The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Jul 2010
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudySerum vitamin D levels and severe asthma exacerbations in the Childhood Asthma Management Program study.
Asthma exacerbations, most often caused by respiratory tract infections, are the leading causes of asthma morbidity and comprise a significant proportion of asthma-related costs. Vitamin D status might play a role in preventing asthma exacerbations. ⋯ Vitamin D insufficiency is common in this population of North American children with mild-to-moderate persistent asthma and is associated with higher odds of severe exacerbation over a 4-year period.
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Jul 2010
ReviewPractical approach to the patient with hypereosinophilia.
Markedly increased blood eosinophilia (ie, > or =1.5 x 10(9)/L), whether discovered fortuitously or found with signs and symptoms of associated organ involvement, commands diagnostic evaluation and often therapeutic interventions. This degree of hypereosinophilia is often but not uniformly associated with eosinophilic infiltration of tissues that can potentially lead to irreversible, life-threatening organ damage. ⋯ If evaluations exclude eosinophilia attributable to secondary causes or other eosinophil-related syndromes or organ-specific diseases, attention must be directed to considerations of varied other forms of the hypereosinophilic syndromes, which include myeloproliferative variants, lymphocytic variants, and many of still unknown causes. Cognizant of the capacities of eosinophils to mediate tissue damage, the varied causes for hypereosinophilia are considered, and a contemporary stepwise practical approach to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with hypereosinophilia is presented.