May 6, 2020
Clinician and researcher Lahari
Rampur became interested in allergy studies when confronted with
underserved populations in India followed by the amazing
possibilities for treatments she found in her graduate work in New
York. She's since spent her professional career pursing allergy and
autoimmune disorder treatments.
Dr. Rampur explains to listeners
Dr. Lahari Rampur is a clinical
assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of
Allergy and Infectious Disease, at the University of
Washington. The majority of her time is spent in clinical work
involving
allergy and autoimmune disorders. However, she also researches
antibiotic allergies.
She explains that while many people have a history of allergic
reactions to penicillin and various antibiotics, alternatives can
be more expensive and have bad side effects. Her research involves
developing important protocols and guidelines therefore to identify
who is truly allergic versus those patients who will be able to
tolerate those antibiotics. In fact, she's found that 90% of those
who've had reactions are able to tolerate the antibiotics at a
later time.
She shares some general information about allergies with listeners, including genetics versus environmental factors and offers solutions to allergies, from dust mite control measures to allergy shots. She describes how allergy shots work to gradually teach the immune system not to over react to the introduced substance, affecting the behavior of cytokine cells. She also describes some exciting breakthroughs, including biologic medications that work well with certain types of asthma by blocking IgE antibodies.
For more, google her name and see her website at the University of Washington: https://aid.uw.edu/faculty/lahari-rampur-md