Posted on 09/22/2024 7:03:19 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Researchers have demonstrated how a novel approach to managing cow's milk allergy could transform how food allergies are treated.
Food allergies occur when the immune system reacts abnormally to otherwise harmless food proteins, which can cause immediate symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, hives, and respiratory issues. Severe reactions can lead to anaphylaxis, a life-threatening condition requiring emergency medical attention.
Now researchers have shown that cow's milk can be safely and effectively reintroduced to children with milk allergies which affects 2–3% of infants, marking a significant breakthrough in allergy management.
Traditionally, IgE-mediated cow's milk allergy is managed through strict avoidance of milk in all forms, followed by a series of outpatient appointments and allergy tests, often culminating in a hospital-based milk reintroduction between the ages of 3 to 5 years. This process can be lengthy and stressful for both the patient and their family, requiring extensive time and medical resources.
However, researchers have demonstrated that using the "Milk Ladder" method as a step-by-step approach, allows for a home-based reintroduction of milk under the careful supervision of caregivers. This method significantly reduces the need for hospital visits and enables the immune system to gradually become less reactive to milk proteins. Most notably, the children managed with the Milk Ladder were almost 4 times more likely to successfully reintroduce milk compared to those who followed the traditional avoidance approach.
Dr. Trujillo cautioned against the unnecessary avoidance of certain foods, particularly in young children, as this avoidance of certain food types at the wrong time in their lives can negatively impact their growth and increase the risk of developing food allergies.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
It should be done with the help of a doctor and likely emergency treatments on hand.
Hubby drinks only Fairlife — the 0% kind. Not because of allergies. I’m not sure why. I haven’t had milk since mother’s milk. Gross.
I know an individual who developed a milk allergy in her early 50s. She grew up drinking it and eating cheese and all kinds of milk products. One day a switch flipped. Milk fat (butter, etc...) doesn’t seem to bother her. Just the protein. She’s trying to figure out if it’s the whey or casein. It’s looking like the casein is the culprit.
My allergist said that anyone can develop an allergy to anything at any time in their life for any reason. It’s seemingly completely random.
That said, gradual desensitization can work wonders.
I know someone who was deathly allergic to peanuts and yet by sublingual drop therapy can now tolerate small amounts of them so that accidental exposure wouldn’t risk killing them any more.
I would not have thought it was possible to give someone that severely allergic a small enough does to trigger and appropriate immune response and retrain the immune system to not react inappropriately.
But this is someone I know personally, so, yes, I believe it now.
Longer expiration date. it tastes better. Regular milk after even one day of being opened tastes almost spoiled compared to Fairlife. lactose free. I can’t go back to regular milk after having this.
Interesting. Makes sense.
Didn’t your parents make you drink milk as a kid? We had to drank powdered milk.
“Didn’t your parents make you drink milk as a kid?”
They tried. Cleaning up piles of vomit was an issue, so ... no. We had many dairy farmers in our church, and that room they called the creamery ... just blecccch! The smell.
“We had to drank powdered milk.”
Sometimes that was in the house, that came with the free government cheese and peanut butter (both of which were delicious).
Yeah...I did Not like regular milk either, but did not vomit. Had a female doc ask me once if I was getting enough “dairy.” I looked at her and asked “calcium?” Never went back to her. Btw ...I have very strong bones...w/o a lot of dairy as a child. In the last few years I do eat a lot of dairy ..for protein.
Sounds much like me although bones aren’t as strong at age 76. Don’t eat milk, cottage cheese, yogurt (double gag), sour cream. Love cheese and ice cream.
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