It is not one size fits all in the management of #peanut and tree nut #allergies, a comprehensive review suggests, but rather, treatment plans need to be individualised for children allergic to peanuts and/or tree nuts to meet their nutritional needs and still keep children safe from allergic food reactions. In peanut or tree nut allergic children, introduction of specific nuts to which the child is not allergic may improve quality and life and should be considered in patients with multiple food allergies, vegan or ethnic-specific diets, in whom nuts are an important source of protein. Healthcare providers may need to clarify which nuts are potentially allergenic and which nuts are not. It is common for some people to restrict foods whose name contains the world nut, the authors suggest, including nutmeg, butternut squash, and coconuts, none of which cause allergies. Peanut and tree nut allergies may be the most common cause of life-threatening food allergic reactions, they add, but a peanut is actually a legume and is botanically quite distinct from other nuts, which grow on trees. Moreover, it is often assumed that a child with a history of a significant reaction to a very small amount of peanut has a higher risk for future anaphylaxis. However, this does not appear to be the case and the severity of future peanut and tree nut allergic reactions is difficult to predict. Whether or not nut avoidance is helpful in terms of preventing nut allergies is also under question. The prevalence of peanut allergy has increased significantly in both the United Kingdom and the United States during recent years, despite the fact that organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics have long recommended that children with a parent or a sibling with an atopic disease avoid nuts until the age of 3 years. These observations imply that nut avoidance may not be helpful as a means of primary prevention. Sources of food that can contain sufficient peanut to trigger a reaction can be classified as snack foods, the researchers indicate. Snack foods that could trigger such a reaction include: chocolates and chocolate-based foods such as chocolate spreads, cookies/biscuits, muesli bars/cereal bars/trail bars/dried fruit bars/nutrition bars, baked goods/baking mixes (cakes, pastries), sweets and candies, ice cream, and speciality breads.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 11:04:58 +0000
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