Welcome to the March issue of ‘Update’ the online newsletter for customers and friends of AllergyBestBuys.

This month sees the welcome return to AllergyBestBuys of the very special handmade organic mattresses for children from Naturalmat. We’re also pleased to let you know that the ever-popular Allersafe Pillows are now back in stock with a £2 saving on a twin pack. To satisfy demand we’ve managed to find the last few copies of the wonderful Great Gluten-free Baking recipe book, one of our bestsellers which for some explicable reason is now out of print.

This is also the last month of our sale and prices will return to normal on April 1st, so remember to stock up now on hayfever solutions for the coming season, invest in new anti-allergy bedding while the sale is on and get FREE delivery on any orders over £30. There are genuine reductions throughout the store.

NEW! Bathe-Away Organic Bathtime Soothers. Little organza bags filled with organic oats, chamomile and dried goats milk release their creamy smoothness into your bathwater to comfort dry, itchy skin. Handmade to a traditional home remedy for eczema. Each bag can be used 3 times and is suitable for adults, children and babies. They would make a charming and thoughtful Easter gift. Box of 4, £6.99. For more info and to buy, click here now.

Eczema in early childhood may influence behaviour and mental health later in life. In a study published in the current  issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 125 (2010); 404-410, researchers, led by Assistant Professor Jochen Schmitt of Dresden University Hospital, Dr. Christian Apfelbacher (Heidelberg University Hospital) and Dr. Joachim Heinrich of the Institute of Epidemiology of Helmholtz Zentrum München, discovered that children who suffered from eczema during the first two years of life were more likely to demonstrate psychological abnormalities, in particular emotional problems, at age ten years than children of the same age who had not suffered from the disease. "This indicates that eczema can precede and lead to behavioral and psychological problems in children," Dr. Heinrich explained. Children whose eczema persisted beyond the first two years of life were more likely to have mental health problems than children who had eczema only in infancy.

Eczema is the most common skin disease in children and adolescents. Children who suffer from eczema are known to have an increased predisposition for hay fever and allergic asthma and eczema symptoms are accompanied by a broad spectrum of secondary symptoms, such as sleep disorders.

"We suspect that it is mainly the secondary symptoms that have a long-term effect on the emotions of the affected children," Joachim Heinrich said. The authors of the study therefore recommend documenting the occurrence of eczema as potential risk factor for later psychological problems in the children's medical records, even if the actual primary disease abates and disappears during the course of childhood.

You can read the full report of the study here.

REMINDER! If you enjoyed a hayfever season free of symptoms last year after taking MediBee’s Famous Pollen Capsules, you should start a course of this effective all-natural remedy this month. Like Mrs A Calley from Derbyshire who e-mailed to say “Had them last year – I'm back for more this year!” You can buy enough MediBee’s Pollen Capsules to last the whole season with our money-saving Star Buy.
Click here for more info.

NEW! It’s not easy finding mattresses in the High Street that don’t contain harmful chemicals and fire retardants. One of the more toxic groups of fire retardants is brominated fire retardants (BFRs), which include chemicals known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Those with children should be especially careful to avoid these chemicals as they have been shown to cause reproductive and behavioural development issues. Mattresses also often contain pesticides and formaldehyde too. Our children’s single-size mattresses from English company Naturalmat are entirely natural, organic and made by hand in Devon. There are absolutely no fire retardant chemicals in them and although they are 100% chemical free they have passed all British, European and US fire regulations. There is a choice of Organic Coir, Pure Latex or new Natural Mohair. They are priced from £285 and are excellent value for money. Read more about these very special mattresses here.

Quintiles Drug Research Unit at Guy’s Hospital, London is looking for volunteers to help with research into the administration of Fluticasone Propionate as a dry powder. You must be 18 or over with mild to moderate asthma and a non smoker for at least 3 months. You will be paid for your participation according to the length of your involvement with the trial. Please contact Quintiles Research on 0800 6341132 or text ANSWER to 80880.

Allergy to egg, milk and wheat is well known and can now be confirmed by a simple home test. And Oral Allergy Syndrome, also known as food-pollen allergy syndrome, is also now well-documented and hayfever sufferers are advised to steer clear of certain fresh fruits and vegetables. But at the recent annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) in New Orleans Dr. Scott Commins, an allergist and immunologist at the University of Virginia presented the findings of his latest research on allergy to meat.

What Commins and his colleagues found in their preliminary study of 60 patients was that some people may have an allergy to a carbohydrate naturally found within meat. He said that while allergies to certain proteins in meat has been documented before, such cases are very rare. But the idea that there is another component of meat that can spur allergies means that the pool of people within the population who have a meat allergy may be more than previously suspected.

Commins said the patients with this allergy that he studied experienced a peculiar delay in symptoms.

"Initially they will experience nothing," he said. "About three to four hours in, they'll start experiencing some itching, which often proceeds to hives."

Commins said that in some patients the reaction can get even worse, progressing to breathing difficulties, acute onset diarrhea and cramping.

While more details on this allergy will only come with additional research, Commins said the preliminary results suggest that people with certain blood types -- specifically B and AB -- may be less likely to have this type of allergy than those with other blood types. He also said the research shows that those who have been bitten by ticks or certain other blood-sucking insects may be more likely to have this allergy.

Dr. Clifford Bassett, assistant clinical professor of medicine and otolaryngology at The Long Island College Hospital, SUNY-HSCB, in Brooklyn, N.Y., who was not involved with the research, called the study "thought-provoking," particularly in patients whose allergies have no conventional explanation, a condition shelved under the description ‘idiopathic anaphylaxis’. “This condition, idiopathic anaphylaxis, often goes with no concrete cause for it," he said. "We should consider this [research] in evaluating this condition.”

If you have an allergy story to share email me here.

I’ll be back with more news and offers in next month’s Update.

‘til then, take care

from

Janet