Saturday, May 29, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Lab On A Chip - Possible New Allergy Testing?
Originally posted at WEGO Health. Leave your thoughts here or on the WEGO Health Asthma and Allergy Group Discussion page
Some days I think "If you think it, it will come".
The other day I was explaining and borderline complaining about the current state of food allergy testing, and lo and behold there is an article in Medical News Today that is discussing a new test in the works for determining food allergies. The new test is a blood test like the RAST but instead of measuring antibodies, the new test would take a precise measurement of a cells allergic reaction to a particular allergen. Basically it sounds like a food challenge for the blood.
This test is being developed by Christopher Love, an MIT Chemical Engineer and he is working with Dale Umetsu, professor of pediatric immunology at Children's Hospital Boston.
Another article about the new testing can be found at Ars Technica in the article Lab On A Chip. There is an actual picture of the test.
I find all of this completely exciting and very hopeful not only for future testing of allergies but also for a possible cure somewhere down the road. If they can pinpoint how these specific cells react during an allergic reaction, maybe they can determine how to make them stop reacting.
What do you think? Have you heard about the Lab On A Chip before? Are there any other new advances in allergies that you are aware of?
To learn more visit:
The Love Lab - The webpage from the MIT lab responsible for the new type of testing.
Lab On A Chip - RSC Journal Page with extensive information about this project
Immunity, from the cells point of view - MIT article from November 2008 about the project, the engineers working on it and what they plan to accomplish
Some days I think "If you think it, it will come".
The other day I was explaining and borderline complaining about the current state of food allergy testing, and lo and behold there is an article in Medical News Today that is discussing a new test in the works for determining food allergies. The new test is a blood test like the RAST but instead of measuring antibodies, the new test would take a precise measurement of a cells allergic reaction to a particular allergen. Basically it sounds like a food challenge for the blood.
This test is being developed by Christopher Love, an MIT Chemical Engineer and he is working with Dale Umetsu, professor of pediatric immunology at Children's Hospital Boston.
Another article about the new testing can be found at Ars Technica in the article Lab On A Chip. There is an actual picture of the test.
I find all of this completely exciting and very hopeful not only for future testing of allergies but also for a possible cure somewhere down the road. If they can pinpoint how these specific cells react during an allergic reaction, maybe they can determine how to make them stop reacting.
What do you think? Have you heard about the Lab On A Chip before? Are there any other new advances in allergies that you are aware of?
To learn more visit:
The Love Lab - The webpage from the MIT lab responsible for the new type of testing.
Lab On A Chip - RSC Journal Page with extensive information about this project
Immunity, from the cells point of view - MIT article from November 2008 about the project, the engineers working on it and what they plan to accomplish
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
An Interview with the non food allergy child for FAAW
Mom: How do you feel about your brother's food allergies?
Older Son: Mad.
Why do you feel mad?
I don't know.
What do you want other's to know about your brother's food allergies?
People don't touch him or feed him the things he's allergic too.
Do you ever get scared for your brother?
Not really.
Does it bother you that he has food allergies?
Kind of.
Why?
He might have an allergic reaction.
What whould you do if you saw him having an allergic reaction?
Tell mom or dad.
How does your brother's food allergies affect you?
I can't eat certain foods.
Does that bother you?
Not really...kind of.
What do you want to eat that you can't?
Brownies, cookies, different kinds of chips than what we already buy, McDonald's
Do you ever wish that your brother didn't have food allergies?
Yes.
Why?
So he can eat more stuff than just gluten free toast (for the record, he CAN eat more stuff than gluten free toast, but I think he means so he can eat whatever he wants to eat).
Do you ever see anyone at school pick on your brother about his food allergies?
No.
What would you do if you did?
Tell one of the teachers and you.
Older Son: Mad.
Why do you feel mad?
I don't know.
What do you want other's to know about your brother's food allergies?
People don't touch him or feed him the things he's allergic too.
Do you ever get scared for your brother?
Not really.
Does it bother you that he has food allergies?
Kind of.
Why?
He might have an allergic reaction.
What whould you do if you saw him having an allergic reaction?
Tell mom or dad.
How does your brother's food allergies affect you?
I can't eat certain foods.
Does that bother you?
Not really...kind of.
What do you want to eat that you can't?
Brownies, cookies, different kinds of chips than what we already buy, McDonald's
Do you ever wish that your brother didn't have food allergies?
Yes.
Why?
So he can eat more stuff than just gluten free toast (for the record, he CAN eat more stuff than gluten free toast, but I think he means so he can eat whatever he wants to eat).
Do you ever see anyone at school pick on your brother about his food allergies?
No.
What would you do if you did?
Tell one of the teachers and you.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
More for FAAW
A few of my most read posts and the ones that I think would be most helpful to the newly diagnosed:
To read how we discovered food allergies
go here.
A few of my favorite food allergy bloggers.
Finding a great allergist.
More blogs that I love.
Books that have helped me deal with my sons food allergies over the years.
Label Confusion : Sometimes reading a label for allergen content just isn't as easy as it should be.
To read how we discovered food allergies
go here.
A few of my favorite food allergy bloggers.
Finding a great allergist.
More blogs that I love.
Books that have helped me deal with my sons food allergies over the years.
Label Confusion : Sometimes reading a label for allergen content just isn't as easy as it should be.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
FAAW: An Interview With My Son
Mom: What is it like having food allergies?
Son: It feels bad. And Cool. (cool??)
Why?
Because I get to have certain stuff like gluten free stuff.
Is that the bad or the cool part?
The cool part. Because it tastes good.
What do you want others to know about your food allergies?
I'm not allowed eggs, wheat, rye, barley, oat, tree nuts.
How does having food allergies make you feel?
Bad.
Why?
Because everybody gets to have the same stuff and I get to have a different kind of thing.
But you said your "thing" tasted good?
Yes, but my friends get to have stuff I'm allergic to and I never get to have those things.
If you had one wish about your food allergies, what would it be?
Me having no food allergies and me eating the stuff my friends at school eat.
Like what?
Gold Fish, Go-Gurt, eggs, Lunchables, and I have no more.
Is there anything good about your food allergies?
No. That's nothing.
Are your friends at school good about your food allergies?
They don't know about it so much. But they do watch what I eat.
What can Mommy do to make things easier on you?
Trying to not give me foods that I'm allergic too.(I'm already pretty good at that, thank goodness)
Are you ever afraid that you'll have an allergic reaction?
Yes
When do you get scared?
Every day.
Can you think of a specific situation?
At school, at lunch, when everyone has wheat around me, I think "oops, allergic reaction" and it won't be good at all.
What does it feel like when you have an allergic reaction?
Really bad. It feels like I want to puke. Ears were itching. My throat was itching.
If you have an allergic reactions what would you do?
You mean here or anywhere?
Anywhere.
Stick my head out the window (um, so not the right answer, so we had a discussion on what the correct answer would be. Find an adult, use the EPI Pen, call 911)
He's 5. And he's a man of few words. I know my son and could elaborate on a few of these, but his answers stand. The "sticking my head out the window" answer was a bit perplexing. I think I was just losing him at that point, but I'm glad that we went over what to do in a real emergency. And for the record, he can have Go-Gurt. We just don't buy it because of the large ingredient list and the dyes.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Food Allergies: touching every aspect of family life
On May 1st my older son made his First Communion. And you may be wondering "If the older non food allergy child made his First Communion, how do food allergies come into play here"? But they did.
See for us Catholics, First Communion is a big deal. It would be similar to Bar Mitzvah in the Jewish faith. It's the Catholic moving forward to becoming a full member in the Catholic church. A coming of age of sorts. So after the First Communion, there's usually a big party. We don't have an overly large family, but we were expecting 27 people at our party.
I usually do all the cooking for anything that we have and we always have the celebration at our house because it's too difficult to find a restaurant or party center that can safely accommodate the Little Man and his allergies. Large parties scare me because it's harder to control the allergens and cross contamination. And having all of this in our home was stressing me out. How could I cook for 27 people and have everything heated and ready to go while we were in church? Could I cook for 27 allergen free and have it be tasty and cost effective? Could I do all of this without killing myself? The more I thought about it, the answer was NO to everything.
After wracking my brain on what I was going to do, I remembered that the caterer that we used for my husbands Christmas party told us that they had several family members that had Celiac Disease and numerous food allergies. So I called them to see if they could put together an allergy friendly menu for me. And they did. Their kitchen is not free from allergens so they could not guarantee me that there would not be cross contamination so we decided that it would be best to do the allergy friendly food but have the Little Man still eat food that I cooked safely for him. But cooking for one was much better than cooking for 27. And if the food was "safe" then I didn't have to worry about allergens in my house and I didn't have to worry about running around during the whole party yelling "WASH YOUR HANDS" like a shrill harpy (which I've been known to do). Was it cost effective? No, it was pricey. And since it was already pricey I decided to throw in a staff member to heat and set everything up while we were at church so this way it was all ready to go when we got back from the service. Was it worth the money? A.B.S.O.L.U.T.E.L.Y. It was the best thing I could have done. It was a totally safe and relaxing time and I didn't suffer a migraine like I usually do trying to do ALL the work before a large party.
And was the extra precaution of "all" safe food necessary for the Little Man? Is he really that sensitive? Unfortunately, yes he is.
Last Friday we went to Progressive Field for a business event for my husband. The event wasn't quite as intimate as I usually like but I thought we had everything under control. The Little Man had all safe food. Everyone knew about his allergies. Hands were washed (yes, the shrill harpy showed up at the business event), but something went wrong. The only thing I can think of is that the leather furniture was cross contaminated and by the end of the night the Little Man was tired and laying on it (even though the shrill harpy kept yelling at him to get off of it) and his hand must have come into contact with something. Right before we left he must have put his hands in or near his mouth. His allergic reaction occurred on the freeway before we made it home.
Yes, he is that sensitive. And Yes, he's only five years old and hands go in the eyes, nose, and mouth. My point is: You can never be too careful.
Even when the event or situation isn't about the food allergic family member, it still is. Once a family member has food allergies, it's a part of every aspect of family life. There's no escaping it. But you can work around it and still celebrate all of the good times in life...safely.
Monday, May 10, 2010
It's the start of Food Allergy Awareness Week
(previously posted at
WEGO Health - Asthma and Allergy Group)
What do you have planned this week?
3. My son is donating a book about food allergies to his classroom to thank his teacher and his classmates for taking such good care of him this year and to teach them a little bit more about his food allergies.
4. Per the suggestions of my wonderful support group on the BabyCenter Food Allergy Board, I am posting a different food allergy "fact" to my Facebook page and Twitter each day.
5. I didn't plan this around Food Allergy Awareness Week, but I am re-educating the school on some issue regarding my son's food allergies that may need to be refreshed.
7. I am giving up WHEAT this week per FAI's Give It Up campaign and to support my son and his most severe food allergy.
8. I will be putting a post about food allergies each day on my personal blog.
9. Last year I interviewed my son to get his perspective on his food allergies (you always get his food allergies from my view point) and I'll be doing that again this year and posting it later in the week.
WEGO Health - Asthma and Allergy Group)
What do you have planned this week?
Here's what we're doing:
1. We went to FAAN and signed up for a food allergy walk. We hope to raise money for research to find a cure for food allergies.
2. I'll be attending tomorrow nights Food Allergy Twitter Party.
1. We went to FAAN and signed up for a food allergy walk. We hope to raise money for research to find a cure for food allergies.
2. I'll be attending tomorrow nights Food Allergy Twitter Party.
3. My son is donating a book about food allergies to his classroom to thank his teacher and his classmates for taking such good care of him this year and to teach them a little bit more about his food allergies.
4. Per the suggestions of my wonderful support group on the BabyCenter Food Allergy Board, I am posting a different food allergy "fact" to my Facebook page and Twitter each day.
5. I didn't plan this around Food Allergy Awareness Week, but I am re-educating the school on some issue regarding my son's food allergies that may need to be refreshed.
6. I already wrote to my elected officials asking for support for food allergy awareness and legislation, but if you haven't, then go here to write to your elected officials.
7. I am giving up WHEAT this week per FAI's Give It Up campaign and to support my son and his most severe food allergy.
8. I will be putting a post about food allergies each day on my personal blog.
9. Last year I interviewed my son to get his perspective on his food allergies (you always get his food allergies from my view point) and I'll be doing that again this year and posting it later in the week.
Here are what some other's are doing this week:
Respect Every Bite with Allergy Mom's and FAAN.
If you live in Chicago, Lisa, Cooks, Dines and Shops Allergen Free shares where Food Allergy Mama will be doing a book signing of her new cook book and Lisa herself will be sampling some allergy friendly quinoa.
Nut Free Mom give us FAAW activities taking place around Illinois and a discount coupon for Sweet Alexis
What are you doing? How do you and your family celebrate food allergy awareness week? Do you focus on the awareness or the advocacy? What do we need to do to make sure that we are educating people without inundating people?
Respect Every Bite with Allergy Mom's and FAAN.
If you live in Chicago, Lisa, Cooks, Dines and Shops Allergen Free shares where Food Allergy Mama will be doing a book signing of her new cook book and Lisa herself will be sampling some allergy friendly quinoa.
Nut Free Mom give us FAAW activities taking place around Illinois and a discount coupon for Sweet Alexis
What are you doing? How do you and your family celebrate food allergy awareness week? Do you focus on the awareness or the advocacy? What do we need to do to make sure that we are educating people without inundating people?
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Trying to do the right thing when you don't even know what the right thing is
I originally wrote this for WEGO Health but it's weighing on me so I'm posting it here too:
I'm tired. I'm frustrated. Right now I'm the bad guy, or at least that's how I feel I'm being perceived. Maybe I am the bad guy. I have a feeling I'm about to get badder.
Being a food allergy parent isn't easy. I know I've covered this before. And a few weeks ago I wrote about a field trip for my food allergic child that ended up having a happy ending. Sometimes when trying to keep our kids safe we aren't always sure what is the correct thing to do. Yes, medically we do...for the most part. But not always socially.
Concerned Dad wrote a post about ice cream being served on his son's field trip. I didn't comment because I didn't really think he was looking for what I had to say. I feel for him. I just don't agree with him (I agree with him, I just don't completely agree with him). But others did agree with him so I guess that means they don't agree with me.
Now there is another field trip at my sons school in a few weeks. And this is a field trip that is 45 minutes away and NO parent chaperons go, only teachers and older students. I sent an email to the teacher asking for clarification on who would be with my son, who would have the Epi Pen, etc. and I got a not so warm and fuzzy response back. I wasn't questioning the teachers ability to take care of my child (in school the teacher is great) but this is a different setting and I feel I have a right, no I feel it is my job as his mother, to ask. I'm not sure he is going to be allowed to go on this field trip but I need information and a place to start basing my opinions on this before I outright veto it.
What is the appropriate age for a food allergic child to go on a field trip without his/her parent? I don't have an answer here. I wish I did. My son is five years old. For me, five years old is not that age. Five is young. Five doesn't know how to take care of himself and his food allergies. He can't advocate for himself. His teacher is there and his teacher knows about his allergies, but his teacher has never seen an allergic reaction. His teacher has never used the Epi Pen. And it's 45 minutes away so if something happened and I needed to get to a hospital, it would take me a while (this has nothing to do with age and everything to do with Mama Stress).
If I don't let him go, I'm singling him out. I'm telling him "You're different because of your food allergies". But he is, isn't he? He's going to have to learn that now, isn't he? No one wants to see our children be disappointed. But he's disappointed every day, isn't he? Every time he asks to go to Chuck E Cheese's and I say "No, you're allergic to wheat", he's disappointed. When he wants to stop at the ice cream shop and I say "No, there is nothing for you there", he's disappointed. But saying NO to this trip isn't just disappointment, it's an admission that he's different and there are things that he just can't do. Do I roll the dice and let him go and pray that everything will be OK? Do I show up at the location like a stalker and hang out "just in case"? I can handle the disappointment. He can handle the disappointment. But can he handle the fact that he's different and that he's left out? I think we're going to find out...
Please leave comments over at WEGO Health to keep the conversation going.
I'm tired. I'm frustrated. Right now I'm the bad guy, or at least that's how I feel I'm being perceived. Maybe I am the bad guy. I have a feeling I'm about to get badder.
Being a food allergy parent isn't easy. I know I've covered this before. And a few weeks ago I wrote about a field trip for my food allergic child that ended up having a happy ending. Sometimes when trying to keep our kids safe we aren't always sure what is the correct thing to do. Yes, medically we do...for the most part. But not always socially.
Concerned Dad wrote a post about ice cream being served on his son's field trip. I didn't comment because I didn't really think he was looking for what I had to say. I feel for him. I just don't agree with him (I agree with him, I just don't completely agree with him). But others did agree with him so I guess that means they don't agree with me.
Now there is another field trip at my sons school in a few weeks. And this is a field trip that is 45 minutes away and NO parent chaperons go, only teachers and older students. I sent an email to the teacher asking for clarification on who would be with my son, who would have the Epi Pen, etc. and I got a not so warm and fuzzy response back. I wasn't questioning the teachers ability to take care of my child (in school the teacher is great) but this is a different setting and I feel I have a right, no I feel it is my job as his mother, to ask. I'm not sure he is going to be allowed to go on this field trip but I need information and a place to start basing my opinions on this before I outright veto it.
What is the appropriate age for a food allergic child to go on a field trip without his/her parent? I don't have an answer here. I wish I did. My son is five years old. For me, five years old is not that age. Five is young. Five doesn't know how to take care of himself and his food allergies. He can't advocate for himself. His teacher is there and his teacher knows about his allergies, but his teacher has never seen an allergic reaction. His teacher has never used the Epi Pen. And it's 45 minutes away so if something happened and I needed to get to a hospital, it would take me a while (this has nothing to do with age and everything to do with Mama Stress).
If I don't let him go, I'm singling him out. I'm telling him "You're different because of your food allergies". But he is, isn't he? He's going to have to learn that now, isn't he? No one wants to see our children be disappointed. But he's disappointed every day, isn't he? Every time he asks to go to Chuck E Cheese's and I say "No, you're allergic to wheat", he's disappointed. When he wants to stop at the ice cream shop and I say "No, there is nothing for you there", he's disappointed. But saying NO to this trip isn't just disappointment, it's an admission that he's different and there are things that he just can't do. Do I roll the dice and let him go and pray that everything will be OK? Do I show up at the location like a stalker and hang out "just in case"? I can handle the disappointment. He can handle the disappointment. But can he handle the fact that he's different and that he's left out? I think we're going to find out...
Please leave comments over at WEGO Health to keep the conversation going.
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