Friday, June 11th, 2010

Food Allergies

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Photo by Flickr user Dan4th.

Last month, a literature review article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that "the evidence for the prevalence and management of food allergy is greatly limited by a lack of uniformity for criteria for making a diagnosis." Tests commonly used to help diagnose food allergies may be improperly used or misinterpreted -- and some people with an intolerance for a food (such as lactose intolerance) may incorrectly classify themselves as having a 'food allergy.'

A food allergy is an abnormal response to a food triggered by your body's immune system. Peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk, shellfish, and soy are all ordinary foods that can have serious consequences if eaten by an allergic person. In this segment, we'll talk about what's known about how food allergies work, how to diagnose and treat them, and new research in the field.

Guests

Scott H. Sicherer
co-author of books including "Understanding and Managing Your Child's Food Allergies" and "The Complete Peanut Allergy Handbook"
Professor of Pediatrics
Clinician and clinical researcher in the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New York, New York

Jennifer Schneider Chafen
Health Policy Fellow, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System
Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford University
Stanford, California

Matthew Fenton
Branch Chief, Asthma, Allergy, and Inflammation Branch
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Bethesda, Maryland

Related Books

Related Links

Segment produced by:Charles Bergquist

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