Cargo pants or cargo shorts are great for kids who need to carry an epipen to school or camp.

Many wireless phone companies offer an inexpensive option called ICE – in case of emergency. A single button allows the calling of 911, or other instruction, in case of emergency.

New research at Mount Sinai Medical Center shows that some children with milk allergy can tolerate extensively heated milk; for instance, milk that is heat denatured in cooking a muffin.

If anyone in your family is allergic to nuts (the kind that grow on trees and as crops), be sure to check insect sprays and sunscreens used during summer fun. Some of these products contain various nut oils.

If you’re allergic to sunscreen ingredients such as PABA, be aware when using public pools that there is often an invisible layer of sunscreen on top of the water, which has washed off of fellow swimmers. This fact can account for some of those mysterious summer rashes.

Kounis Syndrome refers to allergic angina or allergic myocardial infarction (heart attack). It’s a condition that first was described in 1991 by Dr. Nicholas G. Kounis and has been elaborated on since.

It can occur in two forms. In Type I, the coronary arteries are free of any plaque or atherosclerosis. When angina or a heart attack occurs, it is due to spasm of these normal arteries. In Type II, the coronary arteries have some underlying blockage, but again the coup de grace is spasm of the arteries.

This spasm is brought on by an allergic reaction with the consequent release of histamine and other allergic mediators.

It has been known for many years that the coronary arteries have histamine receptors. Apparently, individuals with Kounis Syndrome have a greater density of receptors in the coronary arteries, thus leading to cardiac symptoms during an allergic reaction.

Kounis Syndrome has been described in a multitude of allergic reactions including hives. asthma, food allergy, serum sickness, drug allergy, contrast media allergy, latex allergy, insect stings and poison ivy.

The primary treatment is to control the allergic reaction with H1 and H2 antihistamines and steroids. Treatment also must be directed to the cardiac issues with use of oxygen and medications to stop coronary spasm.

If an individual experiences chest pain as part of an otherwise typical allergic reaction, this symptom should not be ignored but should be investigated to determine the underlying cardiac status.

Food allergy research continues to be a very hot topic at many medical centers in the United States and abroad.

A very intriguing project recently was finished at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. The topic of interest was peanut allergy. The researchers there were interested in two ways of attacking peanut allergy.

One was to use a related legume, i.e., soybean. Soybean seed storage proteins share similar properties with the allergenic aspects of peanut protein. Still, they are different enough not to cause severe peanut reactivity, especially because the researchers used fermentation of the soy protein to make it less allergically reactive.

The second prong of attack was to use the immunologically calming effect of probiotics.

One impetus for altering the soy protein by fermentation was the observation by Japanese immunologists that ingestion of traditional fermented soy products such as miso soup and soy sauce seem to have a beneficial effect on peanut-allergic individuals.

The Mount Sinai research used an anaphylactic mouse model of peanut allergy. Three groups of allergic mice were studied. One group was given placebo treatment. One group was given fermented soy protein. A final group was given fermented soy protein with live probiotics.

After four weeks of treatment the mice were challenged with eating peanut. The placebo group died or had severe allergic reaction, which was predictable for the model. The two treated groups did much better, with only about half of the mice manifesting allergic reactions. The group with both the fermented soy and probiotic did the best.

Of major importance was the fact that the treatment itself did not cause allergic reactions in the mice. This is important to note because one of the current shortcomings of clinical trials in humans using either oral or injectable peanut desensitization is that the treatment itself can cause significant allergic reactions.

The new findings at Mount Sinai may provide a way to lessen this side effect.

Hey, kids, it’s summertime and we know you’re looking for FUN THINGS TO DO. So, HERE’S A GOOD ONE.

ENTER the annual ALLERGY ASSOCIATES ART CONTEST that’s held each summer. You’ll WIN A PRIZE JUST FOR ENTERING!

As before, the age categories are 1-3 years old, 4-9 and 10-13. In addition to the entry prizes, first, second and third prizes will be awarded in each age category.

The rules? Easy. All work submitted must be yours. Just about the only other requirement is that your theme must deal with allergy and/or its treatment. (Any depictions of Dr. K as a very, very handsome guy won’t hurt your chances.)

What to use? Again easy. Use any medium you like -- paints, crayons, Popsicle sticks, axle grease (JUST KIDDING! Too messy to handle.). But decide, and start getting ready to create. The DEADLINE for submission is JULY 31.

As with all the other years, we’re looking forward to the terrific work you’ll do, so GO-GO-GO!

Your veterinarian is not only truthful but very up to date on new research.

For the longest time it was thought that the only relevant dog allergens were from their dander. The three dander allergens are Can F 1, Can F 2 and Can F 3 (the “Can” being for – you guessed it – “canine”).

Now new research has revealed an important allergen from the urine called dog prostatic kallikrein (DPK). Approximately 70 percent of persons with allergy to the Can F 1, 2, 3 allergens were found to be allergic to DPK. A smaller percentage (38%) of allergic individuals showed only an allergy to DPK and not to the Can F 1, 2, 3 allergens.

This fact could account for persons who “know I’m allergic to dogs” but who test negative when tested by current methods for Can F 1, 2, 3.

Of further interest: There is strong similarity between DPK protein and similar proteins found in urine from cows, horses, rats, rabbits, mice and guinea pigs. Whether this actually leads to allergic symptoms from these animals is as yet unknown. So, don’t sell the farm yet. (Thus far, there is no known cross-reactivity with cat urine.)

Ongoing research on DPK will answer this and other questions, and will lead to better testing serums and treatment protocols.