Food Allergy Desensitization – Rushing Now Could Jeopardize Long-Term Success

by Kelley Lindberg


Two weeks ago, I wrote about a new British study being funded to research desensitization for food allergies on a larger scale than some previous studies (“New Desensitization Research Project in England”). Whenever I write about a new study like this, I worry that allergic individuals will try desensitizing themselves – or, more worrisome, their children – without benefit of the careful dosing and treatment regimen that the studies’ doctors provide.

I talked to Dr. Douglas Jones, a board-certified allergist in Layton (Rocky Mountain Allergy, Asthma, Immunology), last week about this very issue. He had just attended the February meeting of the Utah Society of Allergy and Asthma and the Annual meeting for the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. He asked me to share with everyone some highlights of those meetings regarding this topic of food desensitization.

There are some limited studies that show some promising results as far as patients being desensitized and even becoming tolerant to foods they are allergic to (peanut in particular). There is not a standardized protocol yet. This is something that is currently under investigation and of high interest to allergists across the country and here in Utah. When there is appropriate medical evidence and support, food desensitization is something that will likely be offered by Dr. Jones and some other board-certified allergists in their clinics and under their supervision sometime in the near future.

Given the risks associated with this and the limited data, it is important to proceed appropriately and safely. Please do NOT try things at home on your own. Dr. Jones understands the frustrations of patients, your anxiety, and your desire to have safer and more effective treatment. He is just as anxious to try to provide a safe and effective treatment for patients with food allergies. He just wants to emphasize that it is important to go about things the right way, however. That way, when we do start using them in a clinical environment, we’ll have the best information and protocols possible for success. A little caution now is the key to long-term success. And that long-term success – in the form of a food allergy cure – is what we all want for our children and for their children in the years to come. Stay tuned, this is a rapidly developing area!

Many thanks to Dr. Douglas Jones for allowing me to share this information with my readers.

Highlights from Dr. Jones’ Talk, Part 2

Last week, I wrote about some of the food allergy topics Dr. Douglas Jones covered at our July UFAN chapter meeting. This week, as promised, I’m sharing more.

FAHF-2 research: FAHF-2 is the Chinese herbal compound that is being studied to see if it really helps prevent anaphylactic reactions to peanuts. While the compound has shown remarkable success with mice, it’s only in Phase 1 of clinical trials with humans. So while we are all keeping our fingers crossed, it will be several years before we’ll have scientific evidence that it works as well in humans as it does in mice. (Several drugs for other diseases have been successful in mice, only to prove ineffective in humans, so it really is too early to tell.) Phase 1 gathers safety data only (does this compound harm the human body?) and doesn’t test whether the compound is actually doing what it’s supposed to do. Phase 2 will measure doses and their effect on the body (more safety studies). Phase 3 will finally address the drug’s actual effectiveness against allergies in a limited group of test subjects. Phase 4 will expand to include a much larger group of test subjects, and Dr. Jones hopes to be a part of that phase, should the compound make it that far.

Probiotics: At this point, studies seem to show that probiotics don’t perform any better than a placebo in preventing food allergies. They may help eczema acutely, but there is no lasting effect beyond a month. There is data that shows giving probiotics to a woman a month before delivery and to the newborn for the first six months of life helps reduce food allergy, but ONLY if the child was delivered via C-section. If it is a vaginal delivery, then probiotics do not seem to be any better than placebo. So at this point, Dr. Jones feels like probiotics are safe, they probably won’t hurt anything, but they probably won’t accomplish anything either. More testing is needed.

Blood Serum (IgE) Testing: Formerly known as RAST, these blood serum tests measure the level of IgE antibodies in the bloodstream. In general, higher numbers indicate the likelihood that the person will react to an allergen. But interpreting the numbers on a blood serum test becomes tricky because there are three different companies that build the testing machines, and a recent study showed that the numbers produced by the three different machines can be very inconsistent. So comparing numbers from the other two machines is a bit like comparing apples to oranges. Most studies for food allergy have been done on an ImmunoCAP® machine and those are the numbers that should be used in determining when a food is to be reintroduced by food challenge or not. In Utah, Quest Diagnostics is the only lab that uses the ImmunoCAP® machine, and they accept all insurances except IHC. Most doctors aren’t aware of which labs use which machines. So don’t try to compare your blood serum numbers to your neighbor’s numbers. It’s probably better to use the results as broad guidelines, not as a firm indication of whether it is appropriate to do a food challenge on the child. Food challenges should only be done by an allergist in their office.

Once again, I can’t thank Dr. Jones enough for coming to share his knowledge with all of us. If you want to contact his office for an appointment, here’s his information:

Dr. Douglas H. Jones, MD
Rocky Mountain Allergy, Asthma, Immunology
1660 W. Antelope Dr ., Suite 310
Layton , UT 84041
801-775-9800
www.RockyMountainAllergy.com

Highlights from Dr. Jones' Talk, Part 1

At our July UFAN chapter meeting, we were fortunate enough to have Dr. Douglas Jones come speak to our group about the latest food allergy news in testing, treatments, and research. As the only full-time board-certified allergist in Davis County, he discovered when he opened his practice almost a year ago that people in this area have a dire need for accurate, up-to-date information about food allergies. Our group was no exception – we may be more well-informed than many of the people he sees, but we were still anxious to learn more, and he obliged beautifully!

Dr. Jones covered a wide variety of topics for us, and delved into both the science and the regulations that affect research and testing. He covered so much that I’m going to mention a few highlights from his presentation this week, and more next week.

How early can children be tested for food allergies? Dr. Jones said there’s no specific limit on when a child can be tested. It’s more important to look at the child’s and family’s history of reactions, what they want to learn, the family’s needs, and so on. Theoretically, you can test anytime if the child’s history really warrants it, but it’s a case-by-case decision. Dr. Jones recommends retesting every 6 to 12 months for younger kids, less frequently for older kids.

Should you avoid common food allergens when pregnant or nursing to avoid causing your baby to have allergies? Dr. Jones doesn’t feel there’s enough good data to base a decision on. He says it’s probably more important to continue to eat a healthy diet and not worry so much about the allergens in it, because the fetus needs the nutrition. He stresses to mothers: “It’s not your fault!” As for nursing, there is some evidence to suggest nursing for 4-6 months may be beneficial. As far as mothers avoiding foods while nursing in an effort to try and prevent food allergies, there is no data to support this. If you can identify a pattern with nursing and reactions, then that’s one thing, but avoiding things to try to prevent allergies is not recommended. He says it could be more likely that children develop food allergies through accidental skin contact (Uncle Fred forgot to wash his hands after eating those peanuts) rather than through breast milk. Until there’s more data, it’s another case-by-case decision.

Eczema: Apart from Dr. Jones’ discussion, the group had a general discussion about eczema, and why so many pediatricians don’t seem to realize that most cases have an underlying root cause, and most often that root cause is food allergies. Dr. Jones didn’t have an answer for why this is unrecognized or ignored by primary care doctors. But, we all know people whose children have suffered for years with eczema, and their doctors have simply prescribed steroid creams and sent them away, before the parents finally went to an allergist and had their children tested. Often those children’s skin is clear in a matter of a couple of weeks after eliminating the offending food – often milk or eggs – from their diet. It's such a simple thing to test for and cure, yet these children suffer for years sometimes because their doctors don’t know or won’t accept that food allergies could be the cause.

For More Information: Dr. Jones recommended a book called Food Allergy Survival Guide, by Vesanto Melina, Dina Aronson, and Jo Stepaniak.

Those are some of the topics we discussed, and we all learned a tremendous amount. Next week I’ll write about more highlights from his talk, including blood serum testing, the latest news on the Chinese herbal study, and more. Many, many thanks to Dr. Jones for coming to share his knowledge with all of us. If you want to contact his office for an appointment, here’s his information:

Dr. Douglas H. Jones, MD
Rocky Mountain Allergy, Asthma, Immunology
1660 W. Antelope Dr ., Suite 310
Layton , UT 84041
801-775-9800
www.RockyMountainAllergy.com