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Bizarre Food Allergy Study



 
 
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  #11  
Old June 12th 06, 07:07 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
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Default Bizarre Food Allergy Study

Andrea Phillips wrote:
Did anyone else catch this?

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/06/08...eut/index.html

This article bugs me on so many counts I can hardly articulate. First
there's this: "At three months of age, according to parental reports,
14.2 percent of infants had adverse reactions to food, while 7.2
percent did by one year of age." Could it be that's because a
three-month-old just might have adverse reactions to *any* food due to
immaturity of the digestive tract, rather than because of an
IgE-mediated food allergy?!


According to the link Liz gave, the 'food' to which those
three-month-olds were reported as having adverse reactions was cow's
milk - which, of course, lots of three-month-olds are getting in the
form of formula. So I presume that's what was meant. I'd say the other
points made about the study in this thread still stand, though.


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be" - P. C. Hodgell
  #12  
Old June 12th 06, 11:26 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
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Default Bizarre Food Allergy Study


Engram wrote:

[...]
Notice that 7.2% of parents were reporting allergies by 1 year of age and
the study showed around 6% actually had an allergy according to the double
blind eating challenge. Not such a great difference at all. While none of
the 14.2% of 3 month olds with reported reactions were tested at that time,
but 9 months later. I know I'm going by the experience of a sample of 1, but
is it not possible that reactions noticed in younger babies may disappear
with time?


Right - I've now found the abstract on PubMed.

http://tinyurl.com/pkzla

This actually gives a figure for 3.2% having food allergies proven on
the double-blind test by 1 year - and they say it's a cumulative
figure, which I'm guessing means it includes babies who've come up
positive on the earlier test as well as the ones who are still coming
up positive at 12 months (which would fit better with the figures given
earlier in the abstract). Only 2.5% were positive on the double-blind
challenges _at_ 1 year. That means that almost two-thirds of the
one-year-olds who were thought by their parents to have allergies
actually didn't according to the testing.

Now, obviously, as you and others have pointed out, the figure on a
single food challenge probably is going to be an underestimate because
there may be babies who are only bothered by large amounts of a certain
foodstuff. But this does still suggest that there are a lot of parents
restricting their children's diets when it isn't necessary, which I
think is really the primary point of the study. I don't see that
'chastisement' necessarily comes into it at all.

Right - enough lollygagging - I'm going to have to go & do paperwork
now. ;-(


All the best,

Sarah

  #13  
Old June 12th 06, 01:47 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
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Default Bizarre Food Allergy Study

wrote:
Engram wrote:

[...]
Notice that 7.2% of parents were reporting allergies by 1 year of
age and the study showed around 6% actually had an allergy according
to the double blind eating challenge. Not such a great difference at
all. While none of the 14.2% of 3 month olds with reported reactions
were tested at that time, but 9 months later. I know I'm going by
the experience of a sample of 1, but is it not possible that
reactions noticed in younger babies may disappear with time?


Right - I've now found the abstract on PubMed.

http://tinyurl.com/pkzla

This actually gives a figure for 3.2% having food allergies proven on
the double-blind test by 1 year - and they say it's a cumulative
figure, which I'm guessing means it includes babies who've come up
positive on the earlier test as well as the ones who are still coming
up positive at 12 months (which would fit better with the figures
given earlier in the abstract). Only 2.5% were positive on the
double-blind challenges _at_ 1 year. That means that almost
two-thirds of the one-year-olds who were thought by their parents to
have allergies actually didn't according to the testing.


Or that they grew out of it. YoungBloke reacted dramatically to potato at 7
months and at 8 months but when we tried him again at 12 months he was fine.
The same was the case with dairy.


  #14  
Old June 13th 06, 04:28 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
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Default Bizarre Food Allergy Study

FlowerGirl wrote:
"arachne" wrote in message
...

Engram wrote:


This gives me hope that my own sample #2 (ie. DS) will grow out of his
allergy by one of those milestone ages. Even though egg allergy isn't


life

threatening, it's hard to stop kids swapping snacks on the playground


once

they go to school.



but egg allergy *can* be life-threatening to some people. my DS1 has
life-threatening (anaphylaxis) allergies to egg as well as nuts. and a
little lesser allergies to many, many, many other foods.



Very scary indeed.

...and on another note ... we're still waiting for that promised update
Elizabeth ... even if it means I have to go to mkb and not af to read it
How are the boys? How are *you*?
Amanda



ok ok! i PROMISE to make an update before this week is up (on a.f.)!
miss ya by the way.

--
elizabeth (in australia)
mum to DS1 (3.75 yrs) & DS2 "gorgey" (8.5 mths)


"In raising my children, I have lost my mind but found my soul."
--Lisa T. Shepherd
  #15  
Old June 13th 06, 04:34 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
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Default Bizarre Food Allergy Study

Engram wrote:
"arachne" wrote in message
...

but egg allergy *can* be life-threatening to some people. my DS1 has
life-threatening (anaphylaxis) allergies to egg as well as nuts. and a
little lesser allergies to many, many, many other foods.



I'm sorry to hear that, Elizabeth... From what I had read anaphylaxis in egg
allergy is rare, so I wasn't thinking of that particular allergy as being in
quite the same league as peanut, which is almost always associated with
anaphylaxis.



it is more rare. but *any* food allergy can be anaphylactic
unfortunately. it's just as you say more uncommon. milk allergy is alot
more common for an ana reaction. but my DS1 has pretty severe allergies.
he is allergic to *most* foods. even things like pumpkin & parsley etc
as well as the more traditional allergies so he is not classed in the
majority of allergic kids i guess.

i guess i just wanted to let other people who might read this thread
know. i come across alot of blank looks when i try to explain to some
people IRL that food can kill my child (or other children). and that
even "innocent" food can make him very sick just from touching it. very
frustrating.

--
elizabeth (in australia)
mum to DS1 (3.75 yrs) & DS2 "gorgey" (8.5 mths)


"In raising my children, I have lost my mind but found my soul."
--Lisa T. Shepherd
  #16  
Old June 13th 06, 06:20 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
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Default Bizarre Food Allergy Study


"arachne" wrote in message
...
it is more rare. but *any* food allergy can be anaphylactic unfortunately.
it's just as you say more uncommon. milk allergy is alot more common for
an ana reaction. but my DS1 has pretty severe allergies. he is allergic to
*most* foods. even things like pumpkin & parsley etc as well as the more
traditional allergies so he is not classed in the majority of allergic
kids i guess.

i guess i just wanted to let other people who might read this thread know.
i come across alot of blank looks when i try to explain to some people IRL
that food can kill my child (or other children). and that even "innocent"
food can make him very sick just from touching it. very frustrating.


I know what you mean... When I told my sister that Matt is allergic to eggs,
her reaction was "but surely he can have cake? there's not much egg in
cake"! Hard to explain to people that an everyday foodstuffs can harm a
child. Now I'm delaying the introduction of nuts until he's 2 years old
because he's already shown a reaction to egg (a rash) plus he's got eczema,
marking him as prone to allergies in general. My mum is going to look after
him when I go back to work next week and every time I see her I keep telling
her "now remember, no nutella, no peanut butter, no pancakes". And then she
gives my sister's kids scrambled eggs or nutella sandwiches and I'm forever
jumping in and saying "make sure they don't share their lunch with him".
He's not walking yet so can't get himself to the table and grab their food,
but that day will come. I've asked her not to give them egg or nut
containing things on the day when he's there but I haven't got far on that
front, unfortunately. Hopefully my warnings over and over will stick in the
end. She just doesn't seem to realise that foods most people can eat can
kill some, particularly a kid who can't tell the difference between a
nutella and a vegemite sandwich as they're both covered in dark gooey stuff!


  #17  
Old June 14th 06, 01:13 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
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Default Bizarre Food Allergy Study


Hi --

The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (linked from my site, or google
it) has a good video for educating teachers/daycare providers. I think
it's called "Just One Bite". You might see if you can borrow a copy, or
even purchase it. View it with your ... mother? The relative who'll be
caring for your allergic baby. You also want to make sure she knows
what to do in case of a serious reaction. Baby epi-pen, 9-1-1, etc.

--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.
  #18  
Old June 14th 06, 05:11 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
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Default Bizarre Food Allergy Study


"arachne" wrote in message
...
FlowerGirl wrote:
"arachne" wrote in message
...

Engram wrote:


This gives me hope that my own sample #2 (ie. DS) will grow out of his
allergy by one of those milestone ages. Even though egg allergy isn't


life

threatening, it's hard to stop kids swapping snacks on the playground


once

they go to school.



but egg allergy *can* be life-threatening to some people. my DS1 has
life-threatening (anaphylaxis) allergies to egg as well as nuts. and a
little lesser allergies to many, many, many other foods.



Very scary indeed.

...and on another note ... we're still waiting for that promised update
Elizabeth ... even if it means I have to go to mkb and not af to read it


How are the boys? How are *you*?
Amanda



ok ok! i PROMISE to make an update before this week is up (on a.f.)!
miss ya by the way.


Not half as much as I miss you!!!
I'll be waiting on that update you know
A


 




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