Introduction.- Histamine and biogenic amines.- Symptoms of histamine intolerance.- Allergy and intolerance to drugs.- Surgery and dental operations.- Histamine intolerance in females.- Atopic dermatitis.- Specific immunotherapy of allergies.- Histamine and vitamin B6.- Histamine and seasickness.- Histamine and osteoporosis.
After gaining his MD from the School of Medicine, University of Vienna, in 1970, Dr. Reinhart Jarisch undertook clinical traineeships in Denmark and the United States and postgraduate training at the Department of Dermatology, University of Vienna. He was appointed Assistant Professor in 1980, and from then until 2011 was Head of the Floridsdorf Allergy Center. In 2005, he was appointed Extraordinary Professor by the University of Vienna. Dr. Jarisch has served as Head of the Committee for Clinical Allergology of the Austrian Society of Allergology and Immunology (ÖGAI). He is the recipient of five medical awards, including the Clemens of Pirquet Medal from ÖGAI for life-time achievements in allergology. Dr. Jarisch holds three patents and is the author of 139 articles in peer-reviewed journals as well as the book Histamin-Intoleranz, Histamin und Seekrankheit (Histamine Intolerance, Histamine and Seasickness), now in its third edition.
Histamine is an important mediator of allergic diseases such as hay fever and bronchial asthma, food allergies, urticaria, and drug hypersensitivity. Knowledge of histamine as a cause of numerous non-allergic symptoms and signs is, however, limited. In fact, histamine intolerance can be responsible for conditions as diverse as seasickness, headaches and migraine, tachycardia, gastric disorders, diarrhea, intolerance to contrast media, parodontosis, period pains, nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, atopic dermatitis, and osteoporosis.
This book offers wide-ranging coverage of histamine intolerance. There is extensive background discussion of the origin of histamine, its content in food and alcoholic beverages, and intolerance to red wine. Diagnosis of histamine intolerance is explained, and the various symptoms of histamine intolerance are clearly described. Subsequent chapters cover the conditions mentioned above and also consider the relation of histamine to vitamin B6 and the specific immunotherapy of allergies.
This book will prove of value in clinical practice by facilitating differential diagnosis, which is by no means straightforward given the multiplicity of symptoms of histamine intolerance, and by assisting in the selection of therapeutic measures.