I was watching ABC News on Sunday when I heard the words: “Peanut allergy cure is found”. Of course, I immediately stayed tuned to hear if there was a new breakthrough I wasn’t aware of.
The exciting news (which I was aware of), is that Dr. Wesley Burks at Duke University has successfully desensitized children with peanut allergy through oral immunotherapy. It was a small group, but a majority of the children who had severe reactions to peanut were now able to tolerate up to 15 peanuts a day—remarkable!
I am a strong supporter of this treatment and have used allergy drops in my practice for many years with great success. To read more about the drops, please read my book, which has case studies of many patients who use this method.
Food allergies are a frightening and frustrating problem for parents, children and their allergists. However, now a treatment seems within reach, in probably two to three years.
The other therapy I’m excited about is the Chinese Herbal Formula being worked on at Mt. Sinai Hospital. This formula may be safer and give long-lasting protection. The other possible treatment in the making is the Anti-IgE injections, which are also in clinical trials.
I sent out e-mails to our patients to get ready for the spring allergy season—it’s just around the corner. The tree pollens come first. Please don’t wait until the pollen gets super-high. Monday’s USA Today had some nice tips I’d like to share with you:
Pollen counts are usually highest between 10:00am and 4pm. Try not to exercise outside during these hours. If you have no other option, then use your allergy medication an hour before going out. If you can exercise near the beach or sea the pollen counts are somewhat lower. Also, remove your shoes and clothes once inside your home so pollen doesn’t remain to trigger symptoms.
Finally, I will be speaking to a group of parents at Mt. Sinai hospital about Allergies and Asthma on March 25th; and on March 27th I will be teaching doctors at Brookdale Hospital about Sublingual Allergy Immunotherapy.
