New guidelines to aid food allergies diagnosis released

WASHINGTON - Food allergies are one of the biggest challenges today. But they are often hard for doctors to diagnose, and are even harder for parents to manage.

That is why a new standard for evaluating and treating food allergies is being developed by the US National Institute of Health.

The new guidelines are directed at doctors to help them diagnose and manage food allergies.

It consolidates the latest available data into straightforward and consistent protocols for diagnosis and treatment.

Experts say food allergies appear to be on the rise in the last 20 years for reasons not well understood.

“Paradoxical as it may be, up until now we have lacked uniform guidelines based on hard scientific evidence about how to diagnose and treat these very common conditions that affect the lives of millions of people,” said Robert Wood, one of the six lead authors on the guidelines and director of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

“Because the guidelines will give physicians a uniform and consistent pool of information on the latest and most effective diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, patients are more likely to get the most-up-to-date care regardless of where they seek care,” he added.

The guidelines will be published this week in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. (ANI)