Studies Suggest Path to Treatment of Peanut Allergy

The next few years may see the appearance of viable treatments for those suffering from life-threatening peanut allergies, if the findings of two new studies are put into practice on a wide scale.

According to a report in the New York Times, a group of 33 children in one study — conducted by Duke University and an Arkansas children’s hostpital — received daily doses of peanut in a supervised medical setting. The amount of peanut administered to the children was gradually increased, from a thousandth of a peanut at the beginning of the process to about 15 peanuts a day at the end. From the story:

Most of the children are tolerating the therapy without developing allergic reactions, and five stopped the treatment after two and a half years because they could now tolerate peanuts in their regular diet. But four children dropped out because they could not tolerate the treatment.

In a related study of just 18 children, the researchers gave the treatment to 12 children and a placebo powder to 6. After 10 months, the children were given a medically supervised test exposing them to peanuts. In the placebo group, the children developed symptoms after ingesting the equivalent of one and a half peanuts. In the treatment group, the children tolerated 15 peanuts without symptoms.

Far more study is needed before the treatment can be used outside of a research setting, Dr. Burks said. The Duke/Arkansas study plans to enroll at least 80 children in the next few years to assess the treatment.

To learn more about food allergies and how to care for children in your community who experience them, please attend The Hudson Valley Food Allergy Support Group’s medical panel on the subject tomorrow, March 17. The event will be hosted at the Beacon High School, at 101 Matteawan Rd, and food and refreshments will be served. Please arrive by 10am.

Upcoming Event: Food Allergy Medical Panel on March 17

Why Do Kids Eat Dirt? Maybe to Prevent Allergies

The steady rise of food allergies in the developed world is still largely a mystery, but a growing number of theories and research projects are now competing to solve it. One increasingly popular explanation, called hygiene hypothesis, posits that Western civilization has become too clean as a result of antibacterial soaps, a reduction in farms and household animals, and smaller family sizes. These factors, the thinking goes, have thrown our immune systems into disarray and given rise to severe allergic reactions to various foods.

An interesting idea, but a little fuzzy as scientific theory goes. In a story this week, The New York Times zooms in on one very specific reason munching dirt might be good for babies: tiny, tiny worms.

From the article:

In studies of what is called the hygiene hypothesis, researchers are concluding that organisms like the millions of bacteria, viruses and especially worms that enter the body along with “dirt” spur the development of a healthy immune system. Several continuing studies suggest that worms may help to redirect an immune system that has gone awry and resulted in autoimmune disorders, allergies and asthma.

These studies, along with epidemiological observations, seem to explain why immune system disorders like multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma and allergies have risen significantly in the United States and other developed countries.

(Read more)

Re-new Your Epi-Pens!

Just a reminder to everyone out there. It’s December and I know all of my epi-pens will be out of date at the end of the month. So don’t forget to renew yours too. Make sure the ones at school are still valid as well, the nurses may not know they expire so rapidly.

Have a safe holiday season!

Anouk

Parents and Food Allergies: Dealing with the Unknown Unknowns

Here’s how we found out about my son Shepard’s food allergies. One day in fall 2005, when he was one, he tottered up to my chair and grabbed at the peanut butter sandwich I was eating. I gave him a tiny piece of it and jean took him off to his crib for a nap. Two minutes later he was screaming, badly swollen and bright red. We called 911 and ran for benadryl. I was terrified he’d stop breathing, but he never did and the swelling went down while the medical responders stood by with oxygen. We took the ambulance ride anyway just to be safe.

Every parent of a child with food allergies has a similar harrowing story of that first exposure. After the discovery, life is never quite the same. But we were slow to react fully to our new reality. Oh, we took important steps — carrying epi-pens and ridding the house of peanuts — walnuts too when we noticed they made him break out. But Shep continued to suffer from moderate to severe eczema and we suspected more allergies. It took us another year to get him to a specialist — in retrospect an obvious move we should have undertaken right away. The doctor ordered blood tests and found he had many more allergies: to pecans and other tree nuts, soy, egg whites, shellfish, dust mites and dogs. All were minor relative to the peanut allergy, but we phased them out anyway and started washing his sheets each week for the dust. Since then his skin and problems have cleared up.

There are some important steps in caring for an allergic child that may not be obvious to some parents. That’s another reason this group exists — to help people learn from others who have been through the same experience. If you live in the Hudson Valley and would like to attend our next meeting, please email hvfoodallergy [at] yahoo.com.

Food Allergy Alerts

FAAN has this interesting e-mail service where you can sign up to receive food allergy alerts. I get several e-mails each week and it strikes me how often foods that are chocolate based are recalled due to improper labeling. It’s usually either milk or nuts that are not listed. So, if you have a child with dairy or nut allergies, it’s best to stay away from any kind of chocolate product, unless it’s pure and you bake something at home. Even though cocoa is often tolerated by food allergic individuals, it’s not worth the risk in my opinion.

Welcome from Anouk

Hi,

I’m one of the Hudson Valley Food Allergy Support Group members. I have a 5 year old son who is severely allergic to Peanuts, Tree nuts, Soy, Dairy, Egg, Sesame, Chickpeas and various other seeds and beans that we’re not even going to bother to try out. We found out he was allergic when he ate some yogurt for the first time at 9 months old. Within minutes he was coughing, wheezing, and his face blew up resembling a blowfish. If you have a child with food allergies, your first experiences are probably equally frightening. Unfortunately the tension continues after this phase, when you have more tests done and discover the true extent of the allergies and the implications. The world becomes a frightening place. It feels a little like living in a war zone, where snacks and food are like loaded guns, waiting to hurt your child.

The support group is here to help you through every phase of living with food allergies. From the tension-filled first months, to slowly coping and figuring out how to deal with nursery school, birthday parties, Halloween and Thanksgiving. We’ve all been there and we can all help.

Thanks for visiting this blog. To add to the list Zach put up, there’s also About.com’s Food Allergy Web Site which is very good and vetted by a medical panel for accuracy.

Anouk Zijlma
Wappingers Falls

Taking on food allergies in the Hudson Valley

This site is the online home of the Hudson Valley Food Allergy Support Group. HVFASG was formed earlier this year as a resource for allergy sufferers, their parents and other loved ones to network, share information and advocate on issues related to food allergies in our communities.

Today we have members in Beacon, Cold Spring, and Wappingers Falls, but we hope to expand quickly to serve other towns and cities in the region. Check back for details on upcoming meetings and important community information. If you live in the Hudson Valley region and would like to attend our meetings or learn more about our efforts, please contact us at hvfoodallergy [at] yahoo.com.

Meanwhile, you can learn more about food allergy issues at some of the following links:

The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN): National organization providing advocacy and education, and funding research on behalf of those affected by food allergies and anaphylaxis.

What’s anaphylaxis, you ask? It’s a multi-system allergic response that can be fatal. Now you know.

Allergy & Asthma Foundation of America (AAFA): Advocacy, Education and Research. Similar in scope to FAAN but with a focus on asthma