Eating Away that Allergy

Nearly three percent of all children below the age of three suffer from an egg allergy. Egg allergies like other food allergies can cause symptoms such as breathing difficulties, wheezing, skin rashes, low blood pressure, and in severe cases, anaphylactic shock. While most children outgrow the allergy as they grow older, there are still those who carry this allergy into early adulthood. The only definite way to treat a food allergy is to completely avoid the food concerned. When it comes to egg allergies, these diet restrictions become even more difficult as many products and food preparations contain eggs or traces of eggs. For families with children suffering from egg allergies, this can make eating out a nightmare.

According to Dr. Burks and his team at the University of North Carolina, there may be a new treatment alternative for children who suffer from egg allergies. The study, recently published by the New England Journal of Medicine proposes the idea of treating egg allergies in children by feeding them - eggs. While the idea may seem absurd and even dangerous, it is not the first time such a theory has been put forth. In 2009, similar trials were conducted on children with peanut and milk allergies with promising results. Dr. Burks believes that it is possible to reverse allergies in some children by retraining their immune systems to accept small amounts of the food. This works by increasing their tolerance levels and reducing any adverse reactions.
The study was conducted under strict medical supervision and under no circumstances should be tried at home. The fifty-five children chosen for the study ranged between the ages of five to eleven and all suffered from some degree of allergic reactions to eggs and products that contained eggs. While these reactions were severe enough to not fade away in time, no children included in the study suffered from reactions strong enough to result in anaphylactic shock. Dr. Burks and his team of researchers divided the children into two groups - one that was fed small amounts of egg over a period of time and the other that was fed a placebo. At the end of ten months of the study, a food test was conducted where all the children were given half an egg to eat. Results showed that while none of the children in the placebo group passed the test without any allergic reactions, more than half of the children in the oral immunotherapy group were able to eat the egg with none or few symptoms. The challenge was repeated after 22 months with the same encouraging results. Following an abstinence period of no egg consumption at all by the immunotherapy group, a final test showed that eleven children from the study were able to eat a whole cooked egg along with ten grams of egg-white protein without any symptoms or allergic reactions whatsoever. In other words, they were completely cured of their allergy. The other children showed a reduction in their symptoms and an increased tolerance of food products that contained eggs. According to the experts, this study shows that food allergies can be treated and even those children who were not cured still benefited from the immunotherapy trials. However, it may take another decade or so before oral immunotherapy is considered a feasible treatment for the general public as larger studies are necessary and such treatment takes up to two years before the benefits become evident. The good news is that with the promising results of this study more and more people are now volunteering as subjects for such future trials and a possible cure for common food allergies may soon become a reality.

References:

1. University of North Carolina School of Medicine. "Researchers Discover Promising New Treatment for Egg Allergy." ScienceDaily, 18 Jul. 2012. Web. 3 Aug. 2012.