IN BRIEF (Page 19)

Limiting house dust allergy

People who are allergic to house dust should make sure their bedrooms are well ventilated in winter, according to advice from Professor Thomas Fuchs of Germany's Professional Association of Allergists.

Heating homes in the cold winter months provide an ideal climate for dust mites to breed.

Lower temperatures and humidity levels in a home can reduce the mites' survival rate. It's also a good idea to remove any items that attract dust.

People with dust allergies often treat the symptoms with antihistamines. According to Germany's Association of Pharmacists, most antihistamines can be bought over the counter without a doctor's prescription.

"But despite that, you should not take them without getting the advice of a doctor first," Fuchs warns. It's also important to conduct an allergy test before beginning treatment.

Stress causes skin disorder

The chronic skin disorder neurodermatitis, which causes itchy patches, usually on the back of the neck, outer part of the ankle and forearms, is more common among children whose parents separate, experts say.

The risk of neurodermatitis among children whose parents divorce is three times higher than other children the same age whose parents stay together, according to Germany's society for allergology and clinical immunology in Hamburg.

"Stress and psychological problems have a clear influence on the functions of the immune system and could worsen an existing neurodermititis," says Torsten Schaefer, an allergist from Luebeck. Schaefer and his colleagues studied the effects of unemployment, illness and separation on 1,900 children.

More sun is healthy

A little more sunshine might help you live longer, according to a study published on Monday suggesting that for some people the health benefits from the sun outweigh the risk of skin cancer.

Sunlight spurs the body to produce vitamin D but fear of skin cancer is keeping many people in the shade and depriving them of an important protection from a range of diseases, researchers say.

"The skin cancer risk is there but the health benefits from some sun exposure is far larger than the risk," says Johan Moan, a researcher at the Institute for Cancer Research in Oslo, who led the study. "What we find is modest sun exposure gives enormous vitamin D benefits."

A number of studies have found protective effects from higher vitamin D intake for some cancers and ailments such as rickets, osteoporosis and diabetes, Moan says. Certain foods contain vitamin D but the body's main source comes from the sun.

Inheritance a factor in COPD

Hereditary defects are a larger contributing factor to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) than previously suspected, according to the German Society for Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine.

People with the defect have reduced levels of certain proteins in their blood that also protects connective tissues. Sufferers also lose pulmonary alveoli, the part of the lung that helps transfer gases to the bloodstream. The disease also attacks bronchial passages and lung passages.

A lot of sufferers develop symptoms like persistent coughing and difficulty breathing, especially during physical exertion, between their 30th and 40th birthdays, researchers say.

A lung specialist can use a variety of tests to confirm whether there's a genetic basis for the alpha-1-antitrypsin deficit.

Agencies

(China Daily 01/09/2008 page19)