On September 22, 2012, my mini-me was born. My nephew, Blake is called my mini-me because we have the same big, blue eyes, the same blonde hair and the same chubby cheeks.
On his one-year birthday, we found out that my mini-me wasn't as similar to me as we thought. Blake was diagnosed with food allergies. He went in for allergy testing after he ate peanut butter and his face became swollen. His test results showed that he was allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish and sunflowers.
My sister is a great mom, so her first duty of business was to arm herself with knowledge. She read a ton of books, started following bloggers and reached out to moms of children with food allergies. Since no one in our entire family has had a food allergy, it was a big change for my sister and her husband.
So, being that this is my mini-me with food allergies, my sister educated me, as well. Today, I’d like to share three things that I learned about food allergies, that you may not know.
First, there’s no definitive study on what causes food allergies. In college I took a food science course and we learned that the best way to lower your risk of food allergies is to avoid peanuts while you’re pregnant, and not give your child peanuts until they are six years old. Well, recent studies came out that say to do the opposite. And, there’s even more studies that say that food allergies can be treated through exposure therapy. But, I personally think that if we give it a few more years, a new study will probably come out to say something entirely different.
Unfortunately, the second thing I've learned is that there's no accurate test to tell whether a person has an anaphylactic allergy. Anaphylactic allergies can be life-threatening, and typically the first allergic reaction a person has is not his or her most severe, so it's not an accurate way to gauge the severity. So, people with food allergies must take every precaution in order to control their environment and limit their exposure to their allergen until they know for sure what their reaction will be. In fact, children can possibly grow out their food allergies--there's just no way to test it and know for sure.
Finally, one thing is certain: the prevalence of food allergies has increased significantly in my lifetime. According to the CDC, food allergy diagnoses in the U.S. have increased 50 percent since 1997. For me, and probably most of you, there was no “food allergy” table in the cafeteria and we never had to worry on birthdays about our food being “safe.” Now, many schools are nut-free, and almost all schools have a “food allergy” table. This is encouraging for the people with food allergies, since they have a strong community and they aren't alone. My sister has a plethora of resources and databases to learn about safe foods for Blake, and a good support group to reach out to in need.
However, the increase in food allergies is alarming. There’s a number of reasons for the increase in food allergies, but of course the main suspect is the American diet. One fact that cannot be disproven is that the rate of genetically-modified food has also increased parallel to food allergies. Some studies suggest that the strongest link to nut allergies actually comes from genetically modified soybeans, since their chemical structure is so similar to peanuts, and this may be what’s caused the increase. If you haven't read Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma," about genetically-modified corn, I highly recommend reading it.
So, to recap, here are a few things I’ve learned about food allergies over the last seven months: First, there’s no definitive study about what causes food allergies, and there's no test to accurately predict the severity of the allergy. Third, food allergies have increased 50 percent in the last ten years.
Finally, the best defense is knowledge. I live far away from him, so I don’t have to worry about what I eat around him on a daily basis, but as soon as I get home, I know that I can only eat Blake-safe foods in my parents’ home and in my sister’s. But, of course, even if I can’t eat a Reese’s peanut butter cup, just one look at that sweet little smile and one sound of him giggling, and I know he’s worth it, and I would give up anything in order for him to be safe.
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I would just like to add some information about the UKNOW peanut test. It is a relatively new test that can tell with 95% certainty a persons risk for anaphylaxis. Once our insurance covers this test we plan to get this test done for Blake. You can find more information about the UKNOW peanut test here.
