If you were an allergy researcher ...

[LinksEtc]

What would you be working on  ?  Oh, and you have unlimited time & funding  .


**************************************************************************


Of course, I would be developing new asthma protocols  .


I would have already completed a prevalence study focusing on patients diagnosed by an allergist (not the general population) .... and it would not have started with any preconceived "top 8" expectations .... and it would not be based on telephone surveys but on allergist notes.  It would include all allergens that the patients are allergic to.  By this time, I would have been working with FDA on a prevalence/severity algorithm to help FDA with the FALCPA updates  .  I would have advised long ago, though, that it is common sense that sesame should be on the list.


There are different types of sesame seeds (ex. - black & white).  Does the type make any difference as far as reactions go?  Our allergist couldn't answer that ? .  How about the processing of the seeds?


**************************************************************************

Now back to the real world ... I have some family errands/stuff to do ... but that was fun  .

[SilverLining]

I would be working on a cheap and simple food protein test.  So anyone, anytime, could order food in a restaurant, or eat at a friends, and test the food for their own allergens.

I'd start with my own allergens (sorry, I'm so selfish).

[CMdeux]

I would want to focus on systematic study of the "impossible" patients-- that is, those who react to "impossibly" small traces, or those who are allergic to MANY foods, or foods that are "not allergenic."

A better-designed study of aerosolized allergens-- with a focus on the super-potent nuts and seeds there, but also expanding into other fine dispersions like aerosolized flour/egg/milk.  That kind of thing.  We all know from experience that this is a HUGE problem in manufacturing for the groups in part A of my grand plan...

but I also would like a better study of it.

Better understanding of FOOD anaphylaxis.  This needs an animal model-- badly.  There is some biochemistry here that just.doesn't.FIT.  That is, it SHOULD be impossible for someone to die with neither elevated serum beta-tryptase nor histamine levels... but that DOES seem to be the case some of the time.  Why??  WHAT THE HECK??  There are enough of those fatalities known in FA in particular (and ONLY in FA, evidently) that it makes me question whether or not food anaphylaxis is the same as other kinds of anaphylaxis.  There's clearly a missing mediator that we don't know about. 

[twinturbo]

Global mapping, probably some sort of quantitative/qualitative ethnographical GIS for diet and incidence of FA with great attention to validity.

[booandbrimom]

- Fecal transplant. (Just wrote a blog post about this.)  I think it has huge potential and there's no research in the food allergy area yet.

- Why some kids suddenly react to OIT treatments, or why some mysteriously outgrow all of a sudden. What has changed? If researchers could isolate this, it might help to understand FA in general.

I'm so tired of seeing all the money and energy sucked up by OIT when it seems to be a dead end.

[LinksEtc]

- Fecal transplant. (Just wrote a blog post about this.)  I think it has huge potential and there's no research in the food allergy area yet.

Boo, have you considered putting your blog link in your signature?  If I remember correctly, I think that's allowed here ... although anyone can correct me if I'm wrong about that.  We know you here  , but lurkers & newbies might not. 

[Macabre]

Oh, I heard a good thing about fecal transplant and allergies on NPR in July.

Wait--maybe it was hook worms. Yes--hookworms.  But the supplier of them "manufactured" them by pooping.  And then he sterilized them somehow.  But I don't remember how . . . .

But it all sounded very interesting and even logical. 


Ah--found it. Radiolab--of course.  http://www.radiolab.org/story/91689-parasites/

And an update. http://www.radiolab.org/story/91951-an-update-on-hookworms/

[Macabre]

Research about which chemicals exactly get rid of each of the top eight proteins. On non-porous surfaces. In mouths. 

And research about the stability/degradation of the proteins in each of these foods on non-porous surfaces. 

[SilverLining]

Many many years ago I was a lab rat for a doctor who was working on something to do with parasites and allergies.

[CMdeux]

I'm so tired of seeing all the money and energy sucked up by OIT when it seems to be a dead end.


QFT.


At least now it's becoming more recognized that this is nothing like a silver bullet for some unknown percentage of FA persons-- but what's worse is that at this point in time, it's still completely unclear who's who there. 

I think that it is great that there is now a component test to determine which patients with PA are most likely to experience life-threatening reactions.  That's huge, clinically speaking-- and THAT is the direction that things need to be going in, frankly-- things which can provide clinical GUIDANCE about treatment or diagnosis.  Or shed light on things that even good doctors have to just shrug and frown about right now.

"Will my child outgrow?" 

"Am I likely to be risking EE by trying baked milk?"

"Is this going to have long-term risk?"

[ajasfolks2]

Sorry if this is repeat -- I'd come up with test for patient to have soon (within 24 hours?) after ana reax . . . or maybe even hives AKA mild reax, to determine WHAT was cause of reaction.

Yeah, I know.  Pie in sky.

But what the he11 . . . as long as we're dreaming . . . 

[LinksEtc]

- Fecal transplant. (Just wrote a blog post about this.)  I think it has huge potential and there's no research in the food allergy area yet.

"Welcome Back NIH! Lecture Demonstrates How Crucial Basic Research is to Study of Immune System"
http://www.asthmaallergieschildren.com/2013/10/18/welcome-back-nih-lecture-demonstrates-how-crucial-basic-research-is-to-study-of-immune-system/

Dr. Hibberd is a lively lecturer who leavens her hour-long speech with wry reference to her own British origins, and prefers the word "poop" to more formal alternatives in the discussion of one of the most promising treatments, fecal transplantation.

Not trying to annoy you Boo with a link to the above ... just interesting to see this subject again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Discuss This Food Allergy Research At The Dinner Table Tonight!"
http://foodallergybitch.blogspot.com/2013/10/discuss-this-food-allergy-research-at.html

[LinksEtc]

Yeah, I know.  Pie in sky.

But what the he11 . . . as long as we're dreaming . . . 

It takes some dreamers & rebels to shake things up sometimes.

Actually, I just read an article recently (can't remember the title) that when forming creative groups, you need some conformists & people who get along well with others ...but it's best to include some different personality types & people who think differently.

[booandbrimom]

Not trying to annoy you Boo with a link to the above ... just interesting to see this subject again.

Why in the world would it annoy me? There's (seriously) nothing I love more than discussing fecal transplant!

And sorry...didn't see your note above about linking my blog. I guess it wouldn't hurt anything. I do try not to tie my personal ID to my blogging ID, given my son's real discomfort with it all, but I guess my ID here is somewhat removed from my RL identity. Thanks!

[CMdeux]

There's (seriously) nothing I love more than discussing fecal transplant!





You're just a sh**-stirrer at heart, aren't you?