Major Study Underway

A major study involving thousands of children and the development of allergies is underway. Researchers are studying the idea that our life style is actually promoting allergies. This five year study out of the University of Helsinki will look at what is commonly known as "the hygiene hypothesis". The idea behind this theory is that the immune system will over-react to non-infectious proteins because we keep things so clean and antiseptic that, quite frankly, its bored. We'll wait to see what the results of this study show. In the meantime, keep up with the dusting and vacuuming. For the complete article, go to:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/109164.php

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Food Allergies and Bullying

It is articles like this that make my blood boil:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AllergiesNews/story?id=4659705&page=1

The story features a peanut allergic teen being bullied by classmates. These classmates would put peanut products around her "to see her face swell up". She was repeatedly threatened by these bullies. The school was reluctant to take action and the parents finally filed a 504 Plan to make sure that any threats would be treated as discrimination. Food allergy bullying is on the rise. Again, the key is education. We need to make sure that students and adults understand the seriousness of food allergies. Swift action needs to be taken in the event of bullying. A food allergic child has enough to deal with- anxiety over every bite they take, carrying medication at all times, planning every social outing carefully. The last thing they need to worry about is someone smearing peanut butter on a volleyball in gym class. It starts with the adults and trickles down to our children. We can all be better.

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New Initiatives

"Five Steps Forward for Food Allergy" is FAAN's (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network's) latest initiative brought to Capitol Hill this week. Basically, it is a call for national school guidelines, better public education, development of food allergy diagnosis and management, more funding for research and improved food allergy labeling on food items.

• The House of Representatives has already passed legislation for school guidelines and it is expected that the Senate will soon follow.
• More public awareness is up to those of us who deal with food allergies on a daily basis. We need to keep talking about food allergies and help educate others.
• As public awareness increases, awareness by healthcare professionals should also be on the rise. Hopefully the days of doctors telling us that our babies are "too young to have food allergies" will soon be a thing of the past. Hopefully the days of a healthcare professional saying "you don't need to carry an Epi Pen because your allergy isn't that severe" will soon be a thing of the past as well.
• The National Institute of Health's panel on food allergies has recommended a funding increase for research. As the number of Americans dealing with food allergies rises, we need to find answers as to why and how to stop this trend. Just type "federal government spending waste" in your favorite search engine and it is easy to find some money that could be redirected. The US government gives 19 million dollars a year to The National Fund of Ireland?!!? I have nothing against Ireland, but, huh?
  
• The The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 has certainly been a big help to anyone who wants to decipher ingredient labels. That said, the prevalence of precautions on labels stating "May Contain" to "Processed in a Facility" to "Made on Shared Equipment." is very difficult to interpret. Companies claim that they need to protect themselves. It just makes labels more confusing and not very helpful to consumers. These statements need to be regulated to further improve food labels.

See http://www.foodallergy.org for more information on the five initiatives.

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Restaurant Challenges for those with Food Allergies

There are so many challenges to eating in a restaurant for those with food allergies that many choose not to do it at all. With proper planning and communication, though, the experience can be rewarding and safe. If you choose a restaurant close to home, call in advance. Talk directly to the chef and explain the food allergies. If you have any concerns that the chef is not taking this seriously, hang up and look elsewhere. If you feel comfortable after speaking to the chef, arrange a time to visit the restaurant. Choose a slow time so that you will get the one-on-one attention you need. Tell the server or hostess about the food allergies when you arrive. Let them know that the chef is expecting you. Ask questions and re-confirm the special arrangements needed. Thank the chef, server and manager after the meal for the successful dining out experience.

If you are traveling or you want to try a chain restaurant, check their website first to get ingredient information. When you arrive at the restaurant, ask to speak to the manager. Explain the food allergies and the possible outcome if the person comes in contact with certain foods. Request that the food preparer put on new gloves and clean the area where the food will be prepared. If possible, watch as the food is being prepared. Be certain to speak up if, for example, the preparer puts the burger on a bun and then takes it off quickly and hands it to the wheat allergic person. Here is a list of many chain restaurants where you can find ingredient information:

http://members.shaw.ca/allergies/restaurants.html

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Outgrowing milk allergy

When we learned of our son's dairy allergy, we were told that he would probably outgrow it by the age of three. When that didn't happen, we were told that he would certainly outgrow it by the age of five or six. When that didn't happen either, we began looking around and realizing that there seemed to be an awful lot of teenagers still holding on to their milk allergy. The largest study to date on milk-allergic children published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology supports our personal observation. Record numbers of students are entering college with a milk allergy. A little dis-heartening to those of us hoping for a quicker outcome.

As this article discusses, milk allergy does not get the same respect as a peanut allergy. To sit a milk, allergic child at the "allergy" lunch table while students eat grilled cheese sandwiches, yogurt, chocolate milk and cheese curl snacks is not allergy friendly to that child. Most schools have a "peanut-free" table, but we all need to work together to keep food allergic children safe while respecting the rights of all students. To see the study, go to:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/11/12/milk.allergy/index.html?iref=newssearch

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Cure for Peanut Allergies?

Fox News just posted an article about a possible cure for peanut allergies to be available within the next five years. It sounds like Duke University is doing some work with peanut allergy and immunotherapy (desensitization injections). Working toward a cure is great news. More shots for children doesn't sound so good, but we'll take it to protect our food allergic kids. The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network provides an opportunity to make donations toward research.

Go here to make a donation: http://www.foodallergy.org/Research/researchdonate.html


Check out the Fox News story here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354230,00.html

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