Rise Seen In Peanut Allergies Affecting Children

One of the allergies that is on the rise among my patients--especially ones that are children-- is allergy to peanuts.The New York Times suggested as much in an article dated February 2, 2014 stating that "peanut allergy among children in the United States has risen more than threefold, to 1.4 percent in 2010 from 0.4 in 1997, according to a study by food allergists at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City."So you may ask, well with all that modern medicine has to offer, why is this and other allergies on the increase?Well, there a few factors to consider, none is conclusive but taken together we may get a more complete picture. They are, as reported by an article from the UCLA Food and Drug Allergy Care Center:The Hygiene Hypothesis. This theory states "that excessive cleanliness interrupts the normal development of the immune system, and this change leads to an increase in allergies."Delayed Introduction Of Foods. The Center also says that delaying the introduction of some foods like peanuts "may be associated with high rates of food allergy." This is still a contentious issue among researchers and in the UK, a study to answer the delay in the introduction of peanuts to young children -- known as the LEAP study-- will answer that question this year.Form Of Food We Eat. UCLA also reports that "different forms of the same food appear to be more likely to provoke an allergic response, specifically roasting peanuts rather than boiling them makes them much more likely to cause an allergic response."Increased Awareness & Reporting. The article finally states that "heightened awareness among doctors, parents, teachers and the general public about the symptoms and potential consequences of food allergies may contribute to the reason we are meeting more people with food allergy."I tell my patients that immunotherapy is an effective way to treat peanut allergies. This treatment, like shots given for pollen allergies starts "with exposure under the tongue to a minute amount of the allergic peanut substance, followed by increasing amounts under a doctor's supervision," says the New York Times. And in a study published last week in the British journal Lancet, it was found that after six months of oral immunotherapy up to 91 percent of children aged 7 to 16 could safely ingest five peanuts a day."For further information, http://www.nycallergydoctor.com/allergy-to-peanuts/