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E-Greetings from the Allergy Advocacy Association

August 2022

Happy August! The Allergy Advocacy Association sincerely hopes all our readers are healthy and safe.

Cost of epinephrine is always of concern to those managing life threatening allergies. In this month’s newsletter, Helio talks with the CEO of FARE, Sung Poblete, about how families can reduce costs associated with keeping epinephrine on hand. Published in 2020, The End of Food Allergy, authors Kari Nadeau, MD & Sloan Barnett offer a powerful message of hope at the possibility of eliminating food allergies forever. Kristen Stewart, a frequent contributor to this newsletter, shares her thoughts on applying the findings found in this very timely book. Coincidentally building on the findings in The End of Food Allergies, Forbes Magazine explores what short term food elimination diets are and how they are used to identify and manage food sensitivities. With an obvious overlap to oral immunotherapy (OIT) outlined in Nadeau’s & Barnett’s book, there is plenty for those considering or in mid-OIT. Dave Bloom of SnackSafely.com highlights an Australian study of the accelerating rise of hospitalizations for food allergies being slowed by changes in revised child feeding guidelines. This exciting development is mirrored in the US as well.

What is anaphylaxis? How would you recognize an anaphylaxis emergency?  And would you know what are the right things to do? For many people, even those that have a life-threatening allergy, the answer is no. 

The Allergy Advocacy Association has a solution: Epi Near You New York anaphylaxis emergency training program.  This life saving program can be delivered via webinar or face-to-face. 

Upon completion you receive:

  • Free state approved training presentation,
  • New York State recognized certification, and
  • Assistance for public entities to obtain a non-patient specific prescription for emergency epinephrine

Register for the next session on Tuesday, August 23rd at 4:00 p.m. EST with Sandra Glantz, RNP

Find more information on the importance of this training program here.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for your business, school, or group. 

Best wishes to one and all!

Q&A with Sung Poblete

Allergists insist that epinephrine is the only first treatment for an anaphylaxis emergency. Yet during the past 15 years the cost of epinephrine has sky-rocketed to unaffordable heights for many patients. Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, CEO of Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), answers important questions about how the effect of these costs can be lessened, improving access to life-saving epinephrine auto-injector (EAI) devices.

Find ways to make epinephrine affordable.

Q&A with Sung Poblete:
Programs Aim to Reduce Epinephrine Costs for Families with Food Allergies

Woman injects epinephrine into her left thigh

By Richard Gawel
By Sung Poblete, PhD, RN
Fact checked by Kristen Dowd

August 10, 2022

Although epinephrine could be a lifesaving drug for the 32 million people in the United States with food allergy, costs can make obtaining its protection difficult.

UnitedHealthcare recently eliminated out-of-pocket costs for epinephrine among the patients it covers, but more work remains, Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, CEO of Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), told Healio.

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BOOK REVIEW--The End of Food Allergy

We’re all familiar with the 32 million and growing number of Americans with life-threatening food allergies and that 5.6 million of them are children. In their 2020 book, The End of Food Allergies, Kari Nadeau, MD, PhD and Sloan Barnett offer information, guidance, and hope for anyone struggling with food allergies. A frequent contributor to this newsletter, Kristen Stewart reviews their book, sharing their hope for the future.

BOOK REVIEW
The End of Food Allergy: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse a 21st Century Epidemic

left-Sloan Bennett; right-Kari Nadeau below 'End of Food Allergy'
L-Sloan Bennett; R-Kari Nadeau

By Kari Nadeau, MD, PhD and Sloan Barnett
Book review by Kristen Stewart
August 15, 2022

When I recently picked up End of Food Allergy: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse a 21st Century Epidemic by Kari Nadeau, MD, PhD and Sloan Barnett, I saw the proclamation on the cover — "Featuring Immunotherapy." Naturally I thought that was its subject. It turns out I was both right and wrong.

This book does provide detailed information about immunotherapy, the state-of-the-art treatment that can re-educate the immune system in a matter of months to no longer see allergy triggers as cause for alarm. But that is not all. As an added bonus, it takes the reader on a deep dive into everything one needs to know about food allergies.

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Elimination Diets: Everything You Need to Know

Elimination diets are used to help identify and treat food intolerances and sensitivities. They are also used in identifying food allergies. In this Forbes article, you will gain an understanding of what temporary food elimination diets are and how they help manage food sensitivities and allergies.

Elimination Diets: Everything You Need to Know

Woman selecting food in a grocery store

Heidi Borst
Contributor
Medically Reviewed
Bojana Jankovic Weatherly, M.D., F.A.C.P., M.Sc. Internal Medicine / Integrative Medicine

Aug. 12, 2022
If you believe you’re living with a food sensitivity, food intolerance, or a food allergy, you’re not alone—about 10.8% of U.S. adults have a food allergy, and food intolerances are estimated to affect up to 20% of the general population.

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Rates of Anaphylaxis Slowed After Change in Allergen Feeding Guidelines

Every parent is concerned about what and when to feed their babies allergenic foods. The recommendations often change as new research is published, causing confusion. That said, new research in Australia and the US show that revised allergen feeding guidelines support the early introduction of such foods and have been found to reduce the yearly rate of increase in hospital admissions for anaphylaxis.

Read more about this promising research and how, with your doctor, you can apply it.

Rates of Anaphylaxis Slowed After Change in Allergen Feeding Guidelines

Baby eating from a yellow spoon

By Dave Bloom
2022/07/29

The rapidly accelerating rise in Australian children being admitted to hospitals for severe allergic reactions during the 2000s slowed as changes in feeding guidelines regarding the introduction of allergenic foods have evolved. Those changes mirrored the changes in feeding guidelines in the US.

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