What to do when foods become allergens - Q&A

Here is a really good food allergy Q&A interview with Clifford W. Bassett, MD, medical director of Allergy & Asthma Care of New York, and faculty member of the New York University School of Medicine, both in New York City.

Article - The Truth About Food Allergies

The September issue of Parenting Magazine featured an article about Food Allergies: The Truth About Food Allergies. It mentions a few of the latest therapies that could be on the horizon, and some of the possible causes for the increase in food allergies. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of food allergies rose nearly 20 percent between 1997 and 2007, and it now strikes up to 8 percent of children under the age of 4.

Chinese herbal therapy and food allergies

A Chinese herbal therapy that may prevent life-threatening reactions to food allergies will enter the next stage of the FDA approval process. This looks to be be very promising! Learn more about this research here.

Peanut Allergy Makes Asthma Worse

If your child has a peanut allergy in addition to asthma, it’s likely that their asthma attacks are worse, according to a new study.

In a study of 160 children between the ages of 5 and 18, children with peanut allergies had both more hospitalizations for asthma and a higher rate of corticosteroid usage.

However, when treating children with asthma, most doctors want to avoid both hospitalization and corticosteroid use. Corticosteroids can have side effects that are detrimental to growing bodies.

The lead researcher on the study, Dr Alyson Simpson, recommends that parents with children who have both peanut allergies and asthma work carefully with their child’s doctors to ensure that asthma is well-controlled. This will mean careful avoidance of asthma triggers as well as allergy triggers.

Source: Reuters

Will Peanut Allergies Soon Be Treatable?

Two studies presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) examine the use of oral immunotherapy in peanut allergic children and continue to add hope that a treatment may be on the horizon. See the news release here. This gives me some hope for my girls - even if we can just eliminate one allergy.

Potential treatments for food allergies

Another article in USA Today about potential food allergy treatments.

Researchers Move Closer to Cracking Peanut Allergies

Here's an article about the experimental trials at Duke University. Hopefully this becomes a widely accepted treatment in the next
5 years!