ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to determine the skin reactivity of healthy Oriental adults to commercial extracts of commonly ingested food and the house dust mite D. farinae, a common local aeroallergen. D. farinae and 18 food extracts were skin prick tested on adults without any personal history of atopic diseases and food allergy. The extracts of food not consumed by any subject on religious or personal grounds were not tested for that individual. A total of 103 healthy adults who fulfilled the selection criteria were skin prick tested. There were 35 males and 68 females. Their mean age was 29 years (SD +/- 7.5) with a range of 19 to 49 years. Sixty-eight percent were Chinese, 12.6% Malay, 12.6% Indian and 6.8% other Oriental races. Fifty-four (52.4%) were positive for D. farinae while only 12 (11.7%) were positive for at least one food extract The food extract that gave the most number of positive reactions was shellfish mix (5/102, 4.9%). A family history of atopy did not have any significant correlation with the results of skin test. It was concluded that healthy adults demonstrate less skin reactivity to extracts of commonly ingested food than to D. farinae.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Allergens/immunology , Animals , Antigens, Dermatophagoides , Dust , Female , Food/adverse effects , Food Handling , Food Hypersensitivity/immunology , Glycoproteins/immunology , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Mites/immunology , Singapore , Skin TestsABSTRACT
Though sufferers of perennial allergic rhinitis do not die from their ailment, they endure years of chronic nose disease that Interferes with many important aspects of their lives. A rhinitis-specific instrument to gauge the quality of life of patients with this disease was published in 1991. Here, we validated the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) for use in English-speaking patients with perennial allergic rhinitis. We established that the RQLQ distinguishes between patients and control, demonstrates internal consistency and is sensitive to change. This study suggests that the RQLQ can be used to assess the quality of life of patients with perennial allergic rhinitis in Singapore.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Discriminant Analysis , Factor Analysis, Statistical , Humans , Middle Aged , Quality of Life , Surveys and Questionnaires , Reproducibility of Results , Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial/physiopathology , SingaporeABSTRACT
We report our experience regarding definitive treatment for concurrent atrioventricular reciprocating and AV node reentry tachycardia in 184 consecutive patients undergoing accessory connection ablation. 18 patients also had inducible sustained AV node reentry tachycardia. Sixteen out of 18 patients underwent accessory connection albation followed by AV node modification. There were no complications related to the ablation procedures. Fluoroscopy time for the combined procedures was 29 +/- 12 minut. There were no tachycardia recrrences during follow-up of 21 +/- 11 months. Our data show that both accessory connection ablation and AV node modification can be effectively and safely performed in a single procedure.