Placing a peanut in the mouth of a peanut allergy kid?!? The latest on CURES from our nation’s expert.

With the new year comes interesting and GREAT news from the nation’s leading expert on pediatric allergies, Dr. Hugh Sampson, who asks “Is Better Treatment Possible for Children with Food Allergies?.”

As a mom to a son with severe food allergies, I’m pretty sure I muttered out loud, “Well, I certainly hope so.” And after reading the article, it appears in the near future THERE JUST MIGHT BE!

I’m sure you’re curious what these possible options are, so I’ll give you the less techy versions of each. Here’s a quick rundown:

Baking away your kid’s dairy and egg allergies. According to the article, most kids with these allergies can stomach their allergens when baked. And by feeding them these cooked goods, they’re finding that children are building up a tolerance for them!

Feeding a peanut allergic child… peanuts! Physicians and experts are working to determine whether giving our kids small amounts of peanuts over time will get rid of their allergy. This is called oral immunotherapy, and I feel the need to give that age-old disclaimer: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

Placing a peanut in the mouth of a peanut allergy kid. Just reading all of this is making me a bit nervous. But this technique, dubbed sublingual immunotherapy, is showing that it can offer kids some protection against their allergy, but not as good as that in #2 above. Again, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

Sticking a peanut patch on the skin of, you got it, a peanut allergy kid. This treatment – epicutaneous therapy – calls for a patch containing the peanut protein to be placed on the skin so that it can start to penetrate the layers and move into the body. According to the article, it’s showing promise – YAY!

Taking an herb to turn off one or more food allergies! Apparently there’s an herbal Chinese formula that has proven itself successful in curing a mouse with a peanut allergy. This one is aimed at kids with multiple allergies – wouldn’t that be amazing?!

What are your thoughts on these? Had you heard about them yet? Share with me in the Comments below! For the full article, click here.

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