New immunotherapy could treat egg allergy | aptitude



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Oral immunotherapy can treat egg allergy, allowing patients to safely incorporate highly nutritious foods into their diet, scientists say. For one study, participants followed up to four years of treatment with oral egg immunotherapy (eOIT).

According to researchers at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in the United States, some participants were able to safely incorporate eggs into their diet for five years. "Egg allergy is one of the most common food allergies and usually appears in early childhood. It carries a significant risk of severe allergic reactions and negatively affects the quality of life of allergic children, "said Edwin Kim, an badistant professor at the UNC.

"Although allergy seems to disappear with age, it can last up to the second decade of life for most people. Any treatment that can allow the introduction of eggs into the diet of a person allergic to eggs provides nutritional benefits and peace of mind to the patient and his family, "said Kim .

The trial started with eOIT or placebo in 55 patients with egg allergies aged 5 to 11 years. The treatments were randomized – 40 participants received eOIT and 15 received placebo.

The treatments lasted up to four years, during which patients were tested for their sensitivity to the egg.

Those who were considered insensitive – requiring a larger amount of egg to cause an allergic reaction – could eat 10 grams, or about two teaspoons, of pure egg without reaction. The desensitized patients then stopped eOIT and were subjected to a new sensitivity test. Those who did not have a reaction were considered as no sustained reaction (SU).

After completing eOIT, it was recommended that concentrated eggs (scrambled, fried or boiled eggs) and / or baked eggs (eggs incorporated in a cake) be added to the patient's diet. Five years after the allergy treatment, patients were asked to indicate how much egg they had eaten, how they had eaten it, how often they had eaten it. Had eaten and how they felt afterwards.

At the end of the OIT, 50% of patients were clbadified with SU, 28% of patients were desensitized (without SU) and 22% as non-desensitized. Of the patients clbadified as SU, all were able to eat both cooked eggs and concentrated eggs.

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First publication:
February 25, 2019 4:35 PM IST

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