OIAA’s Dr. Darter was featured on a recent news story by Fox 25 on oral food desensitization. The story followed patient James Hayes as he is going through the desensitization process for peanut allergies. He has already successfully completed the process for eggs and will soon be able to add peanuts to his food plan. Read more
Whether you’re the host or a guest, holiday gatherings can serve up allergy and asthma triggers. Thankfully, American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and Amy L. Darter, MD offer the following tips to help you keep allergies and asthma in check this holiday season: Read more
Oklahoma Institute of Allergy & Asthma is pleased to announce a new Oral Food Desensitization program that provides a long-term solution for milk and egg allergic patients. At the end of this 5-6 month program patients with milk and egg allergy will be able to consume these foods with no allergic reactions. The program introduces minute doses of milk or egg in solution over a period of three to four months. The program then progresses to small doses of the whole food for an additional two to three months, resulting in tolerance to these foods allowing the children to consume milk and/or eggs without any adverse reactions.
This program is designed for a child of school age or older who will be old enough to understand the reasons for participating and be actively engaged in the process.
The first visit of the desensitization process is a full day during which the child will receive multiple doses of very small amounts of diluted milk or diluted egg powder. The child will return weekly for dose increases followed by one hour of observation. Between each visit the patient will take three doses of the desensitizing food each day at home. Once desensitization is complete the previously allergic food can be freely included in the diet. To maintain tolerance the food must be eaten daily.
Contact our office today at 405-607-4333 and schedule a consultation for Oral Food Desensitization to milk and/or eggs.
This is Amy L. Darter, MD with the Oklahoma Institute of Allergy & Asthma, and I’d like to share some GREAT NEWS for food allergy sufferers and parents of food allergic children! Five years after the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act (FAAMA) was introduced in the U.S. Congress, FAAMA has finally passed as part of the food safety bill and is expected to be signed into law by President Obama. FAAMA was originally introduced into Congress back in 2005 as part of The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network’s (FAAN) inaugural Kids’ Congress on Capitol Hill. Five years later, and after overcoming some last-minute procedural hurdles during the recent session, the food safety bill was approved by the Senate on Dec. 19, and then by the House on Dec. 21.
FAAMA will lead to the very much-needed creation of national food allergy management guidelines for schools. While these guidelines are voluntary, they will provide schools without existing food allergy management policies with a monumental resource. These policies are critical to help educate school officials about food allergy, a potentially life-threatening medical condition, and help them implement emergency plans in case a severe reaction occurs on school grounds. Studies have shown that up to 25% percent of reactions in school occur in children with previously undiagnosed food allergy. The guidelines will also benefit parents of children with food allergies, who are looking for a valuable resource to help them safely manage their children’s food allergies in the school setting. Written in collaboration with FAAN, the national guidelines will not supersede existing or pending state laws or guidelines concerning schools and food allergies. The FAAMA guidelines should be seen as a complement to existing guidelines created as a result of other legislation.
This tremendous accomplishment was made possible by the thousands of individuals who advocated for this legislation and many elected representatives who co-sponsored FAAMA over the years. We celebrate the passage of FAAMA today, but our work is not done. FAAN will continue to work diligently to raise awareness, educate others, and advocate on behalf of the millions of Americans with food allergy and anaphylaxis.
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