Sunday, February 5, 2017

Time travel and food allergies

Yup, I said time travel. 
I would like to travel Back In Time twenty years and know that I should feed my son peanuts, carefully, so he didn't become allergic to them for life. 
  Time travel. 
It would be nice, now, to know he'd be more protected-- as we sit at a ball game and the peanut shells waft by. Or as he hugs his little cousin who's just finished a PB&J. Or as he forgoes traveling to China.  
  But research moves at the speed it moves, and we have to be happy there is  research for the next generation to benefit from. 
   And I'm happy that there is concrete evidence that early exposure (under a medical professional's guidance)
can reduce allergies to peanuts. Finding one answer can lead to finding more answers like: why are food allergies on the rise? Why in these recent generations and not before? What might contribute to desensitization for other allergens? -- and the list goes on. 
  So while I wish that this research could have been of more help to my family, I know time travel isn't really an option-- and we've been fine without it!