Food allergy management and prevention

Tuesday, 15 June 2010 10:23

A systematic review of the available evidence on the prevalence, diagnosis, management, and prevention of food allergies has been conducted by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. After reviewing data from 72 studies indexed between January 1988 and September 2009, the researchers concluded there is a lack of consistent information in this area.

The articles reviewed looked at allergies to cow's milk, hen's eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. According to the articles reviewed, food allergies affect more than 1 percent and less than 10 percent of the U.S. population, but it's not clear whether the prevalence of food allergies is increasing.

While elimination diets are the mainstay of therapy, they have been rarely studied. There is also inadequate research on immunotherapy, the use of hydrolyzed formula to prevent cow's milk allergy in high-risk infants, or the use of probiotics in conjunction with breast-feeding or hypoallergenic formula to prevent food allergy.

In addition, there is a lack of uniformity for the diagnosis of a food allergy, which severely limits conclusions about best practices for food allergy management and prevention, such that no clear consensus exists.

Reference: Schneider Chafen et al. 2010. Journal of the American Medical Association. Vol. 303(18). pp. 1848-1856.