The headlines have started, “Feeding Babies Peanuts Could Prevent Allergies”, along with confusing tweets. Such as, “AAAAI16 Dr. David Fleischer, Children’s Hospital Denver- Show allergic kids that smelling or smearing peanut butter on skin won’t harm them”. Without true conversations and explanations, these headlines and tweets lead readers to believe that we should be handing babies a choking hazard and that it is okay to smear peanut butter on a peanut allergic child’s skin.
I’m bracing myself for the post American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology’s (AAAAI) annual conference rush of headlines and media hype. Well-meaning friends and family start emailing, texting, tweeting on tagging me to make sure that I have not missed the news that a peanut cure has been found, that I should have fed my kids peanut (as if they are saying, shame on you) and my kids should be able to eat half a peanut safely by now thanks to various treatments, so why haven’t jump on the treatment boat?
As I groaned and complained at a food allergy mama yesterday about how the next few weeks will be spent explaining what those headlines really mean, she reminded me that the real concern taking place is that the patients are only receiving sounds bites of data from social media and news reports. As patients, often times we don’t really know the full data released from a study. There is so much more to the story that lays behind the pay wall of Pub Med, The New England Journal of Medicine and the other publications.
The next few weeks will be spent fielding well-meaning people’s actions and trying to sort out which headlines are somewhat true, what were those 14o characters tweets trying to tell me and reminding myself that I need to do my homework and speak to my physician before I jump to any conclusions and make any decisions regarding my children’s health care.
Even though many of these headlines, posts and tweets are quite amusing, it is critical that we all remember to not get caught up in the hype and starting changing our protocol over a mere 140 character tweet or a headline. Or worse yet, engage in arguments over information of which we don’t have data. The best way to get that full story is to ask your physician to read the research and then enjoy a discussion based on your unique health situation.
For the record, I have about ten questions about the peanut butter smearing statement including, was the peanut butter smeared on dry chapped skin, skin with cuts or inflamed eczema and which body parts were involved? Fingers? Arms? Backs? I can’t engage in this enticing conversation since I don’t know enough details to talk about it. I’m hoping two of my trusted sources, Allergic Living or Asthma Allergies Children will report on this study (hint-hint).
Good luck explaining to your mother-in-law that the recommendation was to refrain from feeding nuts to your toddler and that peanut butter smearing is only a sentence from a larger story and simply stick to the family guidelines for managing food allergies.
I am wishing everyone a peaceful few weeks free from loving, but crazy family and friends, confusion and frustration as the headlines grow. The AAAAI is very important and critical as information is shared, discussed and analyzed by our beloved physicians!
Happy post #AAAAI16 – may only good things flow your way keeping you on a healthy and happy path!
p.s. Share your thoughts on how you manage the hype! Please check out Tracy’s comment’s below, she brings up a point that if I was still in child bearing years, I would be concerned about solid food introduction in addition to allergen introduction.
One of the hardest things I find about managing both life threatening food allergies and asthma is talking to others. I hate to be the one that might be perceived as demanding, pushing or for asking too much. What I now know, fourteen years later, is that honest, clear information presented with kindness works!..
As a g fellow food allergy mother, this horrifies me. I have always ALWAYS been against the train of thought that introducing earlier, feeding earlier, etc may reduce the possibilities of food allergies. Not only is this SO utterly dangerous (in my opinion) but it’s completely confusing to have a doctor stating these guidelines. These are general recommendations made without a one-on-one patient history taken prior and as we all know, food allergies and allergic triggers can be vastly different for each and every allergic person. Not to mention that the human body is not made to be able to handle certain foods until after a specific age- so why the rush?! Not to mention that it’s much more difficult to figure out an allergic reaction with a non-verbal baby versus a child that is a bit older and can try to tell you. My only suggestion to other parents is to thoroughly research everything and make your decision based on what is best for your family’s needs rather than what everyone is saying. As I have said before- a food can be replaced but a child cannot.
THANK YOU Tracy! Agreed—general recommendations need to be addressed one-on-one with patient history in hand. Also, I am not a nutritionist, but I would never start any food introduction at such a young age without proper physician and nutrition guidance. My stomach can barely handle nuts when I eat them (away from home) since they are heavy to digest, I can’t imagine how a young gut could handle it. Thank you for joining the conversation.
We are a tight-knit community and we need to keep each other informed and safe!
In 1993 I was making Peanut Butter Cookies. Hadn’t put them yet in the oven when I went into the living room checking on my 3 year old son Sergio Alexander Lopez. His little face was swolen and body was was little red bumps. I immediately took him to the ER thinking he was bit by a spider.
They notified me it was allergies and gave him a allergic test. They notified me it was Peanuts that he was allergic to. He didn’t touch the cookie batter nor eat it. He just SMELLED it and had a reaction. That is how I found out he was allergic to Peanuts.
My son Sergio in 1998 was at Asthma camp and they were making bird houses using Peanut Butter. They knew he was allergic to Peanuts so moved him to another room about 100 feet away. They had to rush him to hospital because he got very asthmatic with the smell. Even though my son is in Heaven it still annoys me when Studies get it WRONG!. My son Sergio Alexander Lopez died 6/26/14 after eating a vegie taco with peanut butter sauce
Thank you
Belinda Vaca
Mother Advocate for Food Allergies
Belinda,
Three things: thanks for sharing first and foremost! What a great story that demonstrates that we are all different! No matter how you slice it, each of our child’s health condition differs!
Regarding Camp, I’m heavily involved with the American Lung Association and Asthma camp here in Nevada and the first thing I ask for was NO peanut butter at camp. People were so attached to their peanut butter, that employees “accidentally” dropped the jar into the trash. This is just beyond my comprehension.
Lastly, thank you for pointing out that studies help us understand things…that is why it is called a study and not a decree or mandate. Researchers make discoveries to provide information for physicians to apply or NOT.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!!!
Oh Caroline. It’s like you’re living in my head! I can’t help but shake my head and cringe every time a headline regarding food allergies gets blasted through social media. I would hate to be a parent to a young, newly diagnosed child because there is SO much conflicting information out there. Maybe we should do some type of social media blast reminding parents to ALWAYS get all of their allergy info from their own personal allergists and to never try any treatment/testing without first consulting their doctor?
PS I love your hints!
Elizabeth,
YES! We all need to keep reminding everyone to seek medical advice first AFTER reviewing patient history, current health status and risks! Spread the word! Thanks for commenting! I always enjoy talking to you, even if it via typed words.
One of the MAJOR key words here is: Soundbite. If you apply the regularly then readers and viewers must always understand the context. If that wasn’t simple enough, just think about our current political process as the example. You can’t dummy down the topic of food allergies to a headline or 140 character tweet, it’s more complex than that.
(Correction) apply a,soundbite regulary
Kristin,
Well said! Food allergies are a complex topic! I am hopeful that the full stories behind the headlines are bringing us continued data, hope and solutions.
As always, Caroline, thank you for bringing to the forefront another important conversation, While I am filled with hope for the future for our children with food allergies we know that every fact, every study, every clinical trial must be carefully considered and put into the proper context. Furthermore, many of the headlines lead readers to believe that these treatments have been given the green light when in fact they are still in clinical trials and have a way to go before they can be used as viable treatments for the general public,
It is exciting though!! There is so much to look forward to!
Gina, these times are exciting for sure. I still can’t believe we are having these conversations. When Cyrus was first diagnosed there was simply nothing to discuss.
Well said and thank you for writing this, Caroline!
Jessica, The whole weekend, I had you sitting on my shoulder as I remembered your incredible presentation at the FARE conference! I would love to see a summary post of that great presentation—hint-hint!!! You have taught so many of us well.
Thanks for your timely take on the news from AAAAI. Your ability to filter outrage through a lens of commonsense makes you an invaluable voice. I hope I can live up to your expectations. I, too, really need more documentation than news coverage and Mr. Twitter have provided so far.
We’re waiting on ya Henry!
I am thankful for the press releases., and hope to read the studies when time permits. These headlines are no more exaggerated than any other headlines. Once I had the experience of a few media interviews, I realized most of the news I am reading or hearing is missing a ton of information! Thankfully, I think most adults realize you can’t believe everything you see or hear.
I am not a medical professional, so I must defer to doctors and scientists to interpret the studies. Over the years, especially shortly after my son’s diagnosis, I found scientific studies, such as those cited in Dr. Michael Young’s The Peanut Allergy Answer Book to be immensely helpful in sorting through actual risks and mis-perceived risks. I prefer not to take unnecessary precautions, especially when science has made a good case! I am looking forward to seeing more analysis and commentary from the medical community about the studies shared at the AAAAI conference.
Thanks for sharing Jennifer, I forgot about Michael Young’s Peanut Allergy Answer Book. Good resource!
Thank you for this, Caroline. Both my parents (divorced) emailed me articles from NEJM, BBC, NY Times with the message that “it turns out, children at high risk for FA should be fed peanuts”. I too am dreading the outtakes to come.
I’m waiting for the posts…. I’m stop by to say hi this weekend! If I don’t Leila will not speak to me!