The King Cake is believed to have originated in France around the 12th century. It was made to celebrate the three wise men bearing gifts twelve days after Christmas calling it the feast of the Ephiphany or Twelfth Night. In Louisiana, Twelfth Night also signifies the begining of carnival season which ends on Mardi Gras Day/Fat […]
When in San Franciso, one must head over to Boudin at the Fisherman’s Wharf to try their signature sourdough bread. Sourdough is created when yeast settles into the bread dough and covert the carbohydrates into lactic acid and other acids that gives it the sour flavor. The uniqueness of this sourdough bread is due to the original “Mother
Dermographism means “write on skin” and it is the most common form of physical urticaria in the population. It is estimated that 4-5% of the population are affected. This condition is quite benign, and the patient should be reassured upon diagnosis. It is not known what exactly causes this condition, and it may last several months to years
Eosinophilic Esophagitis is still a poorly understood disorder. In essence, this condition affects the patient’s esophagus, which is the muscular tube which channels swallowed food into the stomach. In this disease, cells involved in allergic processes called eosinophils invade the esophagus and are found in high numbers in the esophageal tissue. Normally the esophagus should
It turns out that these patients were actually sensitized to a component of mammalian meat after being bitten by ticks! After being bitten by the culprit tick, the person develops an IgE (allergic antibody) to a component in the tick’s saliva and gut that is also found in mammalian meat named alpha-gal (Galactose-α-1,3-galactose). In the
