Allergy Expert Sloane Miller shares Allergy management news and commentary at MyAllergyNetwork.com. The HealthCentral Network, Inc. (www.HealthCentral.com) is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900 http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900 http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/55506/pack-painkillers Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:15:00 -0500 Sloane Miller There was an article in the New York Times recently about a couple away on a lovely vacation in Indonesia and the husband accidentally fractures his ankle. Not so lovely. Their cell phones turn out to be the most reliable tool they have. They make the decision not to have surgery in a foreign country and then have to figure out how to get him home.   It all sounded rather painful and unpleasant. His ankle fracture and subsequent pain... http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/55506/pack-painkillers http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/55507/allergy-information Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:16:00 -0500 Sloane Miller So I'm in Boynton Beach, Florida, getting a post gym veggie bowl at Chipotle and I notice that there is no calorie number after the menu line item. I secretly miss it. In the state of New York, Mayor Bloomberg, or Bloombie as I call him, at least in my head, and the New York Board of Health made this proclamation in January of 2008: "The Board of Health today voted to require restaurant chains operating in New York City to prominently display... http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/55507/allergy-information http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/55508/minorities-free Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:17:00 -0500 Sloane Miller I've often wondered about this, both statistically speaking and in the real world: when it comes to food allergies, where are the minorities? Through my Allergic Girl blog I can only recall two emails that I've received from people identifying as African-American who stated that they have food allergies and read my blog. Several members of my Worry-Free Dinners club are minorities but that is out of hundreds of members, they are literally the... http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/55508/minorities-free http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/55505/allergy-challenge Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:15:00 -0500 Sloane Miller It's a new year and this year I feel that the time is right for me to do some food challenges.   If you are new to my Health Central blog, you may not know that I've had food allergies my entire life. Starting in infancy, I ingested a food and had a swift and severe allergic reaction.   Then in my 30s, I developed food intolerances to wheat, dairy and soy, which I discovered through an elimination diet over two years. Both the... http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/55505/allergy-challenge http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/55056/holiday-resolutions Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:25:00 -0500 Sloane Miller Over Christmas, I was holed up in a spa/hotel in South Beach, Miami. I cannot lie, it was heavenly and a gift to myself for a long hard year of working seven days a week. One night I stayed in and watched movies - "Last Holiday" starring Queen Latifah was on and even though it's kind of goofy, I found myself transfixed especially as the Queen was radiant in this film. Have you seen this movie? Here's the premise:   "Georgia Byrd bumps her... http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/55056/holiday-resolutions http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/54530/calm-voice-hysteria Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:29:00 -0500 Sloane Miller Dr. Nicholas Christakis certainly caused quite a stir on the blogs when he said that school and parents are engaging in mass panic about food allergies. I didn't necessarily disagree with him. Here's what I said on Healthcentral.com.   This past year, Time Magazine reporters have written several stories about nut allergies and this week they looked at Dr. Nicholas Christakis' assertion: that school and parents are engaging in mass panic... http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/54530/calm-voice-hysteria http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/52775/promise-cabinet Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:41:00 -0500 Sloane Miller Over 45 million Americans are without health insurance. Forty-five million people: that's larger than many countries' entire populations.   Our President-elect Barack Obama is committed to securing "affordable, accessible health care for every single American" reports the New York Times. From the Obama/Biden website: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/   The Obama-Biden plan both builds on and improves our current... http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/52775/promise-cabinet http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/52774/allergies-stories Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:38:00 -0500 Sloane Miller It's time for year-end countdowns and reflections on the last year. In the allergies and asthma community, there was plenty going on. Here's what grabbed my attention over 2008:   1. Meredith Broussard's story in Harper's about food allergies back in January 2008 prompted angry responses around the food allergy blogosphere. We interviewed pediatric allergist Dr. Mike Pistiner in response to the Harper's article.   2. A piece by Dr.... http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/52774/allergies-stories http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/52673/allergy-hysteria Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:59:00 -0500 Sloane Miller Are we being hysterical? December 13, 2008, professor of medical sociology and attending physician, Dr. Nicholas A Christakis, published an article in the British Medical Journal called "This allergies hysteria is just nuts." He asserts that the "extreme responses" to food allergies and nuts in particular, "...bear many of the hallmarks of mass psychogenic illness (MPI), previously and quaintly known as "epidemic hysteria." MPI is a social... http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/52673/allergy-hysteria http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/50200/acupuncture-provide Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:08:00 -0500 Sloane Miller Back in 2005, I started weekly acupuncture treatments. Primarily, I went for stomach distress. However, during that first summer of treatment, I felt less anxious, better able to tolerate the brutal New York City summers and I felt less sensitive to environmental seasonal allergies, which I have every season.   How was this possible? Was it a result of acupuncture? I asked my practitioner about these unexpected results. She said, "Yes.... http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/50200/acupuncture-provide