Early exposure to food allergens could prevent serious reactions in children

Early exposure to food allergens could prevent serious reactions in children

A review inClinical and experimental allergyIt concludes that it is safer to expose young children to small foods to which they are allergic than to avoid the foods altogether, which could be very dangerous in the event of accidental exposure.

The review finds that giving preschool-aged children small amounts of food allergens with oral immunotherapy can reduce the severity of a reaction after accidental exposure. Delaying exposure until a later age misses the window of opportunity when oral immunotherapy is safest and it prolongs unnecessary dietary restrictions. After early childhood avoidance, some people who outgrow their allergy fail to incorporate the food into their diet due to fear and anxiety, potentially increasing their chance of clearing the allergy.

A growing body of evidence shows that oral immunotherapy is safe and effective in preschool children, but additional research is needed to clarify its impact on children's health and quality of life.

This research illuminates a critical shift in how we approach strict avoidance of food allergies to controlled exposure in early childhood, which not only reduces the risk of severe reactions, but also helps prevent long-term negative consequences of living with food allergies, said, so food allergies, said, so food allergies, said, so food allergies, said, so food allergies, said, said, so food allergies, said, so food allergies, said, so food allergies, said, said, also in the long term ", said, also said long-term negative consequences," so

Lianne Soller, PhD, corresponding author, University of British Columbia, Canada

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