Source of Article:http://media.www.jhunewsletter.com/media/storage/paper932/news/2008/11/20/Science/Drinking.Milk.May.Lessen.Allergy.Symptoms-3555981.shtml
By Stephen Berger
Issue date: 11/20/08
A new study from Hopkins
and DukeUniversity pediatricians suggests that
giving increasing amounts of milk to children with milk allergies can
actually lessen or erase the symptoms of the allergy over time.
Doctors recruited 19 children between the ages of six and 17. The study was
randomized and double-blind: Some of the participants received milk, while
others received a placebo. Neither the children nor their parents or doctors
knew what they were taking.
After four months of receiving steadily increasing doses of milk powder,
children in both groups were tested with milk to rate the severity of their
allergic reactions.
Oral immunotherapy, as this method is called, is gaining popularity as a way
of lessening severe allergies.
There is some evidence that repeated exposure to an allergen can decrease an
immune response. The immune system can become habituated to certain chemical
substances.
The study appears online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.