case of a florist with rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma due to sensitisation to Freesia, which is from the same family as the gladiolus. Ordoqui 6 reported a case of a florist, who has worked with plants for 18 years. He refers respiratory symptoms upon exposure to gladiolus and carnation, with positive prick test to these plants, specific IgE by ELISA on patient serum, and positive bronchial cha...

Visceral pain is the most common form of pain produced by disease and one of the most frequent reasons for patients to seek medical attention. Yet much of what we know about the basic mechanisms of pain derives from experimental studies of somatic nociception. This would be justified if the mechanisms of somatic and visceral pain were similar so that information obtained by studying one form of...

The viscera receive dual sensory innervation. The majority of visceral sensory fibres terminate in the spinal cord but sensory fibres contained in the vagus and pelvic nerves, which terminate in the brain stem and lumbosacral spinal cord, respectively, also innervate the same visceral organs. Figure 1 illustrates this unique pattern of innervation for the gastrointestinal tract, classically ref...

Rationale Food Allergy is a growing public health concern. There is observational evidence that exposure to food allergens across a disrupted skin barrier can lead to food sensitisation (FS) and food allergy (FA). This mechanism of action has subsequently been proven in murine studies. We sought to ascertain whether a non invasive measurement of skin barrier function at 3 time points in early i...

Background Prevalence of food allergy is considered to be increasing with some even suggesting a food allergy epidemic. We aimed to look at the changes in reported symptoms of food allergy and food allergen sensitisation over a 10 year period in the same geographical area. We compared the prevalence of reported food allergy and food allergen sensitisation in 9-10 year old children between the I...

OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of snow crab sensitisation and occupational asthma. STUDY DESIGN Prevalence study of symptoms, pulmonary function testing and allergy testing to crab was conducted in four crab plants of different design in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. METHODS Plants workers in four crab plants were interviewed and offered skin testing, R...

The relation between month of birth, sensitisation, and manifestations of atopy was assessed in 209 children who were followed from birth to 12-15 years. Children born during the tree pollen season were less likely to develop allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, IgE antibodies to pollen, or a positive screening test for IgE antibodies (odds ratio 0.28, 0.41, 0.35, respectively) than children born duri...

Opioids are powerful analgesics when used to treat acute pain and some forms of chronic pain. A large body of literature has shown that opioids can, in addition, also prevent (this review) or induce and perhaps reverse, some forms central sensitisation in in vitro and in vivo animal models of pain. However, the concept of central sensitisation is, at present, ambiguous and the usefulness of opi...

AIMS To explore relations between exposure to fungal alpha-amylase and the risk of new work related respiratory symptoms or sensitisation. METHODS A prospective cohort study among 300 bakers and millers was followed up for a maximum of seven years. Exposure to alpha-amylase was estimated by air measurements and questionnaires and classified into three categories. Symptoms were recorded with a...