Surprising as it may sound, researchers have found that repeated and increasing intake of milk would result in stronger defense to the allergens found in it.
Children ought to be given increasingly higher dosages of milk daily until they develop a resistance to it. As a bonus, the children would also build a stronger immunity system with this essential nutrient, the study has revealed.
‘Oral immunotherapy’, as the group of researchers called this repeated exposure, is so far the only possible way to treat childhood food allergy.
Many children cannot digest milk and suffer allergic reactions ranging from itchy mouth and wheals to stomach disorders such as mild pain or ‘runny tummy’.
The study was conducted over 19 children, aged between 6 and 17 years, who showed very poor milk tolerance. The group’s tolerance ended at an average of a quarter teaspoon of the stuff.
The children were divided into two groups of 12 and 7. The larger group was given increasing doses of milk powder everyday over the four-month study. Children in the smaller group were given placebo – a harmless substitute that looked and tasted like real milk powder.
The study culminated with both groups being given milk powder at the end of four months to assess the improvement as well as to determine what dose of milk still triggered a reaction.
The first group that was given milk powder was able to consume a median or normal dose of milk and reported very few mild symptoms like abdominal discomfort and itchiness in the mouth.
In contrast, the group that was given placebo showed the same tolerance level as seen before the start of the study. Anything higher than 40mg of milk powder would trigger an allergic reaction in this group.
Besides a better tolerance to milk, the first group also showed a higher count of antibodies to milk in their blood compared to the placebo group.
The study was conducted by researchers from the John Hopkins Children’s Center and Duke University.
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