What a whirlwind of a year. Since launching this blog in July, we’ve had more than 230,000 visitors, many of whom have left thought-provoking comments on our posts.
We’ve enjoyed bringing you personal stories and expert insight about current pediatric health topics, and we hope you continue reading us in 2010.
What were our readers most interested in this year? Our most widely read stories range from a video series about defeating a milk allergy to a news report about the discredited Baby Einstein videos. Did you miss any of our most popular posts? We revisit them below. [click to continue…]
Although only about 4 percent of Americans are affected by food allergies, they seem more prevalent today than ever. We recently finished an eight-part milk allergy series where we followed Brett Nasuti, a Children’s patient who last summer became the first person ever to go through a milk exposure desensitization trial. Check out the first video in the series.
Brett Nasuti is Children’s first patient to go through a new trial that could cure him of his severe food allergy. In this final video on our series, Brett finds out if he passes the final milk challenge in the study—which culminates in him drinking a full 8-ounce glass of milk—and if he’s cured. If he passes the challenge, there’s an enormous pizza party in store for him.
Click here to read our story about Brett, Children’s milk allergy trial and experts’ latest thinking about food allergies. [click to continue…]
Robyn Nasuti shares her tips on keeping her kitchen safe–no small feat, given that two out of her three children have severe food allergies. She also shows how she’s simplified home-made pizza night at her house.
Other videos and posts in the series
In last week’s video, we followed Brett Nasuti at school, where he runs Allergy Awareness Week to raise money for research. Brett is Children’s first patient to go through a new trial that could cure him of his severe food allergies. Hear what he and his classmates have to say.
Celebrity chef Ming Tsai, chef-owner of Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, Massachusetts, is passionate about improving restaurant systems so people with food allergies can eat out safely. The father of a son who has had multiple severe food allergies, Tsai talks about what he’s learned as both a chef and a parent here. [click to continue…]
Brett Nasuti has battled bullies who have taunted him with put-downs like “peanut boy” and had to sit at the highly stigmatized ‘peanut-free table” at school. Even so, he could be the poster child for living well with food allergies. He’s even taken it upon himself to educate his peers by organizing an annual Food Allergy awareness week at his school, during which he raises money for food allergy research. Here, watch Brett in action and hear what his schoolmates have to say about what they’ve learned from him. [click to continue…]
This week, our food allergy series continues with celebrity chef Ming Tsai, chef-owner of Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Tsai is as a spokesperson for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) and is passionate about increasing awareness and improving restaurant systems so people with food allergies can eat out safely. He’s also the father of a son who has had multiple severe food allergies. Here, Tsai talks about what he’s learned as both a chef and a parent.
This week, watch the Nasutis take on their regular challenge of food shopping—no easy feat, considering that two out of the three children have life-threatening food allergies. Brett was born allergic to 15 foods, and his little brother, Nicholas, is allergic to 16. Their sister, Taylor, doesn’t have any food allergies, like her parents. In order to keep them all fed, Robyn makes three different meals every time her family eats, which requires her to drive to three different grocery stores. And the specialty foods don’t come cheap; dairy-free milk alone costs her $10 a gallon. “I spend about $850 a month on groceries,” Robyn says.
Brett Nasuti is the first patient to participate in a milk desensitization study at Children’s. In this video—the third in our Milk Allergy series—Brett takes his very first (tiny) sips of cow’s milk. Watch to see how he tolerates the allergen.
To watch last week’s video about Children’s Allergy Program’s Director, Lynda Schneider, MD, discussing the study, click here.
To see the first video, in which Brett and his mom, Robyn, talk about what it’s been like for their family to live with his life-threatening condition and their hopes for the trial’s outcome, click here.
To read Robyn’s account of what it was like when she found out about Brett’s severe allergies, read an excerpt from her diary.
Check back next week to see the Nasuti family take on their regular challenge of food shopping—no easy feat, considering that two out of the three Nasuti children have life-threatening food allergies.
We’d love to hear what you think; share your comments!
