The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is seeking broad input about its strategic plan from researchers, health care providers, CAM providers, educators, and the public. Comments are due Sept. 30. Previous stages in the planning process have included collecting stakeholder comments about mission, priority setting, and information and communication, as well as the development of white papers about NCCAM's critical research areas. Read More...

Children who live in damp, water-damaged homes may be more likely than other kids to develop nasal allergies, according to a population-based prospective cohort study in American Journal of Epidemiology. Researchers at the Institute of Health Sciences in Oulu, Finland, followed 1,863 children (who were 1 to 7 years old at baseline) from Espoo, Finland, for six years. Among the children whose parents reported dampness in the home, 16 percent went on to be diagnosed with allergic rhinitis during the next six years, compared with just under 12 percent of children whose parents reported no dampness.

Those whose parents reported any mold or water damage in the home at study outset were 55 percent more likely than other children to develop allergic rhinitis. Read More...

Teens who take acetaminophen at least once a month were more than twice as likely to have asthma as teens who never take acetaminophen, according to an epidemiological study published by the American Thoracic Society. Taking acetaminophen also was linked to higher risk of eczema and rhinoconjunctivitis in teens. Researchers studied nearly 323,000 13- to 14-year-olds from around the world who participated in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. Read More...

The Chicago Cubs organization recently set aside the center field Batter's Eye skybox for fans with peanut allergies, where peanuts won't be served or allowed, according to WGN-TV. Fans had started an online petition and a Facebook group requesting the peanut-free zone last year. Read More...