healthy body tips

Allergies affect approximately 40 percent of children in America and allergic disorders rank #1 among children’s chronic diseases. Food allergies, which affect 5 percent of children, can be one of the more dangerous types, and in some cases requires constant vigilance of every bite of food a child takes. But help may be on the way for those with milk allergies, and maybe even those who suffer from reactions to peanuts, eggs, and other common foodstuffs.

Xolair, manufactured by Genentech, is an asthma drug that is in trials to test the effects of allergy desensitization. A small preliminary study was conducted simultaneously at Stanford University Hospital and Children’s Hospital Boston, where they found that the drug helped to quiet an overactive immune response to dairy. Due to its success, a larger study has already been launched and is currently ongoing.

The initial study involved eleven children with severe dairy allergy. On an allergy scale of 1 to 100, the children ranked at the high end, all in the 90th percentile, which equates to severe allergic—and possibly life-threatening—reactions. Over the course of nine weeks, the children received injections of Xolair, which blocks the immune protein IgE. They then took the medication for an additional two to three months, while slowly increasing their intake of milk, working up to two ounces per day. For two more months, the children had a daily milk intake of two ounces.

At the end of the study, with nine of eleven children finishing the course of treatment, they were tested with an eight-ounce glass of milk. All nine children were able to drink the entire amount without any side effects.

Milk allergies affect 2 to 3 percent of infants in the United States and is the most common allergy in infants and small children. Typical symptoms of dairy allergies include respiratory (asthma, wheezing, constriction of throat), gastrointestinal (severe gas, diarrhea, vomiting), and dermatological (hives, rashes), as well as serious anaphylaxis, which requires immediate medical attention.

Milk allergy sufferers need to be very careful about checking ingredients in everyday products: there are the obvious ones like milk, ice cream, yogurt and cheese, but dairy can also be hidden in bread, cereal, instant soups, powdered breakfast drinks, margarine, lunch meats, pancake/biscuit/cake mixes, and more. Look not only for milk in the ingredient list, but also casein, whey, rennet, lactalbumin, lactalbumin phosphate, lactoglobulin, lactoferrin, lactulose, hydrolysates, and even things like cheese flavoring and artificial butter flavor.