After several cases of occupational asthma had been reported in a coffee processing factory in England, 197 coffee workers representing 80% of the production workforce were studied to determine the factors affecting the development of work related respiratory symptoms of wheeze, cough, and dyspnoea. Two computer administered questionnaires concerning the presence of respiratory symptoms and the...

BACKGROUND Diagnosis of food allergy is difficult in children. Food allergies are diagnosed using several methods that include medical histories, clinical examinations, skin prick and serum-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) tests, radio-allergosorbent test (RAST), food challenge, and supervised elimination diets. In this study we evaluated allergies to cow's milk, egg, peanut, and fish in childre...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of the running anaerobic sprint test (RAST) as a predictor of anaerobic capacity, compare it to the maximal accumulated oxygen deficit (MAOD) and to compare the RAST's parameters with the parameters of 30-s all-out tethered running on a treadmill. 39 (17.0±1.4 years) soccer players participated in this study. The participants underwent an incrementa...

Background: In our 1976 controlled venom immunotherapy trial, 33% of 182 patients with a history of systemic reactions to insect stings were excluded because of negative venom skin test responses. There have been reports of patients with negative skin test responses who have had severe reactions to subsequent stings. Objective: Our aim is to increase awareness about the patient with a negative ...

BACKGROUND This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of the atopy patch test (APT) compared with skin prick testing (SPT) and in vitro IgE measurement in a large group of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) with or without respiratory symptoms (RS). METHODS The study included 521 patients (292 males, 229 females; age, 0.5-18 years; median age, 6 years) with AD and RS with different cli...

It is well known that lifestyle factors and stress can influence the immune system, but it is less clear whether they have any effect on radioallergosorbent test (RAST) scores. The RAST scores were measured over time in 2 allergy patients, being assessed monthly for a period exceeding 10 years in one of them. The potential influence of lifestyle factors and stress on RAST scores was investigate...

Twenty-five patients with perennial rhinitis and a positive skin prick test (SPT) for Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dp) and Dermatophagoides farinae (Df) were submitted to nasal provocation and the radioimmunosorbent test (RAST) for specific IgE-antibodies. We found a significant correlation in the reaction to both allergen extracts for all parameters examined. In addition, there was a signif...

BACKGROUND Wild birch trees grow in limited areas in Japan and are not a common aero-allergen. However, many patients who do not live in the area show positive birch pollen Radioallergosorbent Test (RAST). Therefore, being sensitized by another tree pollen which is closely related to birch may result in showing a specific IgE antibody to birch. Alder is a one of these trees and in the past it g...