5 Insights from Most Important Allergy Meeting of the Year #AAAAI

My favorite allergists, Joshua Jacobs, MD and Alison Tevrizian, MD, from the Allergy and Asthma  Medical Group of the Bay Area (San Francisco Bay Area) are currently attending the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) in San Diego, CA.   Thousands of allergists, academics and researchers from around the globe have converged over 5 days to present research, discoveries, discuss therapies and protocols and exchange ideas.  This is a true meeting of the Allergy, Asthma and Immunological minds.  I spoke to Dr. Jacobs Sunday night since he was excited to share some thoughts from the meeting with us, even though the meeting ends on Tuesday.

Screen shot of the tweets that are being shared on Twitter

Physician (board certified allergist) insight from the American Academy of Allergy and Asthma and Immunology (#AAAAI–if you are following on Twitter)

• Tweeting Allergists.  2014 is the second year that there is an established contingency of tweeting allergists.  Follow #AAAAI  Dr Jacobs, (who promised to get himself on twitter this week) was inspired by the tweets and explained why he enjoyed this method of communication, “everyone has something to contribute”.  He shared with me that the beauty of the tweets from various participants allowed for different perspectives to be viewed.
• Bendryl® Sliding Down the List.  Dr. Jacobs suggested that lay parents or patients who are following the #AAAAI tweets should find the proper links to the full data discussed, send it to their allergist and then schedule an appointment to review.  He was enthused that the tweets will create great points of discussion between patients and their allergists.  Specifically, there were tweets about oral antihistamines (Benedryl®) moving down to possible  third line treatment of an anaphylactic reaction.  Discussing how to respond to an anaphylactic emergency and when to give epinephrine versus Benedryl® is a very important conversation that many patients and allergist don’t have.  Talk to your allergist about when to give epinephrine (hint: when in doubt, give it).
• Oral Immunotherapy.  For those closely following Oral Immunotherapy (OIT), Dr. Jacobs said, “we’re getting close to defining the safety of OIT and we have a better understanding of risks and benefits.  In simple terms, he felt there is more work to be done, but we are certainly on the right road and are getting much closer to good outcomes.
• Chance Meeting.  He was pleased to personally meet Dr. Paul Ehrlich, cousin of our dear Henry Ehrlich, author of the much awaited book, Food Allergies: Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western Science, and the Search for a Cure.  I asked Dr. Jacobs to find Dr. Ehrlich, as I felt these two needed to meet.  I was thinking of a West Coast/East Coast meeting of the minds type of moment.  Of course, I was asking for a needle in a hay stack to be found since thousands were attending the meeting.  At last, they did indeed find each other.   I had instructed Dr. Jacobs to seek out a tall man with curly hair holding Henry’s book.  Although, I believe Dr. Ehrlich approached Dr. Jacobs!?  I really need to find out more details on this story.
• Concentrated Formulas.  In addition to finding Dr. Ehrlich, Dr. Jacobs met Dr. Xiu Min Li, the scientist and researcher blazing the trail using Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)  FAHF-2 research in her battle against food allergies.  He was intrigued and interested to learn that a more concentrated formulation of  FAHF-2 dosing, that will be more conducive to Western patients, will be employed.  Understanding that TCM herbs are an acquired “taste” in our Western world, he took a specific interest in the efficacy of FAHF-2 in combination with OIT combined with the newer concentrated formula.  Needless to say, he was so fascinated by what he learned on Sunday about FAHF-2, that he had started reading, Food Allergies: Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western Science, and the Search for a Cure immediately.
• Better Asthma treatment.  Dr. Jacobs reported that there was exciting information about improved Asthma Endotypes-meaning better definitions of the various subtypes of asthma.  Which, to you and me translate into our allergist being able to better identify what kind of asthma we’re battling to ensure we are being prescribed efficient medications and treatment plans.

Thanks for sharing Dr. Jacobs–I look forward to hearing more from you and Dr. Tevrizian and the 2014 Annual AAAAI Meeting!  Hope shines through today.
p.s.  Jenny Sprague, co-founder of the Food Allergy Bloggers Conference pulled together a nice recap of “AAAAI Twitter Gems” that were being shared.  Check out her blog post!  She sorted out some of the most interesting tweets to date!