For many of us, this month is cold and rainy, and down time can be spent with a warm beverage and your January copy of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. There are a few features you might find of interest for you as well as benefit in the care of your patients.
First is a paper from a study group led by Jonathan Corren, MD, and colleagues that explores the value of dupilumab in persistent asthma that is poorly controlled. They looked at the impact of therapy on symptoms, quality of life measures and productivity in a pivotal phase 2b study. The results, in a reasonably large and diverse study population, may point toward how we can evaluate effectiveness of this treatment in appropriate patients that we would choose to treat with dupilumab.
The microbiome of the nose and the development of allergic diseases
There are several other features in this issue that I think you will enjoy reading. Thomas Platts-Mills, MD, FACAAI, has provided an outstanding contribution through our Giants in Allergy and Immunology series about the co-discoverer of IgE – Kimishige Ishizaka, MD. He describes the pathway toward identifying what had been known as reagin and the intriguing development in the context of similar work by Gunnar Johannsen, MD. But, in addition, Dr. Platts-Mills (who worked directly with both Dr. Ishizaka and his wife, Terako Ishizaka) describes the person as well as the scientist. This provides those of us who never heard Dr. Ishizaka speak or even read his direct work an opportunity to know a bit about him and personalizes the discovery even more. I highly recommend this to you.
Please remember to stay warm and dry this winter and take some time for yourself and your friends/loved ones. It is an important component of wellness and doing this for yourself is another way to serve your patients.
Gailen D. Marshall Jr., MD, PhD, FACAAI
Editor-in-chief
