By: Julie S. Rugg, RN
Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could prevent children from developing food allergies? Alleviate the fear of parenting a
child with a potentially life threatening diagnosis? Not have to spend one thin dime on Epi Pens? The good news is…we can!!!
The number of people diagnosed with peanut allergy has doubled in Western countries over the past 10-12 years.
What in the world is going on? For many years, allergy doctors in most parts of the world believed that avoidance of highly allergenic foods, like peanut, is the best way to prevent food allergies. Then, about 5 or 6 years ago in the United Kingdom, it was noted that Jewish children living there were 10 times more likely to develop peanut allergy than children of similar ancestry living in Israel. Why? What was different between these two similar groups of children living in different parts of the world? Taking a closer look revealed that peanut was not introduced in the United Kingdom in the first year of life whereas peanut is introduced at 7 months of age in Israel. Researchers thought that they were on to something big! So the LEAP Study (Learning Early About Peanut) was conducted and the findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February of 2015: Early introduction of peanut can prevent peanut allergy!
Infants at risk of developing peanut allergy are those infants who have eczema and an allergy to eggs.
It is very important that at risk infants are evaluated and treated by a board certified allergist. An allergy workup for these kiddos includes a few skin tests and introduction of peanut protein in our office with a one hour observation time.
Every day at CAAC we have the opportunity to identify at risk infants and truly make a difference in their lives! Please don’t hesitate to contact us! This is easy, life changing, proactive treatment!
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