A recent article in the New York Times discussed the prevaling incidence of peanut allergy.
According to a study done at Mt. Sinai hospital in NY, the incidence of peanut allergy has risen from 0.4 percent to 1.4 percent from 1997 to 2010. There has been recent studies showing that oral immunotherapy can desensitize people who are allergic. The studies are still in the research phase, so they are not ready to be performed yet in allergy doctor’s offices.
In year’s past, it was advised to tell pregnant and breast feeding women to avoid eating peanuts or nuts to lessen the chance of your son or daughter developing peanut allergy. But the thinking has now changed and now researchers are saying, early introduction is better. The same theory can be applied to other foods such as eggs.
The take home message would be, eat widely while you are pregnant or breast feeding. Let’s see over the next few years if the message changes again.