Milk allergy is common and stubborn. Children who do not outgrow their milk problems will probably have a lifelong allergy, experts say. But new tactics are emerging to help children become desensitized to milk, including one reported Monday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in San Francisco.
Desensitization involves giving someone tiny amounts of the substance he or she is allergic to over a period of time so that the body adapts to it without provoking an allergic response. This approach can be successful, studies show, but it does take a long time and a lot of patience.
Researchers at Stanford University and Children's Hospital Boston created a new, expedited approach in which children were exposed to small amounts of milk powder along with the allergy drug omalizumab. This medication, known by the brand name Xolair, is an anti-immunoglobulin E (IgE) medication. IgE is a class of antibody that is produced in an allergic response.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Los Angeles Times
