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This month's theme
T HE J OURNAL OF
Allergy Clinical Immunology AND
VOLUME 123 NUMBER 2 d
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ALLERGY, ASTHMA
& IMMUNOLOGY
News beyond our pages
277
Marc E. Rothenberg, MD, PhD, and Harold S. Nelson, MD, Editors
A special thank you to our reviewers
279
Clinical reviews in allergy and immunology Complementary and alternative medicine: Herbs, phytochemicals and vitamins and their immunologic effects
283
Timothy Mainardi, MD, MS, Simi Kapoor, MD, and Leonard Bielory, MD, Newark, NJ
Continued on page 8A
This month’s theme: Complementary and alternative medicine
About the cover HPLC fingerprinting allows standardizing of complex herbal formulas, which contain many chemical compounds. This month’s image consists of a 3-dimensional HPLC fingerprint and some chemical markers from Huang-Bai (left) and Ling-Zhi (right), components of the herbal formula Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2. This month’s issue focuses on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), a topic selected by the 2008-9 AAAAI president, Dr Hugh Sampson. According to a December 2008 report from the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 38% of US adults report using some form of CAM. Although much research is still needed to determine the efficacy of these treatments, it is a topic that clinicians are likely to be asked about, and this month’s review articles provide an update on our current understanding. Dr Sampson’s editorial (p 317) provides an introduction to CAM, as well as to this month’s issue. Writing in our Clinical Reviews series, Timothy Mainardi and colleagues (p 283) discuss the immunologic effects of herbs, phytochemicals, and vitamins. In our Mechanisms of Allergic Diseases series, Xiu-Min Li and LaVerne Brown (p 297) highlight several traditional Chinese medicines that may hold promise for asthma treatment. Finally, in a Current Perspectives article, Renata Engler and colleagues (p 309) report on how allergist-immunologists can get started toward understanding this complex and controversial topic and what practical, medical, and legal issues need to be considered. For articles relevant to this month’s theme, please look for the red starburst icon next to their titles in the Table of Contents. Cover images provided by Dr Xiu-Min Li. Adapted for the cover by JDI, LLC. Ó 2009 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (ISSN: 0091-6749) is published monthly by Elsevier Inc., 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010-1710. Business Office: 1600 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1800, Philadelphia, PA 19103-2899. Editorial Office: 11830 Westline Industrial Drive, St Louis, MO 63146-3318. Customer Service Office: 11830 Westline Industrial Drive, St Louis, MO 63146-3318. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 11830 Westline Industrial Drive, St Louis, MO 63146-3318.
6A February 2009
J ALLERGY CLIN IMMUNOL
Allergy Clinical Immunology AND
VOLUME 123 NUMBER 2 d
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ALLERGY, ASTHMA
& IMMUNOLOGY
News beyond our pages
277
Marc E. Rothenberg, MD, PhD, and Harold S. Nelson, MD, Editors
A special thank you to our reviewers
279
Clinical reviews in allergy and immunology Complementary and alternative medicine: Herbs, phytochemicals and vitamins and their immunologic effects
283
Timothy Mainardi, MD, MS, Simi Kapoor, MD, and Leonard Bielory, MD, Newark, NJ
Continued on page 8A
This month’s theme: Complementary and alternative medicine
About the cover HPLC fingerprinting allows standardizing of complex herbal formulas, which contain many chemical compounds. This month’s image consists of a 3-dimensional HPLC fingerprint and some chemical markers from Huang-Bai (left) and Ling-Zhi (right), components of the herbal formula Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2. This month’s issue focuses on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), a topic selected by the 2008-9 AAAAI president, Dr Hugh Sampson. According to a December 2008 report from the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 38% of US adults report using some form of CAM. Although much research is still needed to determine the efficacy of these treatments, it is a topic that clinicians are likely to be asked about, and this month’s review articles provide an update on our current understanding. Dr Sampson’s editorial (p 317) provides an introduction to CAM, as well as to this month’s issue. Writing in our Clinical Reviews series, Timothy Mainardi and colleagues (p 283) discuss the immunologic effects of herbs, phytochemicals, and vitamins. In our Mechanisms of Allergic Diseases series, Xiu-Min Li and LaVerne Brown (p 297) highlight several traditional Chinese medicines that may hold promise for asthma treatment. Finally, in a Current Perspectives article, Renata Engler and colleagues (p 309) report on how allergist-immunologists can get started toward understanding this complex and controversial topic and what practical, medical, and legal issues need to be considered. For articles relevant to this month’s theme, please look for the red starburst icon next to their titles in the Table of Contents. Cover images provided by Dr Xiu-Min Li. Adapted for the cover by JDI, LLC. Ó 2009 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (ISSN: 0091-6749) is published monthly by Elsevier Inc., 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010-1710. Business Office: 1600 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1800, Philadelphia, PA 19103-2899. Editorial Office: 11830 Westline Industrial Drive, St Louis, MO 63146-3318. Customer Service Office: 11830 Westline Industrial Drive, St Louis, MO 63146-3318. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 11830 Westline Industrial Drive, St Louis, MO 63146-3318.
6A February 2009
J ALLERGY CLIN IMMUNOL