Hello everyone!

Food allergies are a serious matter, and the frequency of food allergy cases are only going up, with more and more people being diagnosed with dangerous food allergies every year. I often find that families who have only very recently become a part of the allergy “scene”- whether it be from learning that their child has an allergy, or finding out that an adult in the family has developed a food allergy (while rare, it does happen)- have very little knowledge about the dynamics of living with an allergy, or living close to someone with an allergy.

I personally know people who have developed food allergies relatively recently, and in times like that, it can be a very scary scenario. It’s similar to being put into another world, having to learn about the dynamics of allergies. All of a sudden, an infinitely greater amount of care has to be put into the food chosen for the family, the restaurants visited, and even the events being planned.

In times like that, it is a fantastic help to have a source (or sources) that provide oneself with much of the knowledge that they need. Personally, my family and I received much of our initial information that we needed from our allergist when we found out about my allergy. However, our supplementary knowledge was almost exclusively provided by educational websites and our memberships with communities of allergy families.

Because of this, I thought I would post some helpful websites for those looking for guidance, assistance, or education on food allergies. These sources were invaluable to me, and still are, so I hope that you guys find them just as useful!

https://acaai.org/ —The website for the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. Fantastic resource for those seeking basic information about allergies and allergy safety.

https://www.foodallergy.org/ — The website for FARE- Food Allergy Research and Education. My personal favorite, this website has absolutely everything a family facing a food allergy could ever need. From allergy information, to supplemental information packets tailored to specific family members, to helpful graphics with information, to instructional videos and articles, this website is truly the one stop shop for someone looking for allergy information.

https://www.allergicliving.com/ — An allergy news website that is at the forefront of allergy information. Whenever I want to find out what’s going on in the world of food allergies, whether it be news about Mylan, or the test results for the latest allergy treatment, Allergic Living has it. I always like to check it at least once a week.

If you need further informational supplements, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to provide you with extra websites that I found useful.

I hope this helps!

Gary

A while ago I wrote an article about this really cool thing called the Viaskin Patch, made by DBV technologies SA, a French biotechnology company.

For those who haven’t read the article, the Viaskin Patch is essentially a patch that people stick to their bodies that increases tolerance to peanut and tree nut allergies. The FDA recently reviewed it, and it results don’t look too positive.

Previous trials for the DBV Viaskin patch were not able to outperform the placebo, so DBV technologies definitely had a lot to fix, and their new Viaskin patch is much more effective than their previous version, but it still comes short. Based on newer statistics, the Viaskin patch only decreases sensitivity to peanuts by 35%, as opposed to the 13% from the placebo group.

Of course this is a large improvement from previous tests, but they’re still coming way short of their goal, and their patches to decrease sensitivity to milk allergies haven’t been doing much better either. Current projections for the Viaskin peanut patch say that, with luck, it will be on the market by 2020, but they will have to make some serious improvements by then.

This testing failure comes at an especially sensitive time for Viaskin, as the phase 3 testing for Aimmune Therapeutics’s peanut allergy treatment AR101 reached its testing goal. This means that the future for peanut allergy treatment might not lie in the Viaskin patch, but in the Aimmune Ar101 pills.

Of course, only time will tell what solutions work, and I am not one to trust anything until there has been a significant amount of testing over a significant amount of time. However, I think I’m now beginning to hold out hope that the solution to the peanut allergy community’s problems lie in these pills.

If anyone wishes to read more about this patch, or the AR101 pills, I’m posting some news links below.

https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/aimmune-dbv-peanut-allergy-results-data/517397/

https://www.ft.com/content/7a7a673c-163a-11e8-9e9c-25c814761640

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180220005722/en/Aimmune-Therapeutics%E2%80%99-Pivotal-Phase-3-PALISADE-Trial

If there are any more important updates on Viaskin or AR101, I will make sure to notify you readers.

Until next time!

Gary

Hey Guys!

I have always seen the new year as a fresh start and an opportunity for reflection.  I’ve been thinking a lot lately, and I know that even though I say that my allergies don’t define my life about every other post, I’ve never really explained why. I mean, sure, it would make sense that my allergies change stuff, but life goes on with or without allergies, so I wanted to write out five reasons why they aren’t the end of the world for those who are new with the whole “allergy scene.”

1. There are other options

For every unsafe food, there are going to be alternatives. If you can’t eat peanut butter, there’s Sunbutter or Wowbutter. There’s milk free alternatives, soy free alternatives, and alternatives to pretty much everything if you’re willing to look hard enough.

2. People will understand

Just as there are people who don’t “get it,” there are just as many people who really try to understand your allergies, and people will learn how to help you. It’s crazy how my relatives have adapted to my allergies, and now they are able to accommodate for my food needs like we wouldn’t have been able to imagine before.

3. Treatments are coming

We’re really not that far out from a permanent treatment to food allergies. Scientific advancements like the “peanut allergy pill” that I blogged about a few posts back are being made to help people like us overcome our allergies, and maybe soon we won’t have to worry as much as we did.

4. There are groups that will help

Organizations like FARE (Food allergy Research and Education), WAO (World Allergy Organization), and AAFA (Asthma and Allergy Foundation) were created for the specific purpose of researching and spreading awareness of food allergies and related issues. If I ever have any questions regarding my allergies, or if I’m looking for any resources, I always go to their websites, such as FARE’s http://foodallergy.org for help.

5. It gets better

No matter what, it gets better. You’re gonna get used to it and it gets easier to deal with your allergy as the days pass. You will eventually learn what to say to the people at a restaurant, you’ll learn how to read a label and spot the allergens in seconds. It’s gonna get easier, so just hang in there for now.

I hope this list helped. I made it for you my friends, but also as a reminder to myself.

Until next time!

Gary