Egg and Milk Allergy Lead to Peanut Allergy?

A recent study involving 500 infants seems to show a link between early milk and egg allergy to later development of peanut allergy.

The Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), a major food allergy research program supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) conducted the study and plans to follow the infants to age 5.

In light of this finding, researchers recommend parents of milk and egg allergic children speak to their doctor, or consult an allergist before introducing peanut in the diet.

Check out the full report. Interesting, huh?

AllergySense Helps Train Professionals in Food Allergies

Put expired EpiPens® and Twinject® to good use this month. Throughout the month of May, AllergySense will send expired pens to allergists' offices for training purposes.

Of course, I always recommend training yourself and family members by using an expired pen in an orange.

However, if you have several old pens lying around,mail them in a padded envelope to AllergySense for distribution. You'll even be entered to win great prizes.

Hurry, offer ends May 31, 2010.

Helpful Food Allergy Links

I recently came across this list of 50 Useful Links for Gluten-Free Living and it reminded me of all the knowledge and expertise we have available on the web today. Things sure have changed over the past 10 years. Today, people dealing with celiac and food allergies have a full education at their fingertips. Add to that the wide range of allergy friendly foods and products, and consumers today find themselves with many options.

I thought I'd go back to some of my old favorites for food allergy education. Check these out:

Linda Coss's Food Allergy Cookbooks are still my favorites for great recipes.

My favorite food allergy newsletters are from Allergic Child, Allergy Moms, Kids With Food Allergies, Go Dairy Free and FAAN.

Get informed through the many online resources available today.

Food Allergy Research

Professor Yoshinori Mine of the University of Guelph (Ontario Canada) has promising results from his study to provide a safer approach to dealing with allergies in children. In his clinical research using mice, Professor Mine found that mice ingesting only the peptide portion of egg protein, rather than the entire protein, were able to tolerate increasing amounts of egg. The body, over time, learned to accept the protein, rather than react against it.

looking ahead, the plan is to begin to introduce this technique in human clinical trials and develop a way the peptide can be administered orally.

“I would like to find a way to incorporate the peptide into foods such as cookies so it will be appealing to young children.” said Professor Mine.

I continue to feel confident that this path toward desensitizing our children to their food allergens will lead us to more answers and better solutions. The current medical advice of "avoid the offending food in all forms" isn't good enough. I am encouraged by Professor Mine and others who are trying to come up with better solutions for us.

Check out the full article for more information.

Food Allergies and School Planning

This is Food Allergy Awareness Week (FAAW). Make an effort to talk to at least one new person about food allergies. Together we can educate the masses.

If your food allergic child is entering preschool or kindergarten next school year, now is the time to start planning. Set up meetings with the principal/director and school nurse. Grade school children are entitled to a 504 Plan. Speak up for the things your child needs. They are entitled to a safe learning environment like any other student.

To celebrate Food Allergy Awareness Week, join in on the Twitter party hosted by Ruth at Best Allergy Sites and Jen at Food Allergy Buzz. The fun begins Tuesday, May 11 at 8 pm EST. RSVP to join lots of food allergy folks as well as Julie Bradsher of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network and a representative from the International Food Information and Council Foundation. Twitter parties are a great way to meet up and share information.

Happy FAAW!

Food Allergy and School Nurses

Parents of food allergic children rely on their school nurses when it comes to keeping their children safe at school. The trouble is that school nurses don't always feel they have the tools to protect children with food allergies.

A recent study reported in The Journal of School Nursing reveals weaknesses in these areas:

emergency plan development
staff education
delegation
developing guidelines for banning foods
planning school trips

The school nurses surveyed indicated a willingness to gain more knowledge in these areas. Their preference was that this be done via video and internet resources through professional organizations.

As more and more children are diagnosed with food allergies, it is imperative that our school nurses have the education and tools they need. Who is filling this need?

Allergy Medications on Recall List

Perhaps you heard over the week-end that McNeil Consumer Healthcare has recalled numerous medications for "not meeting quality standards". The reasons range from products that "may contain a higher concentration of active ingredient than is specified"; or products that "may contain inactive ingredients that may not meet internal testing requirements"; or products that "may contain tiny particles". Whatever the case, we all need to go through our medicine cabinets and medication pouches.

Benadryl® and Zyrtec® are on the recalled list. So is Tylenol® and Motrin®.

Check out this list of recalled medications. Print it out and compare it to what you have.

To receive a coupon for the future purchase of a product, or to get a refund for an affected product, fill out this form on McNeil Consumer's site.

I'm off to check our medicines....