Child's Allergy Risk Higher If Same Sex Parent Has It

British researchers reported this month their findings that a child is at higher risk of allergies if the same sex parent has allergies. In other words, if a father has bad allergies, his sons are at higher risk for them and if a mother has bad allergies, than her daughters are at higher risk for allergy problems.

They based their findings following 1456 children examined at 1, 2, 4, 10, and 18 years of age. History of asthma, eczema, rhinitis, and environmental factors was obtained and skin prick tests were carried out at ages 4, 10, and 18 years, and total IgE measurement was carried out at 10 and 18 years. Parental history of allergic disease was assessed soon after the birth of the child, when maternal IgE levels were also measured.

Keep in mind that the appearance of allergy in a child is not wholly based on genetics but does have some environmental basis as well.

However, the association of gender is a new twist on whether a child will develop allergies or not.

Reference:
The effect of parental allergy on childhood allergic diseases depends on the sex of the child. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Volume 130, Issue 2 , Pages 427-434.e6, August 2012

Actress Reese Witherspoon's Dad is an Otolaryngologist!

It has recently come to my attention that actress Reese Witherspoon's dad is an eminent otolaryngologist!

John Witherspoon, MD has practiced with a Nashville, TN otolaryngology group for over 30 years and is an instructor in this specialty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

He went to medical school at University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine and completed his residency at Tulane University Hospitals and Clinics.

He unfortunately has come under recent scrutiny from the media which hopefully will pass over quickly!

I wonder if Reese Witherspoon used her dad as a role model in the romantic comedy movie "Just Like Heaven" when she played Elizabeth, a workaholic doctor.