Allergies Archives

New Guidelines: Introduce Peanuts to Infants Early to Prevent Allergies

November 14, 2016 SrijitaAllergies, Early, guidelines, Infants, Introduce, New, Peanuts, Prevent, to

Parents may be able to reduce the chance that their children will develop peanut allergies by introducing the food early on, as young as four to six months of age, experts now say. The timing and method should depend on the infant’s risk of a peanut allergy, according to doctors who presented a preview of updated guidelines today in San Francisco at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. “Guidance regarding when to introduce peanut into the diet of an infant is changing, based on…

Peanut Butter Redux: More on Food Allergies

November 4, 2016 Srijita(Peanut), Allergies, Butter, Food., More, On, Redux:

This week, we revisit the enthusiastically debated Oct. 2 column about food allergies in the workplace. To recap: After a peanut-allergic letter writer (LW) asked a colleague to stop bringing peanut butter sandwiches to work, someone deliberately smeared peanut butter on the LW’s desk, causing an allergic reaction. The boss dismissed the LW’s complaint and said the LW shouldn’t be able to dictate what co-workers eat. Many commenters argued that employees with severe food allergies are exclusively responsible for protecting themselves at work. The Americans With Disabilities Act, however, says…

Vitamin D-Deficient Kids Likely to Develop Asthma, Allergies

November 2, 2016 SrijitaAllergies, asthma, D-Deficient, Develop, Kids, Likely, to, Vitamin

Australian researchers have found that children with vitamin D deficiency were more likely to develop asthma and other allergies later in life. Researchers from Western Australia’s Telethon Kids Institute tracked vitamin D levels from birth to age 10 in Perth and found that children were at high risk of developing asthma and allergies as they grew older if they lacked the nutrient at a young age, Xinhua news agency reported. The findings also showed that repeated bouts of vitamin D deficiency in early childhood were linked to higher rates of…

Eating Fish May Ward Off Allergies In Kids

November 2, 2016 SrijitaAllergies, Eating, Fish, In, Kids, May, Off, ward

Women who consume oily fish while pregnant or during breast-feeding may decrease the risk of their children developing food allergies, asthma, eczemas or hay fever, researchers have found. The findings have showed that children introduced to fish and eggs — major source of omega 3 fatty acids — before 11 months of age had a lower risk of developing allergies. “Fish intake in the family seems to reduce the risk of allergies,” said Karin Jonsson from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, in a statement. Kids who eat fish, eggs…

New Immunotherapy Technique May Cure Food Allergies

November 2, 2016 SrijitaAllergies, cure, Food., immunotherapy, May, New, technique

Canadian researchers have developed a new immunotherapy technique that has the potential to eliminate the allergic response to peanut and egg white proteins. Anaphylaxis, defined as a severe rapid-onset allergic reaction, can be life-threatening and treatment options are limited. Using the new technique, the researchers were able to nearly eliminate the allergic reaction in mice by converting allergen-sensitive immune cells into cells that mimic the response seen in healthy, non-allergic individuals. The treatment reduced the symptoms of anaphylaxis, and lowered other key protein markers in the allergic response by up…

Giving Babies Eggs and Nuts Early May Avert Allergies

September 24, 2016 SrijitaAllergies, and, Avert, Babies, Early, eggs, Giving, May, Nuts

Infants who get a taste of eggs and peanuts starting when they’re as young as 4 months old may have a lower risk of developing allergies to those foods than babies who try them later, a research review suggests. With eggs, giving babies that first spoonful between 4 and 6 months was associated with 46 percent lower odds of egg allergies than waiting to introduce this food later. For peanuts, offering infants a sample between 4 and 11 months was associated with 71 percent lower odds of peanut allergies than…