally reliable. Skin tests serve as a guide to help construct trial diets.  If symptoms improve on the diet, the foods are reintroduced into the diet in a specific manner and the patient can note whether or not symptoms return.  If after repeated challenges, it is apparent that a certain food or foods do cause difficulty, the offending food should be eliminated.  Common food allergens include milk, egg, peanut, fish, shellfish, fruits, and beef.  Almost any food or food additive can cause an adverse reaction.
     Sometimes just limiting the food in the diet is sufficient to keep symptoms under control.  Substitute foods can be used such as "cheese" made from soybeans for dairy product sensitive patients.   A workup for food allergy includes not only diagnosis of the food allergy but helping the patient live with the problem by designing diets and providing alternative recipes and substitute food for the patient. Allergy injections are not helpful for food sensitivities.  If you feel you are suffering from allergies, we will be happy help you.

     Ever if you are not on a milk restricted diet, you may have become concerned about getting enough calcium.  The recommended Daily Allowances are 800 mg for adults and children (one to ten), and 1200 mg for adolescence (11 to 18).  The main source of calcium is dairy products.  The 800 mg requirement can be met by the intake of two and three-fourths cups of milk or one milk shake and two ounces of cheese.  If you are allergic to dairy products, other food sources are available:  sardines, salmon with bones, leafy vegetables, broccoli, whole grain cereals, black strap molasses and tofu (processed with calcium sulfate).  Another source of calcium is fortified orange juice by Citrus Hill
and Minutemaid.  A source new on the market is calcium fortified Wonder Bread.  Calcium supplement is needed if requirements are not being met with food sources.  Calcium carbonate is well absorbed and used in several antacids including flavored Tums and cherry flavor Rolaids.  These are inexpensive and acceptable to children.  Calcium from food sources is better absorbed and less expensive.  A list of dietary sources is better absorbed and less expensive.  A list of dietary sources of calcium is available upon request.

  Polly Carroll, MA,RD,LD Registered Dietitian
 (Ms. Polly Carroll is available Wednesday afternoons to help design diets for patients who are sensitive to foods.  If you are having difficulty following your diet restrictions or if there are several family members on various types of diets, she will be happy to help.  Please call 224 -1156 for an appointment or 1 - 800 - 514 - 4343

1. Asthma Seminar: An educational seminar is given each fall for parents of children with asthma, and for patients with asthma.
2. Education Videotapes - Videotapes are available for use in our office on asthma, general aspects of allergy, insect allergy, and house dust control.
3. Dietetic Counseling - we have a dietitian on our staff for consultation with parents or patients with food allergies.
4. Patient Newsletter - we publish a newsletter for our patients three times a year, emphasizing timely allergy topics, new developments in the field of allergy and other articles of general interest.
5. Asthma education Program - see below

Asthma is an inflammatory disorder which causes airflow limitation in the airway.  It can be controlled with proper medication, education, and allergy trigger control. Working closely with your physician will help you achieve the following goals:

• Achieve maximum control of symptoms with a minimum amount of medication
• Enjoy an active life
• Uninterrupted sleep through the night
• Prevent acute asthma episodes that require emergency care or hospitalization
• Have relief of airway obstruction and normalization of lung function
• educate you and family members about asthma
• Minimize absenteeism from work/school

• How to detect an asthma episode before it occurs
• Proper use of the peak flow meter
• How to manage asthma with a written medication plan for everyday management and for emergencies
• How to use a metered dose inhaler and asthma medications properly and in the correct order

Donna Dayer RRT
 Licensed Respiratory Care Practitioner
Ms. Dayer is a full - time staff member of Little Rock Allergy & Asthma Clinic.  If you are having difficulty managing your asthma, or have questions regarding your Asthma Care Plan, you may contact her at 224 - 1156 or 1- 800 - 514 - 4343 for consultation.

Beta - Blocking drugs have been used to treat a number of medical conditions, including high blood pressure, certain heart conditions, headaches, and glaucoma.  It has been know since their introduction that some of these drugs can cause asthma to be worse.  More recently, there is a growing concern that allergy shot reactions (or any allergic reaction) could be more severe and more difficult to treat in patients who are on beta-blocker therapy.  When possible, simultaneous use of these therapies should be avoided.  If you are taking allergy injections and a beta-blocker, you should check with the physician who prescribed your beta-blocker to see if an equally effective drug can be substituted.  Please discuss this with your primary care physician who prescribed the beta-blocker drug.  If you cannot stop your beta-blocker drug, please call us.

The board Certified Allergist has been specifically trained to deal in a cost effective manner with the diagnosis and management of asthma, allergy, and related immunologic diseases.  In addition to four years of medical school followed by three years of training in Internal Medicine or Pediatrics, a physician must complete at least two years of full - time intensive specialty training in allergy to become an "Allergist."  This training qualifies the allergist to take the American Board examinations.  If he passes the exam, he is then certified as a "Board Certified Allergist and "Diplomate of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology." 

Board certification assures he patient that the physician has been thoroughly trained, qualified as a specialist and accepted as such by his peers in the medical community.  Dr. Caplinger, Dr. France, Dr. Ingram and Dr. Ruddell are Board Certified Allergists.