Information on Hives at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Hives are small, itchy, red swellings on the skin. The swelling occurs singularly or in clusters. Hives tend to fade after a few hours, but new ones can appear. Most cases go away within a few days. But, some last a few weeks or longer. Read more at upmc.com.
Hives Information Resources at the National Library of Medicine
Hives are red and sometimes itchy bumps on your skin. An allergic reaction to a drug or food usually causes them. Allergic reactions cause your body to release chemicals that can make your skin swell up in hives. People who have other allergies are more likely to get hives than other people. Other causes include infections and stress. Hives can occur as an acute one-time episode, or they can be recurrent or chronic. Read more at the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
Information on Hives from the American Academy of Dermatology
Read about Hives at the American Academy of Dermatology
VIDEO: If I Had Hives
Dr. Anju Peters, MD, Associate Professor, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine discusses hives in a video presented at insidermedicine.com.
Video: Treating Hives During Pregnancy
Treating hives during pregnancy can best be done once the cause is pinpointed. Determine what might be causing your hives with advice from a certified nurse-midwife in this free video on pregnancy symptoms by Michelle Collins a certified nurse-midwife and professor of nursing at Vanderbilt University. (video is preceded by a brief advertisement)
Guidelines for evaluation and management of urticaria in adults and children.
For clinical purposes it is often more helpful to classify urticaria by presentation than by aetiology, which is often difficult to establish. A classification based on clinical features may be used to guide appropriate investigation and management. It is usually possible to distinguish clearly recognizable patterns of urticaria on the clinical presentation, supported, where appropriate, by challenge tests and skin biopsy. See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
How the allergist-immunologist can help.
Allergists and dermatologists have more expertise in caring for patients with urticaria than other specialists (Henderson, Fleischer, & Feldman, 2000). Chronic urticaria often has an autoimmune pathogenesis (Kaplan, 2004). Consultation with an allergist-immunologist would include (1) reviewing possible causative factors (medications, supplements, dietary factors, animal exposures, and physical factors), (2) possible skin testing, (3) possible physical challenges, (4) recommended changes in ingestants or contactants, and (5) optimal pharmacotherapy. See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
Food allergy: a practice parameter.
IgE-mediated cutaneous reactions, such as acute urticaria or angioedema and acute contact urticaria, are among the most common manifestations of food allergy. Food allergy is commonly suspected though rarely incriminated in chronic urticaria and angioedema but is implicated in at least one third of children with atopic dermatitis. See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
Abstract: First attack of acute urticaria in pediatric emergency department
Management of a first attack of acute urticaria in children is dependent on the etiology of the disease. Knowledge of the various etiologies of urticaria will help primary physicians to perform appropriate clinical assessments. In this study, we analyzed the etiologies and their prevalence in first-attack acute urticaria in infants, children and adolescents in central Taiwan. See Abstract at PubMed.
Abstract: Experience with cyclosporine in children with chronic idiopathic urticaria
The identification of an autoimmune mechanism for many patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) was used as a rational for a controlled clinical trial of cyclosporine for adults with CIU not responsive to usual measures. That randomized placebo controlled clinical trial demonstrated clinical efficacy, acceptable safety, and a suggestion of inducing remission in such patients. See Abstract at PubMed.
Abstract: Association of acute urticaria with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in hospitalized children
This study found that in Taiwan one-third of acute childhood urticaria leading to patient hospitalization was related to M pneumoniae infection. Therefore, children with urticaria who are not responding to antihistamine treatment and abstinence from food allergens should be encouraged to undergo serologic examinations for M pneumoniae to diagnose this antibiotic-responsive disorder. See Abstract at PubMed.
Abstract: Suppression of histamine- and allergen-induced skin reactions: comparison of first- and second-generation antihistamines
Nonsedating antihistamines (nsAHs) are recommended as first-line therapeutics for the treatment of mast cell-driven disorders, including allergic rhinitis and urticaria. However, their superiority over first-generation AHs (fgAHs) has recently been called into question, mainly because of the lack of supporting head-to-head therapeutic studies. See Abstract at PubMed.
Abstract: Fexofenadine: biochemical, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties and its unique role in allergic disorders
Fexofenadine is one of several second-generation H(1)-antihistamines approved for the treatment of various allergic disorders; however, it shows numerous unique properties that make it an optimal choice for many patients. Read the Abstract at PubMed.
Abstract: Multiple drug hypersensitivity: insight into the underlying mechanism and correlation with autoimmune diseases
Subjects with drug hypersensitivity are sometimes simultaneously reactive to several drugs. This nosological entity is defined as multiple drug hypersensitivity (MDH). Urticaria and angioedema are the commonest clinical manifestations of hypersensitivity drug reactions (HDR). These clinical signs are also pathognomonic of chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU), whose pathogenetic mechanisms are still largely unknown. The diagnostic algorithm of CIU includes autologous serum skin test (ASST) and autologous plasma skin test (APST), which demonstrated a high positive and negative predictive value, in multiple nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) intolerance. Read Abstract at PubMed.
Abstract: Epidemiology, healthcare, resources, use and clinical features of different types of urticaria. Alergológica 2005.
In spite of the impact on quality of life, little attention has been given to chronic urticaria. OBJECTIVE: To describe the morbidity and features of urticaria and compare the results with the other allergic diseases included in this study. RESULTS: Urticaria is the fourth most prevalent condition after rhinitis, asthma and drug allergy. Despite this position, the number of patients who needed to visit emergency departments was higher (54.4%) than the rest of the sample (24.6%) (P < .001). The percentage of urticaria/angioedema patients with work absences was also higher than the rest of the sample suffering from other allergic conditions. We found significant differences in school performance between urticaria/angioedema children and children from of the rest of the sample (P = .029). Full text available at PubMed.
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