Genetic markers are inherited features that scien­tists are identifying and that may enable them to understand the inherited aspects of many normal and abnormal processes in the body; some markers for which tests exist can predict who is at high risk of inheriting or developing specific diseases.

Polymyositis is a painful inflammation of several mus­cles at once; it may occur in conjunction with presumably autoimmune diseases or in some cancer patients.

(egg-free only) 1 can tomato soup 1/4 cup vinegar 1/3 cup sugar Boil vinegar. Add sugar, salt, cornstarch, and mustard to beaten eggs, ing time. This sauce can also be used cold as a salad dressing; hot on pork and beans (mix in and refrigerate for a day, covered); hot as a barbecue sauce. . Note: the quantities of sugar and vinegar can be adjusted to individual taste.

of an allergy requires proper diagnosis. Whenever possible, an illness should first be diagnosed and evaluated by a physician, preferably by a family physician or the physician primarily responsible for treatment. The physician may request con­firmation or further evaluation from a qualified allergist trained in, for example, pediatrics or internal medicine. The specialist may be a clinical immunologist whose subspecialty is allergy. A patient whose illness involves only one body system may be evaluated by a special­ist in, say, diseases of the ear, nose, and throat; the chest; or the skin. In a case requiring laboratory tests, the services of an immuno-pathologist may be needed. The physician responsible for directing a person’s health care should make a diagnosis, estimate the specific causes, and prescribe a program of treatment. People tend to become allergic to substances that cannot be avoided entirely, short of withdrawing from society. Thus, the more they know about the causes, or precipitating factors, of allergies, and how to avoid them, the less the risk of recurrence. In general, the following apply to all allergy emergencies. You should know: The names of all medications known to cause an allergic re­action or have a severe side effect The allergen or allergens that caused the reaction or side effect The season or seasons in which pollen caused the symptoms that are most prevalent —for example, early spring (trees), spring and early summer (grasses), or fall (weeds and certain trees) The names and doses of all medications, professionally pre­scribed and self-prescribed, including vitamins, "health foods," and cold tablets Related families of the drugs and allergens that are known reactors You should keep a written record of Drug reactions; consider using a Medic Alert bracelet, an identity bracelet, "dog tags," or a drug-information card. Current drug therapy; everyone on steroid treatment for more than a few weeks should carry a card with a message such as: / am taking steroids [specific name and dose] on a regular basis. Do not stop dosage in case of a serious accident or major surgery. The name and phone number of your physician should also be listed. Allergens other than drags —for instance, stinging insects, dust, mold, pets, food. The location of emergency-room facilities near your home, place of work, and other places you are likely to be. Emergencies may be inadvertently self-induced. Use of the fol­lowing list will help prevent them: Take steroids as prescribed. Treat asthma adequately until it is fully resolved. Inform medical personnel about known reactions to drugs. Avoid known allergens and irritants. Do not overdose or overuse medications. It is senseless, and possibly tragic, to casually reexpose oneself to a drug, x-ray, or preparation known to have caused an anaphylactic reaction in the past. The only exception is when both a person and that person’s physician agree that not taking the substance would be more dangerous than taking it. Once the risks have been evaluated, effective preexposure-treatment measures can usually be taken. Tragedies occur when reexposure occurs because of oversight or carelessness. It is the physician’s responsibility to inquire about past reactions to drugs and solutions used in x-ray studies; it is the patient’s responsibility to provide such information. Carrying a drug-information card or wearing an information bracelet makes allow­ance for the possibility of loss of consciousness or other inability to communicate. Self-medication is especially risky for allergic people. If a certain medication causes a serious reaction, it is likely that another chem­ically similar drug bearing a different name will behave similarly. For example, penicillin is related to drugs with different names such as cephalosporin and Keflex. Ordinarily, it is not possible to learn all the drug families. You should ask your physician whether a prepara­tion about to be administered is related to the one that caused the allergic reaction. If you insist on self-medication, however, you should know as much as possible about the chemicals used in non­prescription medications and the equivalent terms of these ingredi­ents. If, in the past, aspirin caused hives, asthma, or an anaphylactoid reaction, so will acetylsalicylic acid, for it and aspirin are the same chemically. A similar situation exists in the case of foods. Merely a taste of peanuts or lobster can cause anaphylaxis in the highly susceptible person. The peanut is a legume; therefore, such legumes as peas and beans must be considered potentially hazardous. If you are allergic to crustaceans, and you know that lobster is a crustacean, you will want to avoid its close relatives, crabs and shrimps. Clams and oysters, popularly thought of as shellfish, too, are actually mollusks, differing both chemically and antigenically. Let us now consider the medical conditions on an individual basis, from emergency to nonemergency reactions.

Pollen contains the male fertilizing elements of a plant and is microscopic in size. Pollen grains are spheroid, ovoid, or ellipsoid in shape and may have a smooth, reticulated, spiculated, or sculptured surface These surface characteristics are used for identifying pollen grains in atmospheric surveys. The problems that confront the pollen grain in accomplishing its function (pollination) are those of reaching the pistil of another flower. The more primitive method ot pollination is the dispersion of pollen grains by the wind. This method is not efficient and must be compensated for by the liberation of large amounts of pollen. Wind-pollinated plants are responsible for the majority of cases of allergic rhinitis, or hay fever. The other method of plant pollination is by insects. Wind-pollinated flowers can be distinguished from insect-pollinated flowers by the lack ot qualities attractive to insects, such as color, perfume, and nectar. In general, the flowers important in the production of allergic symp­toms are not the beautiful, conspicuous flowers, which are insect-pollinated, but those that share most pollen and are dull and unat­tractive. Each climatic area has its own particular group of hay-fever plants. The pollen season in most localities can be conveniently divided into three distinct seasons—spring, early summer, and late summer and fall. . . Spring coincides with the flowering of such trees as elm, jumper, oak, birch, and willow. Because this season is short, it is less im­portant than the other two. Early summer coincides with the pollination of grasses, which are of primary importance in the production of hay fever. The duration of this season varies with the latitude and is longer in southern zones. The season that includes late summer and fall corresponds to the flowering of the ragweed family and extends from mid-August to early October. Ragweed is considered the most important hay-fever-producing plant in the United States.

The body’s immunologic mechanisms are central to what are com­monly regarded as allergic diseases. In orderlo properly diagnose and manage these diseases and the immunologic reactions to them, we must first have some idea of what immunology is. Immunology deals with the organs, cells, and molecules responsible for recognizing and disposing of foreign (or "nonself") substances that enter the body, with the response to these substances, with interactions between the products of the response and the substances, and with the means of manipulating a response to therapeutic advantage. The science of immunology arose from a need to study the body’s resistance to infection. This resistance is made possible by two types of mechanism, natural immunity and adaptive immunity. In natural immunity, the inborn mechanisms present in all healthy members of a species protect the body, whereas in adaptive immunity, protection is provided by alterations in the immune system induced by encoun­ters between the immune system and specific infectious organisms. Both natural and adaptive mechanisms also come into play when the foreign substance is not infectious. Adaptive immune mechanisms operate through such components of natural immunity as phagocytic cells (found in both the blood and the tissues), eosinophilic and basophilic leukocytes (two types of blood cell), mast cells, clotting factors, and the complement system —all of which are particularly important when an allergic reaction is involved. The principal cells of the immune system are the lymphocytes. Lymphocytes respond to foreign substances called antigens. The lymphocytes can alter their response when the same antigen is en­countered again; thus they are adaptive. In subsequent encounters with an infectious antigen —for example, with measles virus—no clini­cally obvious reaction may be detectable. That is, a state of immunity to that particular virus has been established. On the other hand, sub­sequent encounters may result in an inflammatory reaction that is more intense than the original one. Poison ivy is one such response. When a reaction is harmful or is exaggerated, as in the case of poison ivy, a person is said to have a hypersensitivity reaction. Allergies are a type of hypersensitivity reaction mediated by the immune system and involving components of natural immunity. Let us now look at these components and their interaction in some detail.

For best results, it is helpful to eliminate those foods you suspect are aggravating your allergy. Obtain a diet from your physician and make it a habit to read the labels of foods you buy. If you are not sure of a food’s ingredients, don’t eat the food. Experience has shown that an allergist is more attuned to allergy-related food problems than is a nutrition-oriented physician.

Next to house dust, animal danders are the most common nonseasonal, inhaled allergen. Animal danders may induce hay fever and asthma symptoms, or they may produce skin reactions such as urticaria. The allergy usually becomes obvious to the patient or the patient’s family, but in some cases the relationship between allergic symptoms and exposure to animals is not readily apparent. It is also important to realize that the animal need not be present at the time the symptoms occur, since animal danders and hair may contaminate the house environment over a considerable period of time. Of the animal danders, cat dander is the most common cause of dander allergy. Variations in allergens among different breeds of cat has been suggested, although this is only a theory at present. Dog dander is also a common cause of allergies, and allergic responses to various dog breeds have been demonstrated experimentally. Because the major allergens are present in the epidermal scales and not in the hair, both long-haired and short-haired dogs cause allergic symptoms. In assessing sensitivity to a house pet, a trial period of re­moving the animal and extensive cleaning may be necessary before clinical sensitivity can be established. Allergic reactions to horsehair are less of a problem today, with the decreased use of horses and horsehair products such as mattress and furniture padding. Besides cats, dogs, and horses, a number of other pets and farm animals —for example, hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, and birds—can cause allergic problems. Guinea pigs are known to possess powerful allergens, which can cause allergies in individuals who are exposed to guinea pig dander over long periods of time. Avoidance of animal dander or danders is, at the moment, the best treatment available. In general, people who are allergic to animal danders should avoid keeping pets at home and should not acquire new pets, since there is a good chance of their becoming sensitized to the new animals. A recent well-controlled study has demonstrated a good response to immunotherapy, using a cat pelt extract for treating asthma in a group of cat-sensitive patients.

(not egg-free)

Boil vinegar. Add sugar, salt, cornstarch and mustard to beaten eggs. Combine a little hot vinegar to the egg mixture. Add egg mixture to the vinegar and bring to a full boil.

(egg-free, gluten-free, milk-free, wheat-free)

Mix ingredients well and chill in refrigerator.