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New Research - May 2010
Literature Review of Food Allergy
Summary
The authors of this article were commissioned by the National Institute of Health (NIH) to gather a bibliography relevant to the NIH's effort to publish food allergy guidelines. A panel of physicians was convened by the NIH to write guidelines for the diagnosis and management of food allergy, and the authors of this paper were asked to assist in gathering a bibliography to assist the panel in writing the guidelines.
To do this, they searched data sources including PubMed and Cochrane Database. They limited their search to English language articles published between January 1988 and September 2009. They then extracted the data to identify potentially relevant articles. They assessed the quality of data, and then synthesized the conclusions.
They reviewed a total of 12,378 citations. Seventy-two of these citations were included. They concluded that food allergy affects 1 to 2%, but less than 10% of the population. They could not come to a conclusion as to whether the prevalence of food allergy is increasing. They compared skin prick tests to serum food-specific IgE to food challenge, and they identified no statistical superiority to either test. They also found that although elimination diets were the "mainstay of therapy," they have been rarely systematically studied.
They found that immunotherapy is "promising," but data were insufficient to recommend its use. In high risk infants, they found that hydrolyzed formula may prevent cow's milk allergy, but found that there was lack of a standard definition of "high risk" as well as a definition of "hydrolyzed formula."
Reference
Chafen J, et al. Diagnosing and managing common food allergies: a systematic review. JAMA, May 12, 2010; Volume 303 (18):1848-1856.
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