Food Allergy: new treatments
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Food allergy is particularly common in children and can affect more than 5% of children. Milk and eggs are the foods most often cause food allergy in children under five. Fortunately over 80% of these children are able to spontaneously overcome these allergies in the first six years. However, in those children in these food allergies persist, likely to disappear over the years drops significantly. With this, these children will keep this allergy, and the risks involved for many years or throughout their lives.
Until recently the only possible measure was to avoid the strict intake of harmful foods, as well as those that would contain, even in small quantities. This forces follow a restrictive diet, as well as checking the composition of all food consumed to avoid errors, which in many patients may have serious consequences.
We currently have an alternative treatment consisting of weekly increase quantities of food to which the patient is allergic. Each dose increase is done in a health center and later that same amount taken in the patient's home.
In a variable period of time usually between 3 and 6 months is achieved in more than 80 - 90% cases, tolerance to ingested food usual amounts for any nonallergic person (p. eg 200 ml of milk or an egg). Thus is achieved normalize their diet and avoid the risk of severe reactions (anaphylaxis) caused by errors in food intake or possible contamination during handling.
