allergy
Peanut Allergy: Early Exposure Is Key to Prevention
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Credit: Thinkstock (BananaStock, Kenishirotie)
With peanut allergy on the rise in the United States, you’ve probably heard parents strategizing about ways to keep their kids from developing this potentially dangerous condition. But is it actually possible to prevent peanut allergy, and, if so, how do you go about doing it?
There’s an entirely new strategy emerging now! A group representing 26 professional organizations, advocacy groups, and federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has just issued new clinical guidelines aimed at preventing peanut allergy [1]. The guidelines suggest that parents should introduce most babies to peanut-containing foods around the time they begin eating other solid foods, typically 4 to 6 months of age. While early introduction is especially important for kids at particular risk for developing allergies, it is also recommended that high-risk infants—those with a history of severe eczema and/or egg allergy—undergo a blood or skin-prick test before being given foods containing peanuts. The test results can help to determine how, or even if, peanuts should be introduced in the youngsters’ diets.
Snapshots of Life: Allergen Art
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Credit: Edna, Gil, and Amit Cukierman, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia
Seasonal allergy sufferers, allow me to take advantage of the powers of confocal microscopy to introduce you to your tormenter: pollen. Although pollen grains look amazing at this magnification, their effects on many of us are not so wonderful. These spiky spheres can trigger an immune reaction that produces the runny nose, itchy eyes, and other symptoms that make people with pollen allergies miserable from early spring through late fall.
In fact, this image was created by a seasonal allergy sufferer who also happens to be a cell biologist. On a Saturday afternoon about a decade ago, Edna Cukierman of Philadelphia’s Fox Chase Cancer Center had just received a new spinning disc confocal microscope and couldn’t wait to try it out. There was just one catch—she also had to watch her two children. Not to be deterred, this multi-tasking scientist/mom turned the process of calibrating her new microscope into a creative way of entertaining her kids.
