"allergic" news and stories

Sensitive to peanuts or eggs? Scientists may have found a new antidote.

People who are allergic to, say, pollen or animal dander can receive allergy shots, in which they are injected with small amounts of the substances that make them itch and sniffle.

Similarly, researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center are feeding small amounts of the proteins from peanuts and eggs to the allergic patients, to see if their immune systems can tolerate the food. They will consume increasing amounts of the proteins until they get to a "maintenance" level (much like how allergy shots work).

The researchers' hope is to eventually find an actual preventative treatment for people with peanut and egg allergies, instead of just telling them to try their best to avoid the foods that might make them react. And for people with serious allergies like these, this will hopefully be encouraging news.

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Food allergies may be on the rise. While doctors report that in the past only a small segment of their patients, around 5%, were afflicted with allergies, today a much larger portion are. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of hard data to support anecdotal evidence like this because there is not a lot of money that goes into food allergy research. The problem is of particular concern because some doctors also believe that near-fatal reactions are becoming more common.

Since even medical professionals are relying on what they're seen and not necessarily what they've studied, does anyone else feel this way?

It seems that more and more people are claiming to have "allergies" and "sensitivities" or, even more vaguely, "to have issues with" various food products. While many people do have food-related problems, is it possible that this is just hypochondria, or are allergies really getting worse?

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