No Increased Risk with Salmeterol

The asthma medication salmeterol was given a blackbox warning after reports of increased risk of death among asthma patients taking the long-acting beta agonist. The warning was controversial because many believed the FDAs decision was based on questionable data. In an attempt to get better data on the risks of salmeterol, National Jewish allergist Harold Nelson, M.D., and his colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 52 salmeterol clinical trials involving 19,850 subjects. They found no increased risk of hospitalizations when salmeterol was taken concurrently with an inhaled steroid, and patients taking the two medications together in one device showed the lowest rates of hospitalizations.

Household Bleach Neutralizes Allergens

National Jewish allergist Karin Pacheco, M.D., and her colleagues showed that household bleach can denature 99 percent of cat, dog and dust-mite allergens, which eliminates an allergic response in 95 percent of cat-allergic people, 92 percent of dog-allergic people, and 60 percent of dust mite-allergic people.