Adventures of an Allergist Mommy

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal ( Is Your Kid Truly Allergic? Tests Add to Food Confusion) recently highlighted the inherent problems with over-calling food allergy in children on the basis of serum IgE testing. I was impressed with the article, and encourage parents of allergic children to read it: http://tinyurl.com/yb5fw5s This is an issue that most allergists run into on a fairly frequent basis- a parent walks into the office with bloodwork ordered by another physician. Tests returned as "positive" for multiple foods, so for the past 3 months, parents have restricted all these foods (generally there's always something that's a pain in the butt to eliminate, like soy or wheat). Now we have a child who is still as symptomatic as ever, and cranky to boot. When I tell the parents that their child in all likelihood is not allergic to all of the eliminated foods, the reactions are a mixture of relief and annoyance: "That's great news, but why di

Short little post to get me back into blogging after a small hiatus: I've been thinking a lot about the legacy that we leave for our children. For some, the legacy they leave is material in nature: a substantial inheritance to start them on their way, a business to provide them a livelihood, a home in which to raise their own families... For others, it is memories of wonderful times together: family vacations, heartfelt conversations, carefully preserved photographs and videos... I hope to leave both of these for my sons, but the more I think about it, the more I want my legacy to be a way of thinking about themselves and the world around them. Anyone who knows me knows that my children don't really resemble me- they are miniatures of their father (I was simply the vessel). So, since the only thing they seem to have inherited from me is a predisposition for allergies and asthma, I'm hoping to instill in them my life philosophy. So, I decided to sum up into a single statem