WEDNESDAY, May 12, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- Heart disease patients with peanut allergies should not fear using beta blockers to prevent a heart attack, says a study in the May issue of the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.
Beta blockers can reduce or eliminate the effectiveness of epinephrine, the best available treatment for severe allergic reactions.
But doctors studying survival rates found the benefit of using beta blockers outweighed the increased chance of dying from an allergic reaction.
In the same issue, another research team found common household cleaners are effective in removing peanut allergens from hands and tabletops.
Except for dishwashing liquid, common cleaning agents easily removed peanut allergen from tabletops. Hands were cleaned free of peanut allergen except when washed with either plain water or antibacterial hand sanitizer.
More information
The Texas Heart Institute has more about beta blockers.
