TMC PULSE

November 2017

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t m c » p u l s e | n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 33 Each office is independently owned and operated. 713-622-9339 www.bethwolff.com Beth Wolff Chairman/CEO Ed Wolff President River Oaks Area Open Floorplan, Master Suite with Sitting Room, 3/3.5, Game Room $1,299,000 Memorial Custom 5/6.5+ with Master Down, Game Room, Wine Room $1,995,000 Spring Valley Beautiful 4/3.5 with Recent Updates, Pool & Spa, Ravine Setting $1,699,000 Garden Oaks New Construction with 5/3.5, Spacious Yard, Designer Kitchen $1,175,000 is more than a lifestyle... A home ... a home is where memories are made ! Holley Madden Cathi Lamberth Pam Greenwood Roya Arfa the importance of performing the test under medical supervision. Davis, who is also an associate professor of pediatrics in the section of immunology, allergy and rheumatology at Baylor College of Medicine, was the lead author of the study. She explained that individuals undergo oral food chal- lenges for multiple reasons. "They either had a food allergy and wanted to know if they'd outgrown the allergy, or they'd had other testing that suggested a food allergy even though they had never ingested the food, or they had a history of a mild reaction but had never been found to be positive through tests," Davis said. Food allergies are caused by an abnormal reaction of the immune system to a certain food. They are dif- ferent than food intolerances, such as lactose intolerance and celiac disease, because they trigger an overproduc- tion of an antibody called immuno- globulin E (IgE). Physical symptoms of this reaction range from a minor tingling sensation around the mouth to life-threatening anaphylaxis—the higher the levels of IgE, the more likely a life-threatening allergy. Interestingly, a decrease in IgE levels as determined by blood tests over a period of time indicates the likelihood of outgrowing a food allergy. The oral food challenge is consid- ered the gold standard for determining the presence of a food allergy because the other two tests in the field—the skin prick test and the blood test—only mea- sure sensitization to the food; neither reliably measures severity of a reaction or definitive presence of an allergy. The skin prick test looks for the presence of IgE antibodies by piercing the skin and placing a drop of solution containing specific food allergens on a broad area of the body, often the arm or the back. In a patient with a history of a reaction to the food, if a hive appears, an allergy is likely present. The blood test also measures the presence of specific IgE antibodies, but both tests carry with them a high rate of false pos- itives—meaning there can be a presence of IgE antibodies even if an individual has never had a reaction to that food. Although the oral food challenge is the best means of determining a food allergy, allergists might choose not to perform this type of test because of the high risk of an allergic reaction, the burden of time, concern about cost to the patient and personnel constraints, according to the study co-authored by Davis. One goal of the study was to provide an accurate determination of the real risk of oral food challenges in non-research settings in order to help allergists in clinical practices around the country make everyday decisions about treating their patients. (continued) Our immune system has been geared to fight o things like parasitic diseases, and in first-world developed countries, we're not exposed to these anymore. We think the immune system has been redirected to attack food. — CARLA DAVIS, M.D. Director of the Food Allergy Program at Texas Children's Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics in the section of immunology, allergy and rheumatology at Baylor College of Medicine

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