British Study on Peanut Allergies, A Leap Of Faith?

You have heard this before – “don’t try this at home” Well, this is one of those moments!

Recently, there was an article published at Time.com on peanut allergies and it really hit home with me as the parent of a child with nut allergies. Fortunately, E has never experienced a “reaction” to nuts, but did test positive on a blood test. However, he has had analphylaxis reaction to either sunflower or melon. He ate them both and we are not sure which one it was, so we have to avoid both. The scary part of food allergies, is that there seems to be this mystery that goes along with it for many. Tests are not always accurate leaving the patient wondering and speculating and with the “severe” allergies – living in avoidance.

“We find that a fairly large population of patients are avoiding peanuts, but they don’t really have an allergy,” says pediatric-allergy expert David Rosenstreich of the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx…Total avoidance may only exacerbate patients’ sensitivity (Time).

As many of you may know, our E had severe Eczema and from the time that it began until last year at age 3, he was miserable. His skin itched, bled and flared at nearly every single food he would try. He has been clear of severe Eczema now for a whole YEAR and we feel so blessed to have found Belly Boost probiotics for him. It has changed his life and he is so much better, thank you God.

But you see, because of the “what-ifs” and the “might-be” that was dealt to us from his blood tests, we have several foods that we still have to avoid because we simply do not know – and the reality is that neither do his doctors.

“In a study published in January in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, British researchers found that among 79 children who tested positive for peanut allergy in blood tests, only nine exhibited allergic symptoms upon eating peanuts. That may be because blood tests, which detect Immunoglobin E (IgE), an antibody that hunts for foreign particles entering the body, are not always accurate. Some people with moderate amounts of IgE in the blood are classified as “food sensitive”; those with larger amounts of the antibody are most likely food allergic. But the blood test doesn’t distinguish between the two conditions”  (Time).

Another of these “questionable” foods for us is dairy. Last week, our doctor suggested we try dairy- but slooooooowly. According to this article in Time “The only foolproof way to identify a food allergy is to do an oral food challenge, in which patients eat a variety of foods, some of which contain small amounts of the allergen” (let me just add that you NEVER want to do this on your own! This should only be done under close supervision of your doctor).

So we did it. With the approval and supervision of our family doctor, E tried a bite of ice cream one day, then a few cheese crackers a few days later, and yesterday – cheese pizza! Now that I have scared some of you who might be thinking we are just plain crazy for attempting this. I am in no way suggesting that others try this on their own….ALWAYS play it safe, and ALWAYS check with your doctor first. I had no reason to believe any reaction at all would or could be severe for dairy. The only time in his life that he has had dairy was when he was an infant and the reaction was Eczema. I was mostly concerned about it reappearing, which it did not.

The point in this story though is that I was nervous. Even though I felt comfortable with our doctor’s “go-ahead” I would certainly never want to attempt anything that could be dangerous to my child. Which makes me think of how difficult the decision would be to make if someone asked me to participate in a study such as the one that is currently being reviewed by Graham Roberts MD.

According to WebMD, “Roberts says this is the first step in an ongoing study designed to test the hypothesis that giving infants foods to which they are sensitized will prevent allergies later in life. Right now, people are told to avoid the food they’re allergic to. Our hypothesis is that by introducing the food into the diet early on, the body will see it as normal and won’t become allergic to it. We’re questioning a fundamental preconception,” he says. “In the ongoing study, infants with eczema who test positive for sensitivity to peanuts are being divided into two groups; half get peanuts in their diets and half don’t. The researchers will compare the rates of peanut allergies in the two groups when the kids reach school age.”

I just don’t know how I feel about this. I am thrilled – BEYOND thrilled at the advancements being made and studies being conducted on food allergies. I want to see a cure. I want to see a magic-pill that will change the lives of the food allergic who live in fear of foods. I want to see this talked about, studied, tested and fixed. But at what cost? I cannot imagine the worry and anxiety the parents of those children being “studied” must feel. This topic is sensitive and I know we all have our opinions – so I am here to say that I don’t know what I would do if given the choice to potentially take E’s nut allergy away through this idea of “high-dose early exposure to foods” or to live our life in avoidance. What would you do? Would you play it safe or take a leap of faith?

Photo Credit: http://i.ehow.com/images/a04/fi/il/detect-food-allergy-800X800.jpg