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| News
and offers
Hello again,
This month brings
a new product for all of you who have a problem with nickel allergy,
a reminder about the hazard of mould, a warning following research
on cashew nuts and a recipe for the scrummiest eggless chocolate
cake ever! If you’d like to take part in a trial for water
softeners or participate in an Allergy
Workshop you’ll find details below. And if the going
back on Sunday found you burrowing into your duvet with depression,
take a look at our wonderful Sunrise
BodyClock, portable Litebook
and our bestselling daylight BioBulb. |
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Beat
the winter blues. Light
therapy is effective in up to 85% of diagnosed cases of Seasonal
Affective Disorder and involves sitting in front of a light box
for one or two hours a day. A mild form, known as sub-syndrome
SAD affects as many as one in five of the population and can be
improved dramatically by the installation of simulated daylight
BioBulbs
to replace ordinary domestic light bulbs around the home and in
the workplace. |
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The
output of two Biobulbs
in the same room is equivalent to a 3000lux lightbox. Biobulbs
last for up to an amazing 10,000 hours (about 7 years) and cost
an energy-saving 0.0014p per hour. For more info and to buy, click
here
now.
If you find conventional
lightboxes too big and bulky for your busy lifestyle, take a look
at the compact and portable LiteBook.
It’s small enough to fit in a handbag or backpack but powerful
and effective, using bright white patented LED technology producing
a specific wavelength identical to the peak wavelength of sunlight.
The Litebook
is available VAT-free. For more info and to buy, click here
now.
Our compact Sunrise
BodyClock & Light Therapy Pad offers both health-giving
products in one. Each morning, 15 minutes before the alarm time,
its 15 rows of LED lights come on very slowly one by one, imitating
sunrise, so you wake up in a room bathed in 5000lux of simulated
natural daylight. (Standard indoor artificial light produces 500lux).
A daily session in front of the 5000lux LED lights then further
helps to dispel the symptoms of SAD. Compact and portable, ideal
for travel. For more info and to buy, click here
now. |
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Allergy Workshops in November.
The charity Action Against Allergy has organised a valuable series
of evening meetings for the parents of allergic children. They
are to be held at St Thomas’s Hospital London, led by consultants
and specialist nurses from the new Evelina Children’s Allergy
Service at Guy’s & St Thomas’s NHS Foundation
Trust. Each workshop will include informative talks and an interactive
question and answer session.
Thursday 8th
November: Food Allergy. Following an introduction by
Professor Gideon Lack topics will include treating allergic reactions,
when to use an Epipen, allergy in school and possible new treatments.
Thursday 29th
November: Eczema. This workshop will include lectures
and discussion on the basics of eczema, the role of food, practical
management of eczema and possible new treatments. The panel will
lead interactive discussion of parents' questions such as: Can
food be causing your child’s eczema? What other allergies
may be relevant? Do children grow out of eczema? How dangerous
are steroid creams? How can eczema be minimised? For further details
and tickets, click here.
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Nickel
problem. Update subscriber Henry Pavlovich asks if anyone
has a solution to the problem of nickel allergy triggered by razor
blades. The usual advice is to use an electric razor, particularly
one made of titanium, but this has not proved successful in this
case. |
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One study has shown that razors treble the risk of developing
fragrance sensitivity, which suggests the problem can lead to
further sensitisation. Many doctors now believe that absorbing
nickel from food may also produce systemic reactions in some
patients and recommend a low-nickel diet. If you would like
a copy of this diet send us an email
here.
Our new Nickel
Solution™ is a real breakthrough for anyone who suffers
the irritation of dermatitis triggered by nickel in rings and
watches, spectacles, belt buckles, zips and hooks and other
everyday items. It offers a unique 2-part system that first
detects nickel in jewellery and other everyday articles and
than protects you from nickel contact. More information and
to buy, click here
now.
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Seasonal Allergy Reminder. About 20% of people
who suffer from airborne allergies are also affected by mould
spores, worsening the symptoms of those with asthma or respiratory
allergies.
Exposure to Cladosporium, a mould, is widespread, as moulds
grow everywhere; both indoors, such as in kitchens and bathrooms,
on window frames, under wallpaper, on the soil of houseplants.
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Outdoors it is found on rotting leaves, grass cuttings, compost
heaps and fungi. Moulds release thousands of microscopic spores
into the atmosphere, and it is these spores that cause the allergic
reaction in people, so it’s not advisable to shuffle through
fallen leaves or rake damp compost unless wearing a mask.
Mould spores will live
anywhere where there is enough moisture to support them and of
course the British climate is ideal for their proliferation. Mould
spores are often released when there is a change in the environment,
when moist conditions suddenly become warm, when the central heating
first goes on in a damp house, or when plants are brought into
a warmer interior.
You can check the humidity
of your home with our Humidity
Measure and keep damp under control with an efficient
Dehumidifier. Take a look at the Banamite
combined dehumidifier and air filter which is available free
of VAT if you have asthma, rhinitis, eczema or allergies. |
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Cashew nut warning. A new
study published last month says allergic reactions to cashew
nuts are more severe than reactions to peanuts and the nut is
also not that easy to avoid. Writing in the journal Allergy,
author Andrew Clark reports “Cashew nuts present a considerable
hazard, being hidden in a wide variety of commonly ingested
foods, such as Asian meals, sweets, ice cream, cakes, and chocolates
and they are increasingly used in commercially prepared pesto
sauce instead of pine nuts”.
A peanut allergy can be so severe that only
very tiny amounts can be enough to trigger a response. While
cashews are used less extensively as an ingredient than peanuts,
the new study suggests that the allergic reaction to the former
may be more severe than even that of peanuts
The researchers, from Addenbrookes Hospital (Cambridge University
Hospitals) and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kings Lynn, matched
children whose worst ever reaction was to cashew nut (cashew
group, 47 children) with children whose worst ever reaction
was to peanut (peanut group, 94 children). The comparison matched
the children according to sex, age of reaction and presentation,
amount ingested, and asthma.
“This is the first study to employ case-matching
to compare severity of peanut and cashew nut allergy and demonstrates
increased severity of reactions to cashew nut,” said Clark.
The researchers note that wheezing and cardiovascular
symptoms were reported more often during reactions in the cashew
than compared to the peanut group, and that people allergic
to cashews also received intramuscular adrenaline more frequently.
Allergy
Alert Stickers and Jewellery
are designed to help make other parents, teachers and medical
staff aware of your or your child’s allergy and can help
save lives where there is severe food allergy. Click on the
links for more information and to buy.
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Softened Water Eczema Trial. The aim of this
3-year study is to see if eczema can be improved by deliberately
softening all the water used in the home (except at one tap
in the kitchen which will supply mains water for drinking).
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The study is recruiting 310 children between
the ages of 6 months and 16 years who have moderate to severe
eczema, and who live in hard water areas in Nottingham/Leicester,
North London, Cambridge and the Isle of Wight. Each child will
be in the study for 16 weeks. All of the homes where the children
live will have a water softener installed for either 4 weeks or
12 weeks. During the 16-week study period the child’s eczema
is assessed at regular hospital clinic visits (4 in total).
The study is being led
by Professor Hywel Williams and his research team at the Centre
of Evidence Based Dermatology at the University of Nottingham,
in collaboration with a team of water softener manufacturers led
by the UK Water Treatment Association.
If you would like to be
involved in the trial please go to the study website here
for further information. |
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Eggless Chocolate Cake. Update
subscriber Jenny Morgan asked us how to bake a chocolate cake
suitable for her egg-allergic son’s birthday party. If
you’d like a copy of the recipe for our truly delicious
Italian-style sponge, send us an e-mail here.
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| That’s
all. That’s all for now. More news and offers next month.
Best wishes,
Janet. |
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