Article Photos

A state expert in children's food allergies made a presentation to the Noon Lions Club at its weekly luncheon Monday.

Dr. Miles Weinberger, professor of pediatrics and director of the Pediatric Allergy & Pulmonary Division at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital, gave his take on recent allergy research and treatments.

Weinberger covered peanut, milk and other allergies and the facts and misconceptions involving these and other allergies.

He often gets the question on how young children become allergic to something if they have never been exposed to it. Weinberger said an allergic food such as peanuts can reach babies through the placenta or through breast milk.

"They can become allergic even though their only exposure is in utero or during the early neonatal time through breast milk," he said.

He said often he'll get people who break out in hives and want to attribute it to a food allergy by something they ate days prior. Weinberger said food allergies generally show reactions immediately.

"If someone gets hives and it's not within 15 to 30 minutes of eating something then it's probably not related to what they ate," Weinberger said.

Small children often times lose their allergy to some foods later in life. Weinberger said milk has a high rate of loss of allergy while peanuts have a low rate.

Peanuts may have a higher allergic rate overall in the United States due to the way they are processed, Weinberger said.

He said there is evidence to support that dry roasting of peanuts which are done in this country alters the protein to make it more allergic.

Don Crowley, vice president of the Noon Lions Club, said he asked Weinberger to speak to the group because people are hearing more about food allergies in recent years and he has two grandchildren with peanut allergies.

"I think we need to know more about this subject and how food allergies affect young people," Crowley said.

---

Contact Andrew Potter at 641-753-6611 or apotter@timesrepublican.com