As someone who has a food allergy to the most random things, I found this research to be super exciting. Anaphylaxis can be life threatening and there isn't really a cure found yet. Regulatory dendritic cell therapy has been effective in mice with allergic disease and has worked with cells from atopic asthmatic patients. So far, it has been found that DC immunotherapy can be effective in reversing food allergies through the operative mechanism.
More can be read at: http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(16)30969-1/abstract
I'm fortunate enough to not have any food allergies (that I know of), but it's still scary to think that I could kill someone just because I gave them something with peanuts in it. This would also be great for those who are allergic to chocolate. What is life without chocolate? Nothing.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to reverse food allergies would be pretty interesting. I know several people who have allergies to shrimp and other types of food and that is tragic because I can't imagine not being able to eat foods that I love, but I guess if you've had them your whole life there isn't much you'd be missing since you'd be used to not eating said food.
ReplyDeleteSo what is DC immunotherapy? How does it work? Why might it be a breakthrough?
ReplyDeleteI am a person with seasonal allergies but I am fortunate enough not to have food allergies. I couldn't imagine being allergic to a food that I love, such as cheese or ice cream. I have seen a couple of allergic reactions occur due to food allergies and it seems like a really scary thing because of the quickness and severity of the effects when it occurs. I'm glad that they have made an advance in this and could provide some peace of mind to the people who have allergies.
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