When Food Allergy Treatments are Sensationalized, it is the Allergist's Role to Bring Us All Back Down to Earth
Sharing a recent post from my practice Facebook page, in response to concerns raised by the recent publication of a meta analysis on anaphylaxis rates during food allergen oral immunotherapy: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)30420-9/fulltext I hope my comments are helpful at proving some context for patients currently pursuing or consider food allergen desensitization therapy. I am a non-alarmist by nature, and feel it is 100% possible to integrate new data without falling prey to the sensationalization of these publications by the media. It is frustrating to read in the news one day, "Researchers find CURE for peanut allergies!" (WRONG!!!) and the next day read "Experimental treatment for food allergy causes more life-threatening reactions than avoidance!" (Hmmm...a bit misleading). No nuance, no thoughtfulness, no concern for the impact of such a black & white approach to a decidedly grey issue. And why would there...