Lessening the Impact of Severe Allergic Reaction

Anyone who cares for someone with a life threatening allergy, whether to food, insect stings, latex, etc., carries a fear of a fatal anaphylactic reaction. When I send my food allergic child on the school bus each day or drop him off for a play date, I always have the thought, "Please let him be safe". Living with anxiety over a mix up with a cup or a snack is exhausting. Knowing that one wrong sip or bite could lead to a rapid onset of symptoms that may lead to death is terrifying.

I'm encouraged by a new discovery at the University of Glasgow. They've discovered that an immune hormone, IL-33, plays a key role in the development of anaphylaxis. Patients with high levels of IL-33 had more severe anaphylactic reactions. The researchers believe that a decrease or elimination of IL-33 will greatly reduce anaphylactic symptoms. The reaction would be less severe and thereby less chance it would be fatal.

The team was successful in proving this in a mouse model and plans to continue with their research. Check out the article here.

Woo-Hoo: A $433,100 grant to Study Food Allergy Causes

I love this kind of news!

The University of Chicago and Northwestern University will share a grant of $433,100 to try to pinpoint the key immune factors that lead to food allergies. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded this study through their Science to Achieve Results program (STAR).

Check out the article here and read the description and approach of the study here.

I'll keep an eye on this and report the results when they become available. I'm intrigued with the idea that researchers plan to assess whether pesticides produced in genetically engineered plants can trigger food allergies. There's got to be something causing this spike in food allergies. Could pesticides be the key?

Are You Walking for Food Allergy?

Check out FAAN's calendar and find the closest food allergy walk. Click on the link which will take you to the associated web page. Even if you can't walkwith a group, consider the virtual walk listed under Dec. 5, 2009. Tell grandparents, aunts, uncles, schools, sports teams, doctors affices about this easy way to help a great cause!

Bagel Day

We love to make bagels. This is what they look like after boiling them for 30 seconds and just before baking them for 20 minutes. The smell of hot bagels as they're pulled out of the oven...Yum!

This recipe is safe for those with allergies to dairy, egg (no need for the egg glaze the recipe calls for), peanut, tree nut and sesame seed. It does contain wheat.

We first saw the bagel recipe in Family Fun magazine. Give it a try this week-end!

Have You Taken The Food Allergy Survey?

If you're a FAAN member (and if not, why not?), be sure to take their survey. It's 56 questions long, but many of those are "yes" or "no" answers or responding to a question on a number scale. It appears that FAAN is gathering info about how their members use them as a resource, as well as what other ways members get food allergy information.

I hope to see the results at some point. I think that for many years, FAAN was the only game in town for food allergy information. Now there is a great deal of information on the web. FAAN remains one of my most trusted sources, though.

Great Site for Young People with Food Allergies

Studies have shown that young people with food allergies may take unnecessary risks so they aren't viewed as "different" by their peers. They just want to fit in. Perfectly understandable, but this is something that strikes terror in the heart of parents of food allergic kids everywhere.

That's why I love this new Canadain site: Why Risk It. Sponsored by Anaphylaxis Canada, the site allows teens and young adults to share their stories about life with food allergy. Covering everything from school to dating to dining out and more, people share their stories and learn from one another. It appears to be quite appropriate for younger kids as well.

Well done, Anaphylaxis Canada!

Asthma and Food Allergy Camps

Since 1988, the Consortium for Children's Asthma Camps has actively coordinated the activities of asthma camps across the US. Through these camps, children have a typical camp experience with the added benefits of quality medical care and asthma education as part of the camp routine.

What a wonderful opportunity for kids to be surrounded by other kids who deal with the same specific issues they face every day. How comforting for parents to send their child with asthma to a safe environment.

That got me thinking. Is there a similar opportunity for kids with food allergies?

I did find a "Family Session" available at the Center for Courageous Kids, in Kentucky. Specifically, they are offering a Family Fall Retreat week-end Sept. 11-13, 2009.

I'd love to see a consortium of camps nationwide for kids with food allergies. Imagine sending your child with food allergies to a camp where every child carried an Epi-pen and where there was food allergy education along with swimming and zip line activities.

Does anyone know of any such camps? Let me know!

Food Allergy Movie

Are there people in your life who just don't get food allergies?

Check out this 83 minute documentary all about food allergies. Produced, directed, and edited by Kevin J. Lindenmuth, "I'm Not Nuts: Living With Food Allergies", clarifies the misinformation people commonly have about food allergies. Interviews with medical professionals and families bring a realistic viewpoint to dealing with food that can be dangerous to those allergic to it.

It would make a perfect gift for grandparents, teachers, doctors, child care workers and others who need to hear about food allergy issues from someone other than you.

Youth Raises Money for Food Allergy Research

A 12-year-old food allergic Pennsylvania girl is raising money for food allergies by selling singing e-mail grams. Emily Z. created www.ezgreetings.org, as a bat mitzvah project. Through the site, customers can order a $5 singing email gram for any occasion. When an order comes in, Emily records a singing gram and sends it to the designated recipient with a personal message from the customer.

"EZgreetings combines my love of singing and graphic arts into my project, and it supports a cause that matters tremendously to me, food allergy research," says Emily.

Her site, has raised over $1000.

You go, girl!

Why not give it a try? Just a note...the links didn't work in Firefox. Go to Internet Explorer to check it out. Also, it only works on PC's, not Macs.

Food Allergy Death: Camp Held Liable

It's such a sad story...A 13-year old Australian boy died from anaphylactic shock after eating a food pouch that contained peanuts.

The boy was a cadet on a 3-day training camp. His parents had informed the appropriate authorities about their son's peanut allergy. As a matter of fact, SEVEN of the cadets were known to have a peanut allergy. The medical information provided by the parents was not distributed to those who handed out food to the cadets.

So what can we learn from this experience?

Never worry that you are being too over-protective.
Make sure you've spoken to every adult who will have direct contact with your child.
Insist that your child wear a medical bracelet or other identifier at all times. Consider providing safe food and instructing your child to eat only provided food.
Ensure that epinephrine is easily available to your allergic child.

We must allow our children to experience normal life. Take proper precautions and always listen to your gut.

Here's the whole news article about this tragedy.

ZEER: The Easy Way to Find Better Food

Have you heard about ZEER? Created in early 2008 by Mike Putnam, ZEER is a continually updated food information resource for people who want to know ingredient and nutrition information in the foods they eat. Perfect for those who deal with food allergies and/or intolerances.

This week, ZEER launched ZEER Select, a gluten free database full of information for those who need to avoid gluten. The company plans to offer a similar experience for other food allergies and intolerances in the future. In the meantime, with over 30,000 food items (and 500 products added or updated every week) it's easy to search for a wide variety of foods.

I had the opportunity to get a sneak peek into ZEER Select, which is offered by subscription at $14.95 per month. Users can search foods by name, category or UPC code. Detailed ingredient and nutrition information as well as a "gluten safety status" is given for each product.

I think one of the best features is that the site is constantly updated and reviewed by a medical advisory board of doctors and nutritionists. No worries about outdated or incorrect information. Another great feature of ZEER Select is the ability to maintain a grocery list and then share the list with family and friends. ZEER also has an iPhone application giving users the ability to get detailed product information when it's most needed- at the grocery store.

There are many parts to ZEER that are free for anybody to use. Join one of the Communities such as food allergies, diet, lifestyle (organic, vegan, vegetarian), health (diabetes, cancer, etc.) and religious/cultural. Users can sign up with a community to learn more about foods and participate in a discussion board to ask questions or give information. You can also see food product reviews or post one of your own.

Take a tour and see what ZEER and ZEER Select can offer you.

Let me know what you think.

Update Food Allergy Bill

Below is a note I received about Pennsylvania's efforts to make schools safer for food allergic children. Thank you to all of you who wrote letters on behalf of this bill. I hope it continues forward through the PA House Appropriations committee and becomes law providing a model for other states and countries. We need to make schools everywhere safe for all children!


Please forward to your membership and friends who assisted with our efforts on HB 1148.
The bill was unanimously passed by the Education Committee.

Thank you one and all for your support of HB 1148!!

The bill will now move to the PA House Appropriations Committee. As the legislature is now engaged in producing a budget, we will wait for the budget to be passed before we begin our communications with the Appropriations Committee members.

I will communicate with you soon about our next steps to obtain support

Happy Fourth of July!

Bill Dixon
Legislative Aide
PA State Representative Thomas Murt's District Office
(215)674-3755

Swine Flu Vaccine Safe for Those with With Egg Allergy?

The swine flu vaccine has been on my mind.

A post I read originally on Life With Food Allergies Blog has given me hope. Reportedly, drug company Novartis, has created a swine flu vaccine that will be safe for those with egg allergy.

I stil have a bunch of questions, though. It seems that other companies will be manufacturing swine flu vaccine that wouldn't be safe for those with egg allergy. How will distribution be handled? People who can't have the egg-based vaccine should certainly be the top priority for the new vaccine. Also, will the FDA cause this vaccine to hang up in the US? If it is available in Europe, can we go there to get the vaccine for our egg allergic family members?

It seems there are no clear cut answers to these questions yet.

Does anyone else know anything about this?

Check out the article here.

Food Allergy TV Show

A TV Show called "You Won't Even Miss It" is cooking up some great recipes for those with food allergies.

You can check out their episodes online by clicking the link above and then clicking on "TV Show". Learn how to make allergy friendly dishes such as Mango Creamsicle Smoothies and Asian Chicken Salad.

My mouth is watering...

What do you think?