The Allergist AnewsletterfromtheOklahomaAllergy&AsthmaClinicSpring2016

The Allergist

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Bret R. Haymore, M.D. Joins OAAC

Officials at the Oklahoma Allergy & Asthma Clinic announced that Board Certified Allergist Bret R. Haymore, M.D., has joined their staff. He previ-ously had his own allergy practice in Midwest City. Dr. Haymore attended Penn State College of Medicine where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He complet-ed his residency in internal medicine at William Beaumont Army Medical Center and remained for one year as chief medical resident. He complet-ed his allergy-immunology fellow-ship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center where he remained as chief of clinical services until completing his service in the Army in 2011. He served a tour in Iraq in 2008-2009.

Bret Haymore, M.D.

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), released its an-nual Spring Allergy Capitals™ report naming Oklahoma City as the 7th most challenging place to live with spring allergies. Tulsa was ranked 16th.The report identifies 100 most chal-lenging places to live with spring allergies in the U.S. Jackson, Miss. is the most challenging U.S. city to live for the second year in a row based on higher than average pollen scores, higher than average medica-tion usage, and availability of board-certified allergists in the area. The other top ten cities include #2 Memphis, TN; #3 Syracuse, NY; #4 Louisville, KY; #5 McAllen, Texas; #6 Wichita, KS; #7 Oklahoma City, OK; #8 Providence, RI; #9; Knoxville, Tenn.; #10 Buffalo, NY. AAFA’s annual Spring Allergy Capitals report provides important insights into cities where people are most af-fected by seasonal symptoms due to environmental factors such as pol-len, behaviors such as allergy medi-cation usage and the availability of board-certified clinicians. It’s important to work with your health care providers to recognize the elements that trigger your aller-gies and determine the best treat-

ments to enjoy your life unencum-bered by seasonal nasal allergies.More than 50 million Americans with seasonal nasal allergies are ex-pecting – and dreading – runny and congested noses, inflamed sinuses, relentless sneezing and other symp-toms associated with springtime al-lergies. Warm weather will drive people outdoors to face one of the season’s biggest problems, tree pollen, so children and adults with seasonal al-lergies should plan ahead. Many different types of seasonal na-sal allergy treatments are available, including prescription medications and new combination therapies, mono-therapies, short- and long-term treatments and mono-ther-apies, short- and long-term treat-ments, and allergen immunotherapy such as with allergy injections that may help relieve symptoms. Because spring is the time when many people with allergies experi-ence their worst seasonal allergy symptoms, it’s important that al-lergy sufferers seek advice from a health care professional before the season hits full force.Talk to your OAAC Allergist for help dealing with your spring allergies.

2016 Spring Allergy Capitals™ Oklahoma City Ranks 7th, Tulsa 16th

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Oklahoma Allergy & Asthma Clinic Breaks Ground on New Norman LocationOklahoma Allergy & Asthma Clinic officials broke ground January 22 for a new medical practice office build-ing. This new building will be locat-ed at 3580 R.C. Luttrell Drive off the Healthplex Parkway in Medical Park West. “We are so excited to start off 2016 with new growth for our medical practice,” said OAAC Allergist Sha-han Stutes, M.D. “Our practice just celebrated our 90th year and we take pride in helping more people live the best quality of life possible in controlling their allergies and asthma.” Three of OAAC’s allergists serve pa-tients at the current Norman loca-tion and will continue at the new building: Patricia Overhulser, M.D., Richard Hatch, M.D., and Shahan Stutes, M.D. OAAC, established in 1925, opened its first satellite office in 1983 in Nor-man. The new building is anticipated to open at the end of 2016.

It was a chilly day but the OAAC doctors persevered. Pictured are (L-R) Dr. Greg Metz, Dr. Shahan Stutes, Dr Dean Atkinson, Dr. Richard Hatch, Dr. Patricia Overhulser and Dr. Warren Filley. Not pictured Dr. Laura Chong, Dr. Florina Neagu and Dr. Bret Haymore.

Architectural rendering of the new Norman OAAC location.

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Dr. Bret Haymore

He has received numerous teaching and research awards and has pub-lished numerous articles in medical literature. He served on the Board of Regents of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunol-ogy from 2007-2008. Haymore and his wife have five children. Togeth-er they enjoy reading, sports, and outdoor activities. They are active in community service and in their church.Haymore will see patients at the main OAAC office at the Oklahoma Health Center and will also see pa-tients at the new OAAC satellite clinic in Midwest City located at

New Midwest City location - 8121 National Avenue

8121 National Avenue. OAAC Aller-gists Gregory Metz, M.D. and Florina Neagu, M.D., will also see patients at the Midwest City clinic located at 8121 National Avenue in Midwest City.The Midwest City location will be open Monday, Tuesday and Thurs-days. Patients who are undergoing immunotherapy treatments can re-ceive their injections from 8 a.m. to 5:20 p.m. (Mon., Tues., Thurs.) and from 8 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. (Fri.)

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“The Allergist” is published quarterly by the Oklahoma Allergy & Asthma Clinic. Contents are not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained directly from a physician.

“The Allergist” welcomes your letters, comments or suggestions for future issues.Send to:The Allergist750 NE 13th Street Oklahoma City, OK 73104-5051Phone: 405-235-0040www.oklahomaallergy.com

Oklahoma Allergy & Asthma ClinicEditorial Advisory BoardDean A. Atkinson, M.D.Laura K. Chong, M.D.Warren V. Filley, M.D.Richard T. Hatch, M.D.Bret R. Haymore, M.D.Gregory M. Metz, M.D.Florina Neagu, M.D.Patricia I. Overhulser, M.D.Shahan A. Stutes, M.D.Karen Gregory, DNPStefanie Rollins, APRN-CNP

OAAC Extract Lab Supervisor Reese Lannarson recently had the chance to present a poster about the differences between dog and cat extracts from various manufacturers at the National Conference of the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology in Los Angeles. Reese’s goal in the study was to see what kind of variances there were between two different dog extract manufacturers and two different cat ex-tracts manufacturers.

The first part of the study was through skin prick testing. A pool of patients was tested for dog and cat allergens using the extracts from two different compa-nies.

“I found that there were some differ-ences,” Reese said. “To be considered positive to the skin test, a patient must have a reaction of 3 millimeters or more than the negative control to the skin test. For those who had a positive reac-tion, the extracts from different manu-facturers were not always consistent.”

For those who tested positive to at least one cat extract from the two manufac-turers, 60 percent were positive to both

extracts. This meant that 40 percent of participants in the study were only posi-tive to one of the two cat extracts.

“This told me that something was dif-ferent about the two cat extracts,” said Reese. “For the dog extract, only 50 percent were positive to both extracts meaning the other 50 percent were positive to one or the other.”

The second part of the study involved the use of electrophoresis to examine the movement of charged par-ticles in a gel under the influence of an electric field. This process separates all of the proteins in the samples that were being tested. He analyzed samples of cat and dog allergens from two manufacturers and found major differences in the samples.

“I concluded that people react differently to different extracts,” he said. “Extracts are not all consistent within their composi-tion.”

“The cat is a standardized ex-tract so it is supposed to meet certain criteria by the FDA, but even between those two manufacturers,

there are differences,” Reese said. “The method used to produce the extracts may lead to these differences.

“The important message to take away is when people are being evaluated and tested for dog or cat allergy, more than one type of extract may be needed,” he said.

Reese is collaborating with manufactur-ers to do further research in this area of extracts.

Study Examines Differences Between Cat, Dog Extract Manufacturers

Reese Lannarson shows off his poster at the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology in Los Angeles.

Reese works on his research in the OAAC Extract Lab.

Results of the Immune Tolerance Network’s (ITN) “Persistence of Oral Tolerance to Peanut” (LEAP-ON), was presented in March at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Im-munology Annual Meeting and pub-lished in the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial results found that peanut allergy prevention was achieved by early peanut consump-tion in at-risk infants and continued

after a one-year period of avoiding peanut.The LEAP-ON Study, designed and conducted by the ITN and led by Professor Gideon Lack at Kings Col-lege London was an extension of the ITN’s landmark LEAP Study (Learning Early About Peanut Allergy), which demonstrated that regular peanut consumption begun in early infancy and continued until age 5 reduced the rate of peanut allergy in at-risk infants by 80 percent compared to non-peanut-consumers.LEAP-ON examined the question of whether study participants who had consumed peanut for more than four years were protected long-term against peanut allergy when they stopped eating peanut. The study followed 556 of the original 640 children in the LEAP study for a one-year period of peanut avoidance. After 12 months of peanut avoid-ance, only 4.8 percent of children

If you haven’t already noticed, spring al-lergies sprang early this year in Oklaho-ma. With a mild winter due to El Nino, this pollen vortex could soon mean that this spring allergy season will be even worse than previous years. “We are already seeing a surge of pa-tients who are suffering from spring allergies,” said OAAC Board-Certified Allergist Laura Chong, M.D. “Our mild winter stirred up tree pollens even earlier than we expected and we have had several high and alert days in 2016. Cedar and elm in particular have been very high this spring.”Oklahoma is known for its inconsisten-cies with temperatures, winds, rains and drought. “Warmer temperatures over the last 10 years are causing us to see an earlier start to spring allergy season,” said Dr. Chong. “We recommend that anyone who is already having issues, talk to their allergist.”

How does weather play a role in pollen counts?Three factors that can influence pollen counts include rain, wind and temper-ature which determines if counts are high, medium or low each day. “Pollen counts are usually higher in the morning and on warm, dry and windy days,” said Dr. Chong. “When we have continuous days of rainy weather, the pollen counts are usually lower. As we move into warmer spring days, pollen counts will increase.”Moisture weighs down pollen and keeps it close to the ground when it is raining. “I would recommend saving your out-side activities for late afternoons or af-ter a heavy rain when the pollen counts are lower,” she said. “It’s true that we live in a pollen vor-tex,” Dr. Chong said. “But you don’t have to be miserable.”

Various over-the-counter and prescrip-tion medications can help ease aller-gies. Also, allergy injections are used to build an immunity to allergens to help improve your symptoms and reduce the need for medications in the long term. Those with allergy symptoms should be tested, Dr. Chong says, to find out ex-actly what they are reacting to and then determine the best course of action to reduce symptoms and increase quality of life.

who were regularly fed peanut (con-sumers) were found to be allergic, compared to 18.6 percent of chil-dren who were not fed peanut in the original study (avoiders), a highly significant difference.“This study offers reassurance that eating peanut-containing foods as part of a normal diet—with oc-casional periods of time without peanut—will be a safe practice for most children following successful tolerance therapy,” said Dr. Gerald Nepom, director of the Immune Tolerance Network. “The immune system appears to remember and sustain its tolerant state, even with-out continuous regular exposure to peanuts.”“This updated research is very ex-citing and potentially changes the paradigm about peanut introduc-tion in at risk infants,” said OAAC Board-Certified Allergist Gregory Metz, M.D.

Pollen Vortex Gets Early Start

Study Continues Theory of Child Peanut Introduction leads to Tolerance

Gregory Metz, M.D.