Home > Free From > News > Other intolerancesNew research from the United States suggests that allergies are more persistent than first thought. And outgrowing allergies to milk and egg may no longer be the case. The studies, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology state that 'the bad news is that the prognosis for a child with a milk or egg allergy appears to be worse than it was 20 years ago. Not only do more kids have allergies, but fewer of them outgrow their allergies and those who do, do so later than before". Previous studies have reported that 75 per cent of children with milk allergy outgrow their condition by 3 years of age. However the new study indicated that only 20 per cent of children may out-grow their allergy by 4 years old. By eight years, 42 per cent had outgrown the condition while 79 per cent were allergy free by age 16. In relation to egg allergy, similar trends were seen. Only four per cent of children studied outgrew this allergy by four years of age. 37 per cent were allergy free by the time they turned 10 years of age, rising to 68 per cent by age 16. A correlation has been noted between a child's blood levels of milk and egg antibodies (IgE) – the immune chemicals produced in response to allergen – and disease behaviour. The higher the antibody levels, the longer it takes to outgrow the allergy. The good news is that advances in biotechnology have identified the specific molecules in foods that induce food allergies. This knowledge could also lead to genetic engineering techniques to change molecules so they no longer cause an allergic response. |
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