[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1584639026341{margin-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Food Oral Immunotherapy” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]For people with anaphylaxis to foods such as peanuts, tree nuts, and dairy, life can be very restricted. Social isolation and fear of participating in activities where food is served are reported in many older children and teens with serious food allergy. Deaths are still being seen in this group of patients due to failure to read food labels, errors in food labeling and the tendency for teens and young adults to not always have their emergency medications with them in social settings. Although many of these deaths are preventable, patients have long wanted a better solution. For over 15 years, well conducted medical research has shown that through routine oral or sublingual exposure to the food proteins, it is possible to cause the immune system to dampen its reaction to accidental or larger exposure to the food. This process of retraining the overactive response to foods is called food immunotherapy. Our practice has been involved in the early use of this treatment in the United States and our providers have over a decade’s experience administering oral and sublingual immunotherapy for over 10 different foods. We offer simultaneous treatment of multiple foods at once where possible and necessary.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The main questions about this are answered in the Oral Immunotherapy FAQ link below.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2801″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text el_class=”vc_hidden-xs vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm”]
FAQ Here
FAQ
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1584638372074{margin-bottom: 70px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1584638967572{padding-bottom: 10px !important;}”]ALLERGIES is a term used by many people to describe the symptoms they are having. Technically, we use that term to describe the human body having an overactive immune response to a substance normally tolerated in the air, or taken by ingestion or inhalation. Environmental allergens usually work through the MAST CELLS in the human body that release their histamine and other contents when an allergen is recognized. We can often prove that type of allergy by skin or blood testing to show the person is making IMMUNOGLOBULIN E (IgE) against that substance.
Depending on the type of trigger (airborne, food, drug, topical) the reactions will involve mast cell events in different parts of the body:
- Skin mast cells will cause itching, redness, hives or swellings in the skin
- Airway mast cells will cause nasal congestion, drainage, itchiness, eye symptoms, coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath
- Gastrointestinal mast cells will cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating
- Mast cells near blood vessels will cause the blood pressure to drop, and the heart to be stressed
- Other mast cells are present in the body with discrete effects such as uterine contractions
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]If all this happens at one time in multiple places, we term it anaphylaxis, however, each individual patient may have types of reactions that involve primarily a single system or are localized.
After the first wave of mast cell events however, other parts of the immune system will be triggered which in the airway leads to progressive congestion, mucus productions, and chronic swelling in the nose or bronchial tubes.
Patients also sometimes use the term ‘allergies’ to describe things that happen in the nose & sinuses but are not due to allergen triggers – such as nasal polyps and recurrent sinus infections. Although many patients with asthma have allergen triggers, the most common known trigger world wide is viral infections, something that any of us can get.
Reactions to foods that are triggered thru mast cells often happen at a very young age, happen with miniscule amounts of the food, and are mostly localized to the digestive system and skin. Later onset FOOD INTOLERANCES or immune reactions like gluten triggered celiac disease are NOT DIAGNOSED by skin or blood testing for food IgE.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]