Main description:

When I entered the field of allergy in the early 1970s, the standard textbook was a few hundred pages, and the specialty was so compact that texts were often authored entirely by a single individual and were never larger than one volume. Compare this with Allergy Frontiers: Epigenetics, Allergens, and Risk Factors, the present s- volume text with well over 150 contributors from throughout the world. This book captures the explosive growth of our specialty since the single-author textbooks referred to above. The unprecedented format of this work lies in its meticulous attention to detail yet comprehensive scope. For example, great detail is seen in manuscripts dealing with topics such as "Exosomes, naturally occurring minimal antigen presenting units" and "Neuropeptide S receptor 1 (NPSR1), an asthma susceptibility gene." The scope is exemplified by the unique approach to disease entities normally dealt with in a single chapter in most texts. For example, anaphylaxis, a topic usually confined to one chapter in most textbooks, is given five chapters in Allergy Frontiers. This approach allows the text to employ multiple contributors for a single topic, giving the reader the advantage of being introduced to more than one vi- point regarding a single disease.

Contents:

Allergic Rhinitis and Conjunctivitis: Update on Pathophysiology.- Allergic Conjunctivitis: Update on Its Pathophysiology and Perspectives for Future Treatment.- Non-allergic Rhinitis.- Nasal Polyposis: A Model of Chronic Airways Inflammation.- The Nonallergic Rhinitis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.- Epigenetics Chapter: The Role of Allergy in Chronic Rhinosinusitis.- Otitis Media and Sinusitis.- Allergic Rhinitis, Asthma, and Obstructive Sleep Apnea: The Link.- Common Colds and Respiratory Viruses: Impact on Allergy and Asthma.- Cold, Dry Air, and Hyperosmolar Challenges in Rhinitis.- Mechanisms of Mucus Induction in Asthma.- Mechanisms of Cough in Asthma and Allergic Airway Disease.- Airway Hyperresponsiveness: Inflammatory Mechanisms and Clinical Aspects.- Mechanisms of Nocturnal Asthma.- Severe Asthma in Adults: Pathology to Clinical Aspects.- Exercise-Induced Asthma: Clinical Manifestations.- Aspirin-Sensitive Asthma.- Airway Remodeling in Asthma and Therapeutic Implications.- Occupational Asthma and Its Relationship to Occupational Rhinitis.- Non-atopic Asthma: A Continuing Enigma.- Asthma in the Athlete.- Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis.- Mechanisms of Anaphylaxis.- Drug Hypersensitivity: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnosis.- Immunological Principles of Drug Hypersensitivity.- Food Allergy: Mechanisms and Clinical Manifestations.- Lactose and Fructose Intolerance.- Insect Sting Allergy in Adults.- Fungal Allergy as Yet Unsolved.- Latex Allergy: Clinical Manifestations.