Tag: atopy
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Eosinophils: worms, wheezes, and weird diseases
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Unless you’re a parasitic nematode (and I suspect the majority of you reading this aren’t) or suffer from an allergy (probably a bit more likely), it’s hard not to be a little bit excited when you see an eosinophil. Just like their brothers-in-arms, the neutrophils, eosinophils are part of the front-line defences of the immune…
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Don’t do food trials in summer
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I now try to avoid running food trials in mid-summer. Certainly on first presentation, with no previous history of allergic dermatitis, I tend to treat accordingly and wait to see what happens later in the year as vegetation dies back. Food allergic dermatitis does not have a seasonal basis, so if the signs resolve or exacerbate over…
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Immunotherapy in atopic dogs is a valuable tool
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My colleagues and I use immunotherapy on a fair number of dogs to treat atopic dermatitis. Research tells us it can be a valuable tool in some dogs, but at the same time up to a third of dogs respond poorly. We are lucky in our practice as anecdotally we find the majority of dogs…