The End of Food Allergy offers readers a comprehensive and evidence-based review of the history of food allergy research, providing affected patients and their families, in particular, a breadth of information pertaining to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of food allergies. Together, Dr. Kari Nadeau, an esteemed physician-scientist in allergy and immunology, and Sloan Barnett, a New York Times bestselling author and parent of two food-allergic children, also examine the origins of common misconceptions surrounding food allergy recommendations made over the past several decades as well as the reasons for and implications of the seemingly back-and-forth nature of contemporary research findings. Employing an effective combination of compelling anecdotes with a balanced review of recent literature, the authors have compiled a useful handbook for patients and families impacted by food allergy along with a practical reference for clinicians, researchers, and other key partners involved in the pursuit of ending the worsening food allergy epidemic.
Through catering to both biomedical and lay audiences, The End of Food Allergy aptly presents the leading food allergies – including those to milk, eggs, peanuts, soy, wheat, tree nuts, and shellfish – as powerful case-studies that epitomize the lengthy, complex, and on-going process of scientific inquiry and discovery more broadly. Notably, the authors dispel several pervasive falsehoods that are largely still embedded in society today. By equipping patients with knowledge in the area of food allergy research, and therefore power to be in control of their own health and well-being, Nadeau and Barnett highlight the major shortcomings of the long held avoidance myth and clearly establish that evading potential allergens early in life does not prevent infants from developing a particular food allergy, but rather increases said risk. Furthermore, the authors describe how the body’s exposure to a given antigen through the skin prior to ingestion serves as a mechanism driving food allergy risk and as the rationale for promoting diversity in diet and early food exposures. In doing so, the authors effectively convey that avoiding allergenic foods during pregnancy and early in life may be a thing of the past.
With an estimated 8 percent of children and 11 percent of adults impacted by food allergy and incidence rates continuing to rise on a global scale, The End of Food Allergy embodies a “knowledge-is-power” approach to equipping individuals and families with information on the predictors of food allergy as well as tangible action items and next steps. In their comprehensive review, Nadeau and Barnett encourage and empower patients to keep a food diary, seek testing given an adverse food reaction, carry two epinephrine self-injectors, understand food labels and policies, seek support groups and networks, and help protect the planet. The causes of food allergy and the drivers of the allergy epidemic are complex and interconnected, involving both genetic and environmental factors. Immunotherapy and other desensitization strategies provide a considerable degree of promise for preventing and managing food allergy in the near future, and this book offers hope and reassurance to all those affected.