FOOD ALLERGY PREVENTION BEGINS IN THE WOMB

  SUMMARY

A new study shows that there may be a link to peanut ingestion in pregnant mothers and peanut allergy in their children. Dr. Scott Sicherer of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute recently released the results of this study. U.S. researchers looked at 503 infants, aged 3 months to 15 months, with suspected egg or milk allergies, or with the skin disorder eczema and positive allergy tests to milk or egg. These factors are associated with increased risk of peanut allergy, but none of the infants in the study had been diagnosed with peanut allergy. They were tested for the presence of antibodies in the blood, which would suggest an allergy to peanuts. To consolidate the data, their mothers were questioned about their peanut consumption during pregnancy.

Blood tests revealed that 140 of the infants had strong sensitivity to peanuts. Mothers' consumption of peanuts during pregnancy was a strong predictor of peanut sensitivity in the infants. Dr. Scott Sicherer concludes that while the study does not definitively indicate that pregnant women should not eat peanut products during pregnancy, it highlights the need for further research in order to make recommendations about dietary restrictions. 
IMPACT

Peanut reactions can be very severe, even with extremely small amounts of exposure. This might be because the immune system recognizes peanut proteins easier than other food proteins. Peanut allergies in children have increased two-fold over a five year period from 1997 to 2002, according to a study in the December Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI). Peanuts are the leading cause of severe food allergic reactions that affects approximately three million Americans, or 1.1 percent of the population. It is further estimated that around 100 to 150 people in USA die each year from peanut allergies.

These types of statistics are frightening for those of us with peanut allergic children! Research has determined that only up to 20% will actually outgrow the allergy by school age.

These findings add information to an area of science that has received quite ambiguous information in the last decade. This study adds another twist to the back-and-forth recommendations offered by the American Academy of Pediatrics. In 2000, the Academy advised that women whose infants were at risk of allergies based on their family history avoid peanuts while pregnant and breastfeeding. However, in 2008, due to limited supporting evidence, this recommendation was withdrawn. Studies such as this one on peanut consumption during pregnancy help identify potential risk factors, and therefore present an opportunity for risk reduction.

C   CREDIBILITY/ACCURACY

 This article is credible and accurate as it was published in the November 2010 issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

An official publication of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology brings timely clinical papers, instructive case reports, and detailed examinations of state-of-the-art equipment and techniques to clinical allergists, immunologists, dermatologists, internists, and other physicians concerned with clinical manifestations of allergies in their practice. The journal ranks 1st of 21 in the Allergy category and ranked 8th of 128 in the Immunology category on the 2010 Journal Citation Reports.

Study leader Dr. Scott H. Sicherer is a professor of pediatrics at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and specializes in food allergy.