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Something in the Air: Airborne
Allergens
Allergy Research
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
conducts and supports research on allergies focused on understanding
what happens to the body during the allergic process--the sequence
of events leading to the allergic response and the factors responsible
for allergic diseases. This understanding will lead to better
methods of diagnosing, preventing, and treating allergies.
NIAID supports a network of Asthma, Allergic and Immunologic
Diseases Cooperative Research Centers throughout the United
States. The centers encourage close coordination among scientists
studying basic and clinical immunology, genetics, biochemistry,
pharmacology, and environmental science. This interdisciplinary
approach helps move research knowledge as quickly as possible
from research scientists to physicians and their allergy patients.
Educating patients and health care workers is an important
tool in controlling allergic diseases. All of these research
centers conduct and evaluate educational programs focused on
methods to control allergic diseases.
Researchers participating in NIAID's National Cooperative Inner-City
Asthma Study are examining ways to prevent asthma in minority
children in inner-city environments. Asthma, a major cause of
illness and hospitalizations among these children, is provoked
by a number of possible factors, including allergies to airborne
substances.
Although several factors provoke allergic responses, scientists
know that heredity is a major influence on who will develop
an allergy. Therefore, researchers are trying to identify and
describe the genes that make a person susceptible to allergic
diseases.
Some studies are aimed at seeking better ways to diagnose and
treat people with allergic diseases and to better understand
the factors that regulate IgE production in order to reduce
the allergic response in patients. Several research institutions
are focusing on ways to influence the cells that participate
in the allergic response.
Because researchers are becoming increasingly aware of the
role of environmental factors in allergies, they are evaluating
ways to control environmental exposures to allergens and pollutants
to prevent allergic disease.
These studies offer the promise of improving treatment and
control of allergic diseases and the hope that one day allergic
diseases will be preventable as well.
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