Friday, March 4, 2016

Health: Food allergy and anaphylaxis alert!!!.....

Anaphylaxis are severe form of allergies...which sometimes prove fatal...
In the warfare of proteases and their inhibitors, signalling cascades goes haywire and respiratory system can collapse, leading to death.
Those of us who suffer from allergies, must be knowing how day-to-day life becomes a challenge, in such cases.
Though there are myriad websites listing such risky food, I am cataloging here, trying to be as comprehensive as possible........some from own experience, which does not get or have not got much press as allergens...

The top 8 food allergens are eggs, milk, soy, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish. Anyway, its important to be aware of other factors..
Dairy: Milk, and other milk products
Nuts: Peanut, Tree Nuts (walnut, cashew, Brazil nut, hazelnuts, pine nuts)

Egg and all egg fortified foods like cake, mayonnaise
Meat: Beef, chicken, mutton, and pork, all types
Cereal: Wheat
Fruits: Apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, persimmon, kiwi, watermelon, cantaloupe, zucchini, and cucumber

Vegetable: Corn, asparagus, onion, chives, avocado, tomato, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, cabbage
Soy sauce
Fish: Tuna, cod, salmon
Seafood: , Shellfish, shrimp

Seeds: Sesame, sunflower, poppy, rapeseed
Spices: Caraway, coriander, garlic, mustard, cumin, paprika
Food preservatives (Sulphur dioxide, Sodium sulphite, Sodium bisulphite, Potassium bisulphite, Calcium benzoate, potassium sorbate, gelatin, lecithin)
#Sulfite is used fruits...to prevent molds..

Color: Tartrazine, Quinoline Yellow, Sunset Yellow FCF, Ponceau 4R, Allura Red AC, Carmosine, annatto
Aroma compound:
Also cross-reactivity to latex, metal, insect allergen, pollen is likely.

*From personal experience, food preservative can cause severe allergy or anaphylaxis. I had the attack after blueberry-yoghurt (Yoplait brand), also I have issues after eating frozen pizza and salted snacks. Now, I guess, it could have been due to potassium sorbate, a preservative used in beverages, baked goods, fruit sauces, cured meats, oil dressings, cheese, yogurt, cereals, snack foods, fruits, vegetables, personal care products, home care products .

So, those make a substantial part of diet, is n't it?
Sad it is to have to skip them...but if not avoided, the consequence  can be delay...if not exactly anaphylaxis, it definitely jeopardizes kidney, heart, above all causes neuropathologies like Alzheimer, schizophrenia, psychosis, sclerosis, ALS...........better to avoid the foods now, then to regret later, isn't it???
Also, as a microbiologist I have learnt that dengue, malaria, or other diseases elicit the same inflammatory path in our body and lead to blood coagulation, causing death...only, in those infectious diseases, immune system get overwhelmed to higher extent and earlier, leading to mortality.

In food allergies, the patient at least gets time to mend ways.............

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Place: Balboa park sculptures............

Some newly-installed sculptures in this park.........






Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Health: How serine protease mediates all allergies and diseases....

I am excited for a current paper that I am working on, that explores how all allergies and diseases are related. 
 How dengue virus/malaria parasite...or pollen/cockroach allergen... or snake poison ....all of them manipulate our immunity, due to serine protease in them... 
Allergen is in small amount, so can sensitize only...pathogens can replicate in our body, so kill...snake poison is large amount at a time, so kill....things are much clear, much specific under the cloak of superficial differences.. 
While analyzing some virus genomes, I came across this interesting findings...research is fun sometimes.. 
Though I am largely free of the skin inflammation, after avoiding the insect allergen, the exposure certainly has made me hypersensitive in many ways. I am allergic to ....latex cover of my phone.. preserved & canned foods...serine amino acid-rich foods like cheese ...metals like nickel... 
Even the tomato allergy, and resultant lips edema (swelling), that we suffer occasionally are due to our own serine proteases cleaving some tomato proteins and activating complement cascade..same for other food allergies... 
 And these allergies are unpredictable as the fruit/vegetable variety is different, the way of consuming it is different (raw is risky), most importantly, our hormone levels at that time is decisive factor (which fluctuates immensely in females).... 
 It is sad to say, but what happens to human blood when snake bites, is just like milk curdling... 
Blood curdles and circulatory system collapses... 
Allergen does the same in small scale, which body survives, but the harmful footprints are left in the form of clots....which can lead to cardiac and renal complications..... 
Human system is overwhelmingly complex...what works for one, may not work for another... One must be aware of the interconnections between body components an should live a life of moderation....

Monday, February 29, 2016

Photography: Plant macro shots.......

Bird of paradise stalk..........

Bird of paradise petals..........

Cactus spine....

Mikweed pod...........notice the pesky aphids attached to the pod....

Aloe bud....snake skin like scales...

Kale leaf....

Umbrella plant fruit capsule.....

A sage leaf....

Thorns of Pachypodium....


Sunday, February 28, 2016

Season: El Nino 2015-2016 -related changes....

It's my 4th post on El Nino....the Ocean heating phenomenon that leads to large-scale global season and living kingdom beahavior patterns.......
Even a common person without much  knowledge of meteorology can observe and understand the patterns..........
The heavy rain rather arid South California, see here...
The frequent rain storms,  see here...
Appearances of unusual marine animals like tuna crab, yellow-bellied sea snakes, see here..
Also, coming across news of pods of whales dead by getting stranded in Amazon basin, in Indian peninsula....etc..
Atacama desert and Death Valley coming alive with wildflowers....
Sierra mountain getting high snow falls...
Yosemite Horsetail falls blazing like a cascade of hot lava...

Plants have been influenced...like the pears that burst into zillion blooms...







For more of these pear flowers visit here...

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Photography: Golden hour shots........

Most photography enthusiasts know just before sunset, the golden hour casts a  pretty, tangerine, copper tint to pictures...some of my clicks from that magical moments...
Chaparral......

A magnolia..

Ash tree.....

Yet another magnolia..

The corridor of Mission San Diego..

Our Irvine neighborhood...


Pink Sand Dunes State Park..

Ocean beach..a happy dog...

Laguna beach...

We...

A huge tree in the neighborhood...

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