Wellness
5 Things to Know About Food Allergy Testing, Treatments
GUEST POST
By Kimberley Yates, CEO and Founder
Latitude Food Allergy Care
Readers Note: This guest post is for informational purposes only and it is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice.
As many as 32 million Americans currently are impacted by food allergies. Diagnoses continue to grow at epidemic rates. While expertise is needed to accurately diagnose and properly treat this growing portion of the population, misinformation is rampant. Many people are unaware that safe and effective treatments are available for food allergies for babies, children and adults. These treatments have the power to keep patients safe and possibly allow patients to enjoy the foods they’re currently allergic to.
1. Food allergies can affect anyone, at any age, and change over time
Food allergies often present early and dramatically in a baby or young child’s life. For the parents of children with food allergies, this might mean a jarring first trip to the emergency room. But new allergies can turn up later in life, too. In fact, food allergies can develop, and change, at any age.
Some food allergies, such as cow’s milk or eggs, have high rates of being outgrown in childhood. Others, such as peanut and tree nut allergies without treatment — could be life-long. Shellfish allergies can also present later in life. Just because a patient was told they were fatally allergic to 10 things as an infant or toddler does not mean those allergies can’t be outgrown, or that new allergies can’t be gained.
Periodic testing with an allergist is essential. Oftentimes, a fresh diagnosis allows patients to open up their diet, and bring foods they enjoy back into their lives.
2. Finding a qualified food allergy specialist is imperative
While food allergies have risen dramatically in the U.S. and other industrialized countries, the number of physicians specializing in food allergy diagnosis and treatments have yet to catch up, making it very difficult for patients to get the care they need.
In addition to working with your pediatrician, it’s very important to find a food allergist who’s motivated to get to the bottom of your child's allergies. Not all allergists are trained in or specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of food allergies. The best, most qualified allergists are well-informed on the latest research and are specifically trained in food allergy.
3. Common misdiagnoses can lead to unnecessary restrictive diets
Without thorough testing, it’s easy for patients to confuse and conflate food allergies, sensitivities, and other medical conditions. In one study, researchers at National Jewish Health in Denver conducted "food challenge" tests on 125 children with allergies and eczema and found more than 50 percent of the kids could tolerate foods they had been told to avoid.
Misdiagnoses may result in an overly restrictive diet with unnecessary food avoidance, which can adversely impact quality of life.
Many young adults, for example, might have been advised to avoid entire categories of foods such as tree nuts if they had a diagnosed peanut allergy. The best food allergy care involves working with a specialist who can provide an accurate diagnosis and work to reduce the foods that a person needs to avoid — lessening the emotional and physical burdens of managing food allergies.
4. Inconsistent and inaccurate information is rampant
Because of the risk and anxiety food allergies can cause, families are desperate for answers and want to understand their options. While there are a growing number of resources for families impacted by food allergies, it’s important to point out that information can vary drastically from source to source. For example, not all clinicians are aware that proactive treatment options for food allergies exist, and therefore may not recommend them.
It is important to continue to seek out accurate information. If you do not like what you are hearing or aren’t getting the answers you are looking for, it's a wise idea to get another opinion.
5. Treatments for all ages, start as soon as allergy is suspected
True food allergies do not need to be tolerated, and avoidance is not the only solution. Life changing treatments are available for patients of all ages — including babies, older children, and into adulthood.
The most effective and life changing treatment available today is Oral Immunotherapy. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) desensitizes patients to foods they’re allergic to through exposure to small quantities of the food allergen over time.
Patients can be treated for a single allergen or for multiple foods simultaneously, which allows for a significant improvement in quality of life in a short amount of time — often less than 12 months. Treatment can be started as soon as an allergy is confirmed.
Over the last decade, clinical trials have proven OIT to be both safe and effective, especially in the youngest patients.
At Latitude Food Allergy Care, data reveals a 92 percent success rate among all OIT patients. For patients 3 and younger, the success rate is even higher at 97 percent. OIT offers the ability to live more freely, and some young patients may never know they had a food allergy.
In addition to OIT, the FDA recently approved the biologic Xolair (omalizumab) as the first medication approved to reduce allergic reactions to accidental exposures. Xolair does not remove a food allergy but can provide a layer of protection against reactions. Xolair may also be used alongside OIT, offering another very safe option for treating a food allergy.
Ongoing research offers the potential for an even wider range of food allergy treatment options in the future, but OIT and Xolair are available now — already impacting the lives of tens of thousands of families across the country. And food allergy specialists do exist to help families best navigate their testing and treatment options.
Kimberley Yates, CEO, Latitude Food Allergy Care
About the Author
Kimberley Yates (Grosso) is the mother of Tessa, Reese and Alyssa and CEO and founder of Latitude Food Allergy Care. Finding a cure for her daughter Tessa’s multiple severe food allergies drove Kimberley to raise the resources for a clinical trial using Oral Immunotherapy (OIT), which led to the founding of the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University, a world-renowned food allergy research center. After nine years at Stanford, she started Latitude to increase access to life-saving treatments.