Research needs in allergy: an EAACI position paper, in collaboration with EFA

Abstract In less than half a century, allergy, originally perceived as a rare disease, has become a major public health threat, today affecting the lives of more than 60 million people in Europe, and probably close to one billion worldwide, thereby heavily impacting the budgets of public health systems. More disturbingly, its prevalence and impact are on the rise, a development that has been associated with environmental and lifestyle changes accompanying the continuous process of urbanization and globalization. Therefore, there is an urgent need to prioritize and concert research efforts in the field of allergy, in order to achieve sustainable results on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this most prevalent chronic disease of the 21 st century. The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) is the leading professional organization in the field of allergy, promoting excellence in clinical care, education, training and basic and translational research, all with the ultimate goal of improving the health of allergic patients. The European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients' Associations (EFA) is a non-profit network of allergy, asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) patients' organizations. In support of their missions, the present EAACI Position Paper, in collaboration with EFA, highlights the most important research needs in the field of allergy to serve as key recommendations for future research funding at the national and European levels. Although allergies may involve almost every organ of the body and an array of diverse external factors act as triggers, there are several common themes that need to be prioritized in research efforts. As in many other chronic diseases, effective prevention, curative treatment and accurate, rapid diagnosis represent major unmet needs. Detailed phenotyping/endotyping stands out as widely required in order to arrange or re-categorize clinical syndromes into more coherent, uniform and treatment-responsive groups. Research efforts to unveil the basic pathophysiologic pathways and mechanisms, thus leading to the comprehension and resolution of the pathophysiologic complexity of allergies will allow for the design of novel patient-oriented diagnostic and treatment protocols. Several allergic diseases require well-controlled epidemiological description and surveillance, using disease registries, pharmacoeconomic evaluation, as well as large biobanks. Additionally, there is a need for extensive studies to bring promising new biotechnological innovations, such as biological agents, vaccines of modified allergen molecules and engineered components for allergy diagnosis, closer to clinical practice. Finally, particular attention should be paid to the difficult-to-manage, precarious and costly severe disease forms and/or exacerbations. Nonetheless, currently arising treatments, mainly in the fields of immunotherapy and biologicals, hold great promise for targeted and causal management of allergic conditions. Active involvement of all stakeholders, including Patient Organizations and policy makers are necessary to achieve the aims emphasized herein

Η ποιότητα ζωής και οι ανάγκες των γονέων παιδιών με αυτισμό

Αρκετές μελέτες έχουν εστιάσει την προσοχή τους στα προβλήματα και την ποιότητα ζωής των παιδιών με κάποιο είδος αναπηρίας και ειδικότερα αυτών που εντάσσονται στο ΔΑΦ (φάσμα αυτισμού). Ελάχιστοι ερευνητές, ωστόσο, έχουν στρέψει την προσοχή τους στην ποιότητα ζωής των ίδιων των γονέων που αποκτούν ένα παιδί με αυτισμό. Η παρούσα βιβλιογραφική ανασκόπηση προσπαθεί να εντοπίσει και να αναδείξει τα πολύπλοκα προβλήματα, τις αναρίθμητες δυσκολίες που αντιμετωπίζουν αυτοί οι γονείς σε διαφορετικούς τομείς της ζωής τους, τις πενιχρές δομές της κοινωνικής υποστήριξης ( επίσημες ή ανεπίσημες) και την επείγουσα ανάγκη εύρεσης μέσων και τρόπων βελτίωσης της ποιότητας της ζωής τους. Για το σκοπό αυτό, χρησιμοποιήθηκαν οι λέξεις-κλειδιά ‘ποιότητα ζωής, αυτισμός, οικογένεια’, στις βάσεις δεδομένων των ‘Scopus- Solution, Embase Medical Database, Cinahl Database’, σε δημοσιευμένα άρθρα επιστημονικών περιοδικών, καθώς και σε σχετικές μελέτες πτυχιακών και μεταπτυχιακών φοιτητών. Απο την ανασκόπηση της σχετικής βιβλιογραφίας εξάγεται το συμπέρασμα ότι η ποιότητα ζωής των γονέων ενός αυτιστικού παιδιού εξαρτάται απο πολλούς παράγοντες και τις περισσότερες φορές είναι χαμηλή. Με την διάγνωση ενός αυτισμού, η ψυχολογία όλων των μελών της οικογένειας παρουσιάζει συνεχείς αλλαγές και μεταπτώσεις. Συνήθως κατακρημνίζεται, και διαταράσσονται οι σχέσεις και η ομαλή λειτουργία της οικογένειας. Με δεδομένο ότι η εξωτερική βοήθεια είναι συχνά ανύπαρκτη ή ανεπαρκής, εύκολα αντιλαμβάνεται κανείς ότι οι οικογένειες αυτές είναι έρμαια των προβλημάτων που καλούνται να αντιμετωπίσουν καθημερινά. Συνεπώς, κρίνεται απαραίτητη η ευαισθητοποίηση και κυρίως η κινητοποίηση κεντρικών μηχανισμών και φορέων (Κράτος-Πρόνοιας ), με σκοπό α) την οικονομική ενίσχυση, β) ψυχολογική ενίσχυση απο τους ειδικούς επιστήμονες του χώρου και γ) την ομαλή κοινωνική ενσωμάτωση και αποδοχή του φαινομένου.ΟΧ

Research needs in allergy: an EAACI position paper, in collaboration with EFA

In less than half a century, allergy, originally perceived as a rare disease, has become a major public health threat, today affecting the lives of more than 60 million people in Europe, and probably close to one billion worldwide, thereby heavily impacting the budgets of public health systems. More disturbingly, its prevalence and impact are on the rise, a development that has been associated with environmental and lifestyle changes accompanying the continuous process of urbanization and globalization. Therefore, there is an urgent need to prioritize and concert research efforts in the field of allergy, in order to achieve sustainable results on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this most prevalent chronic disease of the 21st century.The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) is the leading professional organization in the field of allergy, promoting excellence in clinical care, education, training and basic and translational research, all with the ultimate goal of improving the health of allergic patients. The European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients' Associations (EFA) is a non-profit network of allergy, asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) patients' organizations. In support of their missions, the present EAACI Position Paper, in collaboration with EFA, highlights the most important research needs in the field of allergy to serve as key recommendations for future research funding at the national and European levels.Although allergies may involve almost every organ of the body and an array of diverse external factors act as triggers, there are several common themes that need to be prioritized in research efforts. As in many other chronic diseases, effective prevention, curative treatment and accurate, rapid diagnosis represent major unmet needs. Detailed phenotyping/endotyping stands out as widely required in order to arrange or re-categorize clinical syndromes into more coherent, uniform and treatment-responsive groups. Research efforts to unveil the basic pathophysiologic pathways and mechanisms, thus leading to the comprehension and resolution of the pathophysiologic complexity of allergies will allow for the design of novel patient-oriented diagnostic and treatment protocols. Several allergic diseases require well-controlled epidemiological description and surveillance, using disease registries, pharmacoeconomic evaluation, as well as large biobanks. Additionally, there is a need for extensive studies to bring promising new biotechnological innovations, such as biological agents, vaccines of modified allergen molecules and engineered components for allergy diagnosis, closer to clinical practice. Finally, particular attention should be paid to the difficult-to-manage, precarious and costly severe disease forms and/or exacerbations. Nonetheless, currently arising treatments, mainly in the fields of immunotherapy and biologicals, hold great promise for targeted and causal management of allergic conditions. Active involvement of all stakeholders, including Patient Organizations and policy makers are necessary to achieve the aims emphasized herei

Research needs in allergy: an EAACI position paper, in collaboration with EFA.

In less than half a century, allergy, originally perceived as a rare disease, has become a major public health threat, today affecting the lives of more than 60 million people in Europe, and probably close to one billion worldwide, thereby heavily impacting the budgets of public health systems. More disturbingly, its prevalence and impact are on the rise, a development that has been associated with environmental and lifestyle changes accompanying the continuous process of urbanization and globalization. Therefore, there is an urgent need to prioritize and concert research efforts in the field of allergy, in order to achieve sustainable results on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this most prevalent chronic disease of the 21st century.The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) is the leading professional organization in the field of allergy, promoting excellence in clinical care, education, training and basic and translational research, all with the ultimate goal of improving the health of allergic patients. The European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients' Associations (EFA) is a non-profit network of allergy, asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) patients' organizations. In support of their missions, the present EAACI Position Paper, in collaboration with EFA, highlights the most important research needs in the field of allergy to serve as key recommendations for future research funding at the national and European levels.Although allergies may involve almost every organ of the body and an array of diverse external factors act as triggers, there are several common themes that need to be prioritized in research efforts. As in many other chronic diseases, effective prevention, curative treatment and accurate, rapid diagnosis represent major unmet needs. Detailed phenotyping/endotyping stands out as widely required in order to arrange or re-categorize clinical syndromes into more coherent, uniform and treatment-responsive groups. Research efforts to unveil the basic pathophysiologic pathways and mechanisms, thus leading to the comprehension and resolution of the pathophysiologic complexity of allergies will allow for the design of novel patient-oriented diagnostic and treatment protocols. Several allergic diseases require well-controlled epidemiological description and surveillance, using disease registries, pharmacoeconomic evaluation, as well as large biobanks. Additionally, there is a need for extensive studies to bring promising new biotechnological innovations, such as biological agents, vaccines of modified allergen molecules and engineered components for allergy diagnosis, closer to clinical practice. Finally, particular attention should be paid to the difficult-to-manage, precarious and costly severe disease forms and/or exacerbations. Nonetheless, currently arising treatments, mainly in the fields of immunotherapy and biologicals, hold great promise for targeted and causal management of allergic conditions. Active involvement of all stakeholders, including Patient Organizations and policy makers are necessary to achieve the aims emphasized herein