A Comprehensive Guide to Food Allergies Affecting About 2 Per Cent

Xolair, a medicine for asthma that's been around for 20 years and made by Roche and Novartis, has been found to greatly reduce allergic reactions in people with severe food allergies. This was discovered in a big study presented at a medical meeting. The study showed that Xolair, also known as omalizumab, helps people with food allergies by making accidental exposure to allergenic foods less risky. The FDA, the organization that approves medicines in the US, recently gave the green light for using Xolair to reduce allergic reactions in both adults and children over 1 year old. Even though people using Xolair will still need to avoid foods they are allergic to, they can worry less about accidentally eating small amounts of those foods. This study involved 177 children and three adults with severe food allergies. Before the study, they reacted badly to tiny amounts of allergens like peanuts, milk, egg, and others. But after getting Xolair, most of them could tolerate much larger amounts of these foods without having moderate to severe allergic reactions. 

 For example, before the treatment, only 7% of patients could handle the equivalent of about four peanuts without reacting badly. But after taking Xolair, this number jumped to 67%. Similar improvements were seen with other allergenic foods like cashew, milk, and egg. After the treatment, many participants could tolerate much larger amounts of these foods without getting sick. The study lasted for about 16 to 20 weeks, with participants getting Xolair or a placebo every two or four weeks. After that, some of the children continued with the treatment for another 24 weeks, and most of them showed either stable or increased tolerance to the allergenic foods. This research is significant because food allergies affect a lot of people, especially children, and can lead to serious health problems. With the approval of Xolair for reducing allergic reactions, it's hoped that many lives can be improved.