Finding A Path To Safety In Food Allergy

Over the past 20 years, public concerns have grown in response to the apparent rising prevalence of food allergy and related atopic conditions, such as eczema. Although evidence on the true prevalence of food allergy is complicated by insufficient or inconsistent data and studies with variable methodologies, many health care experts who care for patients agree that a real increase in food allergy has occurred and that it is unlikely to be due simply to an increase in awareness and better tools for diagnosis. Many stakeholders are concerned about these increases, including the general public, policy makers, regulatory agencies, the food industry, scientists, clinicians, and especially families of children and young people suffering from food allergy. At the present time, however, despite a mounting body of data on the prevalence, health consequences, and associated costs of food allergy, this chronic disease has not garnered the level of societal attention that it warrants. Moreover, for patients and families at risk, recommendations and guidelines have not been clear about preventing exposure or the onset of reactions or for managing this disease. Finding a Path to Safety in Food Allergy examines critical issues related to food allergy, including the prevalence and severity of food allergy and its impact on affected individuals, families, and communities; and current understanding of food allergy as a disease, and in diagnostics, treatments, prevention, and public policy. This report seeks to: clarify the nature of the disease, its causes, and its current management; highlight gaps in knowledge; encourage the implementation of management tools at many levels and among many stakeholders; and delineate a roadmap to safety for those who have, or are at risk of developing, food allergy, as well as for others in society who are responsible for public health.

Offers a complete identification and treatment guide for food allergies and food intolerance, and suggests that food sensitivity could be the cause of some chronic, unexplained health problems.

A life-changing, research-based program that will end food allergies in children and adults forever. The problem of food allergy is exploding around us. But this book offers the first glimpse of hope with a powerful message: You can work with your family and your doctor to eliminate your food allergy forever. The trailblazing research of Dr. Kari Nadeau at Stanford University reveals that food allergy is not a life sentence, because the immune system can be retrained. Food allergies--from mild hives to life-threatening airway constriction--can be disrupted, slowed, and stopped. The key is a strategy called immunotherapy (IT)--the controlled, gradual reintroduction of an allergen into the body. With innovations that include state-of-the-art therapies targeting specific components of the immune system, Dr. Nadeau and her team have increased the speed and effectiveness of this treatment to a matter of months. New York Times bestselling author Sloan Barnett, the mother of two children with food allergies, provides a lay perspective that helps make Dr. Nadeau's research accessible for everyone. Together, they walk readers through every aspect of food allergy, including how to find the right treatment and how to manage the ongoing fear of allergens that haunts so many sufferers, to give us a clear, supportive plan to combat a major national and global health issue.

Are you constantly worrying about what you or your loved ones eat? Is every dining experience an episode of anxiety for you? Being allergic to different types of food not only ruins the experience of eating, it can lead to dangerous, sometimes lethal, consequences. With Food Allergies for Dummies, you can feel safer about what you eat. This concise guide shows you how to identify and avoid food that triggers reactions. This guide covers how to care for a child with food allergies, such as getting involved with his/her school’s allergy policies, packing safe lunches, and empowering him/her to take responsibility for his allergy. You will also discover: The signs and symptoms of food allergies How to determine the severity of your allergy Ways to eat out and travel with allergies How to create your own avoidance diet Ways to enjoy your meal without allergic symptoms How to prevent food allergies from affecting your child The latest research being done to treat food allergies Food Allergies for Dummies also provides an in-depth chapter on peanut allergy and how to spot traces of peanut in your food. With this book, you will feel safer and more comfortable while you eat. And, with plenty of helpful resources such as Web sites and allergy-friendly recipes, you’ll hardly have to worry about your diet!

Every three minutes, a food allergy reaction sends someone to the emergency room. Each year in the United States, 200,000 people require emergency medical care for allergic reactions to food. Approximately 90% of food allergy reactions occur to one of eight common foods in the U.S. called "The Big 8". These foods include Milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, crustacean shellfish, wheat, and soy. And while 1 in 10 adults have a food allergy, nearly twice as many adults think that they are allergic to foods while their symptoms may suggest food intolerance or other food-related conditions. It's time to wake up to the fact that food in the United States is killing us. I am one of over 32 million Americans who suffer from severe food allergies, environmental allergies, and asthma since the age of three. As a first-generation American, I was the "broken child" of parents from hailed from India and had never heard the words "food allergy" before. My entire life had been focused on one thing: making sure my body could withstand another attack. Because there is no cure for food allergies in Western medicine, for four decades, I became a test subject, was poked and prodded to determine the best way to manage my allergies. After I found myself almost dead on the emergency room table (for the fourth time) in 2008, I knew that it might be the last chance I would get to find another way. I felt like I was doing everything wrong. I was doing life wrong. Apparently, I wasn't managing my food allergies well because I wouldn't have been back in the hospital. It was yet another traumatic event in my life due to food, and I had officially hit rock bottom. It was during that time that I made a pact: I whispered into the Universe that if it allowed me to survive that day, I would change everything. With a fire finally lit in my soul, I completely dissected and overhauled my life created the Three to Be(TM) Program, a holistic health, and well-being program that guides people with food allergies and food restrictions to Be Healthy, Be Safe + Be Well(TM) (my mantra), in order to thrive. I needed a program that I could follow daily, using small steps to reclaim my health. None of the existing health and wellness programs on the market really catered to someone in my situation, so I created my own having dealt with severe food allergies for four decades. In facing the demons that had been with me for so long, with conviction, I took charge, I worked my program, and I eliminated my food allergies. In reclaiming my health, I transformed my life. And this is how I did it.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Comprehensive and practical, this book thoroughly addresses the full range of concerns related to food allergies in the pediatric patient. As food allergies in the pediatric population increase in number and severity, Pediatric Food Allergy: A Clinical Guide provides information on new guidelines and potential treatment options, as well as working to improve awareness, diagnosis, management and prevention practices. Written by experts in their respective fields, chapters are divided into five sections. Opening with an introduction and overview of particular concerns and issues specific to food allergy in the pediatric population, sections two and three address diagnosis and management of comorbid conditions in food allergy, along with development of food allergies and current prevention recommendations. Sections four and five cover food allergy management, prognosis, and therapeutic options with a look to future developments, while all sections include a discussion of epidemiology, differential diagnoses of other potential food-related diseases. In Pediatric Food Allergy: A Clinical Guide, pediatricians and allergists alike will find an invaluable resource as they work with this vulnerable patient population.