Do food allergens need to be avoided?

Wednesday, 03 March 2010 12:32

A review by scientists at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, has looked at whether strict allergen avoidance is the most appropriate strategy for managing or preventing food allergy.

Some of the recent studies included in this review have demonstrated that strict allergen avoidance may not always be necessary for treatment, with exposure (in a clinical setting) sometimes being therapeutic. Other studies indicate an extended delay in the introduction of food allergens to the diet of young children may actually increase the risk of food allergy development. However, the authors of this review conceded that in many circumstances, strict avoidance of the allergen is clearly necessary. They state that additional studies are needed to determine the risks and benefits of immunotherapy, including identification of biomarkers to identify more precisely which patients may benefit from this form of treatment.

Reference: Kim & Sicherer 2010. Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology.