For anyone with a food allergy, the news of a potential antidote will come like a breath of fresh air.
Xolair — a drug that used in the treatment of asthma and hives for decades — has significantly reduced life-threatening reactions in children with severe allergies, according to a newly published study.
The paper's author Dr Robert A. Wood from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine told Breakfast this morning the medication will be "life-changing".
“For a certain population of food allergy patients, this medication will be life-changing.
“If you have a severe milk or egg allergy, or something that was not even part of this study — like garlic or mustard, you cannot eat in a restaurant, ever,
“There is also the fear and anxiety that you walk around with every day,” Wood said.
“I have many patients who are teenagers, and they have never been allowed to eat in a restaurant. The family has never gotten on an airplane because of the fear of the allergy.”
He said it makes "perfect sense" that omalizumab — sold under the brand name of Xolair — can help to block food allergies, given it did the same for allergic asthma.
Wood said the drug works by blocking the person's allergy trigger. "It literally acts like a sponge to soak it up out of your system so that it's no longer present and available to lead to a reaction if you get an exposure to what your allergic to".
Xolair is administered via injection, taken every two to four weeks. Wood said it was a preventative medicine, and only worked while being taken regualrly rather than a permanent cure for allergies.
"It's not something like an EpiPen that you can grab after an exposure, it needs to be in your system."
Wood explained that the idea wasn't for people to constantly eat food they were allergic to, but more understanding they had a safety net should they be accidentally exposed.
"Part of the life-change is going to be that reactions are going to be greatly reduced we believe.
"In addition to that, it's the day-to-day life, the quality of life, the anxiety, the stress, and the limitations that people have to take to protect their children or themselves."
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