About a year ago, I was elected by some avid followers of this bog to respond to a search for speakers at a new Food Allergy Conference in Las Vegas. I was a honored that some people thought that others would benefit from what I had to say, so I began the application. The conference officials wanted a brief, but clear write up of our suggested topics of interest. Mine was clear to me: Food Allergies reactive to ingestion, physical contact ( touch), and/or airborne. I proposed discussing these as distinctive and the socially misunderstood perceptions between them. I've been a "food allergy mom" for over 5 years. I've watched the progression of my daughters milk allergy start as an ingestion only allergy, become responsive to physical contact, then eventually become highly reactive to airborne milk proteins. I've witnessed the differences, threats, and social understanding ,and lack thereof, so I wanted to share what I've witnessed and learned. In so many ways,
An inside view of the food allergy epidemic. Sophia is a 6 year old living with a life threatening food allergy to both milk proteins: whey and casein. She is anaphylactic to even the touch or breath of a concentrated protein. She, subsequently, suffers from hives, excema, and respiratory symptoms to the touch of a slight presence of either milk protein. She is among the many other children in the U.S. suffering with food allergies. There is no cure, no treatment, only avoidance.