Allergy & Immunology
Allergy & Immunology
If we go back a hundred years, we will notice that the term allergy didn’t even exist. That’s why many doctors consider allergies a modern disease. A century ago, the air we breathe was much cleaner, the food was healthier, and medicine was based completely on natural ingredients. These are all factors that were taken into determining the cause of allergies. Now, they represent one of the most frequent health problems – more than 50 million people are suffering from various allergies.
What are allergies?
Allergies are irregular functioning of the immune system. The body of a person with allergies reacts to certain environmental factors that are otherwise harmless. A healthy organism has antibodies that protect us from viruses, bacteria, and infections. An allergic person’s immune system misreads certain allergens as invasive and starts to create antibodies to protect itself.
These antibodies are called Immunoglobulin E (IgE), and they bind to mast cells located under the surface of our skin, eyes, nose, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract. When the IgE antibodies detect an allergen, they bind to it and cause the mast cells to create powerful chemicals, including histamine. This is what causes an allergic reaction.
Allergens can be divided into inhalational (allergens we breathe in) and nutritive (allergens we consume through food and drink)
Symptoms and medication
The most common symptoms of allergies include a running nose, cough, sneezing, rash, and changes in the skin. The most severe symptoms are anaphylaxis and anaphylactic shock, which can be deadly. The medicine you can take for allergies come in various forms: drops, ointments and creams, sprays, pills, syrups, injections, infusions, and so on.
If you experience some of the symptoms, we recommend scheduling an appointment with us to determine what allergies you have and what medication is best for you.
Know which stimuli trigger your allergic reactions.
We treat the following allergic diseases:
Rhinitis:
Symptoms include stuffy, runny nose (hay fever), itchy nose and sometimes itchy, red, teary eyes, often worsened by allergen exposure, strong odors or seasonal factors.
Asthma:
Symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, often worsened by upper respiratory infections, allergen exposures and exercise.
Atopic Dermatitis:
Also known as eczema, symptoms include a dry, scaly, itchy rash, often triggered by an allergy to food or environmental exposures.
Urticaria:
Also called hives, symptoms include itchy raised “bumps” or welts, similar to mosquito bites. Urticaria may have many causes and a complete history and testing may help us identify a trigger.
Sinusitis:
Symptoms include headache, pain in the cheeks, eyes or forehead, foul taste in mouth, post nasal drainage and possibly, infected nasal secretions and cough.
Nasal Polyps:
Polyps are inflammatory tissues that grow in the sinus cavities and into the nose; symptoms include extreme nasal congestion, often worsened by allergy exposure.
Drug Allergies:
This condition is quite common especially in patients who take many medications; symptoms usually involve the skin with an extremely itchy rash.
Food Allergies:
This condition can be very serious and sometimes life threatening; more and more young patients demonstrate food allergies which may involve symptoms on the skin as well as the airway, tongue and gastrointestinal tract. Identification of triggers is of paramount importance.
Allergic Contact Dermatitis:
Symptoms include a very itchy rash, often localized to a specific area; triggers may be chemicals, metals or preservatives.
Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) / Gastroenteritis:
This condition involves an allergy producing white blood cell, the eosinophil, which causes allergic inflammation and damage to the gastrointestinal tract.
Insect Allergy:
Some patients are allergic to insects such as: fire ants, bees, wasps and hornets and may experience a variety of symptoms, ranging from hives to cardiovascular collapse resulting in anaphylactic shock. Treatment with venom immunotherapy is safe and very successful in inducing tolerance in these patients.
Anaphylaxis:
This condition presents as a severe and sometimes life-threatening generalized reaction to an offending agent such as an insect, a food or a drug.
Office Hours
Monday – 9:00AM – 5:45PM
Tuesday – 8:00AM – 3:45PM
Wednesday – 9:00AM – 5:45PM
Thursday – 8:00AM – 3:45PM (No Shots)
Friday – 9:00AM – 5:45PM
Saturday- 9:30AM – 12:45PM
Patient Feedback
Dr. Lamas is very knowledgeable and dedicated. She shows a high level of professionalism, but at the same time she is pleasant lady trying to accommodate your time and treatment to get the best results.
I went to Dr. Lamas because of severe allergies. I found her to be a very professional doctor that understood the fact that my doggies were very important in my life even though I was allergic to them. She prescribed immunotherapy treatment. I go every week and it is always a pleasure to go to that office. Everyone is very friendly and their hours are convenient as they open late and on Saturdays. Thank you Dr. Lamas
Loved her dad and Dr.A Lamas is every bit as professional and thorough as her dad was. Friendly and helpful staff. The commute is not easy for me, but well worth it. I highly recommend Dr. A. Lamas.
