In my last post I mentioned that I took a 3 month "blog sabbatical" to try to redefine what I felt we needed in the allergy field, and express it as succinctly as possible--in a positive manner.  I considered many ideas, but in the end, only one concept--one word-- made the final cut:  

                          Renaissance

The word "renaissance" is of French derivation--for rebirth.  What characterized the Renaissance?--a "rediscovery" of classical literature/art, curiosity and objectivity, and an emphasis on individualism (among other things.)  The true "Renaissance Man" embodies these ideals in a multi-talented fashion.   In my (humble?) opinion, the allergy field needs more "Renaissance Allergists", and alot less "asthma docs".  We made a fundamental mistake as allergists when we anatomically delimited our field--because the field is basically not one to anatomically demarcate.  In that respect, it's alot like our "brother specialty"--infectious disease.  Imagine if the IDSA  (Infectious Diseases Society of America) changed their name, for example, to emphasize "bronchitis", and became the Infectious Diseases Society of America and Bronchitis?  What if you went to infectious disease meetings, and all they talked about was the respiratory infections they cared about?  How interesting would that be?  We've done that with our own societies--tagged "asthma" along with the official titles, as if to say that's "who we are". Asthma docs. 

And that's what the Renaissance Allergist is not.   What is he?  Easy.  He's a multi-talented physician first, an allergist second, and an asthmalogist (a distant) third.  He/she is interested in all immunological aberrations (both non IgE and IgE mediated) over all mucosal surfaces, as well as the skin and joints.  And come to speak of it, he's even interested in the human synovium, and how his allergic patients might respond there.  Remember--mast cells have long been known to be present in the human synovium, and mast cell numbers also increase 1-10 fold with diverse disorders, including juvenile and adult rheumatoid arthritis.  (See "Mast Cells and arthritis"  by Malone & Metcalfe, Ann Allergy 61:  27-30, 1988 if you're interested).  Yes, a spirit of curiosity, individualism, and love of classical literature are characteristics of the Renaissance--and of the Renaissance Allergist. 

Which brings me to the latest Allergy Archives, and Warren T. Vaughn.  But that's for another time, and another post.

Later, Dude