Desensitization Programs in the US -- OIT SLIT SCIT

[LinksEtc]

The one person I would go to who isn't Mt Sinai personnel on FAHF is booandbrimom because she's been through the protocols in clinical trial. Her blog and experiences I would trust.

"The Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2 (FAHF-2) Laundry List"

http://foodallergybitch.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-food-allergy-herbal-formula-2-fahf.html

[LinksEtc]

You're good at clearinghouse threads I could feed you the stream of what I have.  I have some slides and recorded presentations I haven't posted yet. Am absolutely willing to share but I have not had time to clean up and put in drop box.

TT - I know you're not posting here anymore, but you have my contact info if you'd like me to add anything to this thread.   

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Just food for thought ... I'm not going to dive too deeply into this topic.


"Traditional Chinese herbalism at the Cleveland Clinic? What happened to science-based medicine?"
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/traditional-chinese-herbalism-at-the-cleveland-clinic-what-happened-to-science-based-medicine/

herbal medicine is among the most plausible of "complementary and alternative medicine" (CAM) or "integrative medicine" for the simple reason that, for an herb to have a medical effect, there must be a chemical (or chemicals) in it that have pharmacological activity. In other words, there have to be drugs in them thar plants! That's why pharmaceutical companies and the NIH are so interested in screening natural compounds for chemical properties and pharmaceutical activities that might indicate that they could function as useful drugs.

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"The Trojan Horse called Integrative Medicine arrives at another medical school"
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-trojan-horse-called-integrative-medicine-arrives-at-another-medical-school/

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a collection of beliefs and practices that was accurately described in the 1930′s by a Chinese medical school dean as a "weird medley of philosophy, religion, superstition, magic, alchemy, astrology, feng shui, divination, sorcery, demonology and quackery."

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"The infiltration of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and "integrative medicine" into academia"
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-infiltration-of-cam-and-integrative-medicine-into-academia/

Uncritically introducing therapies that are by their very nature unscientific, therapies like homeopathy, reiki, reflexology, and "energy medicine" taints the entire scientific enterprise at these institutions. Worse, offering such therapies outside the context of a clinical trial in academic medical centers gives the patina of scientific credibility to therapies that have not earned it, promoting the impression that science supports their efficacy.

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"Why we're not ready to embrace Eastern medicine"
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2014/07/ready-embrace-eastern-medicine.html

Dr. Katz argued — convincingly, I might add — that some instances where "alternative" medicines are criticized for lack of sufficient supporting evidence are more attributable to the profit motive driving drug development than to any lack of efficacy.

Islamic medicine is unlikely to be included in any "Eastern medicine revolution" that may be underway.

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"The false dilemma of David Katz: Abandon patients or abandon science"
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/false-dilemma-of-david-katz/

Dr. David L. Katz is apparently unhappy with me.

[LinksEtc]

Current thoughts on clinical trials and other treatments (Dr. Li or Stanford OIT

[LinksEtc]

Tweeted by @AllergieVoeding

"Multiple-allergen oral immunotherapy improves quality of life in caregivers of food-allergic pediatric subjects."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24860608?dopt=Abstract&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

CONCLUSION:
Multi-allergen OIT with or without omalizumab leads to improvement in caregiver HRQL, suggesting that mOIT can help relieve the psychosocial and economic burden FA imposes on caregivers of food-allergic children.

[LinksEtc]

Tweeted by @allergyPhD


"Chinese Herbs for Food Allergy: 2 Success Stories"
http://allergicliving.com/2014/03/18/chinese-herbs-for-food-allergy-2-success-stories/

[LinksEtc]

Tweeted by @Aller_MD


"OIT triggered life-threatening anaphylaxis in teenagers with asthma"
http://www.healio.com/allergy-immunology/immunotherapy/news/online/%7B2771a396-3f75-4c7c-b51a-11cb9a99eddf%7D/oit-triggered-life-threatening-anaphylaxis-in-teenagers-with-asthma

Teenagers with persistent asthma, high milk- or egg-specific IgE levels and noncompliant behavior were a high-risk group for oral immunotherapy and experienced life-threatening reactions to the treatment, according to recent study results.

[LinksEtc]

Tweeted by @Aller_MD

"Texas Children's Hospital begins peanut immunotherapy study"

http://tinyurl.com/k7l8jr4

Researchers at Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine have begun a peanut immunotherapy trial to investigate the ability of peanut allergic children to take peanut flour.

[aggiedog]

Funny how times change.  One of the big wigs in that TCH department flat out told us that OIT was not safe or effective and he did not recommend it for our dd.

And we toddled off to Dallas anyways...no regrets. 

Glad they are coming around on it.

[LinksEtc]

Tweeted by @AllergieVoeding


"Relation between eosinophilic esophagitis and oral immunotherapy for food allergy: a systematic review with meta-analysis."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25216976?dopt=Abstract&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

New onset of EoE after OIT occurs in up to 2.7% of patients with IgE-mediated food allergy undergoing this treatment strategy. The limited data on the utility of allergen immunotherapy as a therapy for EoE prevent a recommendation for this treatment option.

[brownie]

Looks like there is still no thought on who is prone to EoE?  This seems like the biggest risk to me.  IMO if he's going to react that readily and severely to the peanut, I would rather it was under a controlled situation.

OIT treatment is supposedly going to become available locally and I am going to attempt to get my oldest in.  I think he's a good candidate.  He is just turned 14, PA only, definitely anaphylactic, but has pulled out of his 3 known reactions without epinephrine.  Two occurred before diagnosis 12 years ago and the third 2 years ago due to a label mis-read and cross-contamination.  His RAST numbers have held around 5 for the last few years, down from 75 as a pre-schooler.  He has "outgrown" his asthma.

I won't consider my 11 year old yet though...severe asthma, numerous allergies (PA, TN, and beans).  Numbers over 100.
Brownie

[LinksEtc]

Tweeted by @AllergieVoeding

"Peanut immunotherapy"
http://www.ctajournal.com/content/4/1/30

In summary, peanut immunotherapy presents an exciting, potentially disease-modifying treatment approach for peanut allergy, but is not yet recommended for routine clinical use and should not be attempted outside specialist allergy units.

[LinksEtc]

Tweeted by @joyclee

I can eat it
Taking a bite out of food allergies

http://stanmed.stanford.edu/2014fall/i-can-eat-it.html?utm_content=bufferdc87c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

How does OIT work — and why doesn't it last without continuous exposure? Is it possible to understand at a molecular level what causes food allergies, and how OIT changes those processes?

[ajasfolks2]

Cross-posting this thread link here as I want to be sure it is included in this discussion:
peanut immunotherapy 

[LinksEtc]

Tweeted by @DrAnneEllis

#ACAAI Burks: If kids are going to develop EoE as a consequence of OIT treatment usually see it in first weeks/months, not later

[LinksEtc]

Tweeted by @WayneShreffler

More on why OIT is not Rx yet: Suppression of the immunologic response to peanut during OIT is often transient. dlvr.it/7yn55B

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"Suppression of the immunologic response to peanut during immunotherapy is often transient."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25542883?dopt=Abstract&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

OIT and SLIT for peanut allergy induce rapid suppression of basophil effector functions, DC activation, and TH2 cytokine responses during the initial phases of immunotherapy in an antigen-nonspecific manner. Although there was some interindividual variation, in many patients suppression appeared to be temporary.