Similar to the heated milk study from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, a group of researchers from the University of Athens looked at a way to desensitize children with egg allergies.
The study looked at nearly a hundred children under the age of four who were referred to the food allergy department at the University of Athens. More than half the children had been diagnosed with an egg allergy after eating eggs; the rest of the children showed sensitivity to eggs in skin tests. Many of the participants also had some form of eczema (a chronic itchy and/or scaly rash).
In order to try to reduce allergic reaction to eggs, the researchers gave the children cake. Over six months, the amount of egg baked into the cake was increased from less than a milligram to one and a half grams.
Ninety percent of the participants developed an increased tolerance to hen’s eggs over the course of the study. Only seven of the children were still experiencing itching and skin reactions after eating eggs baked into cake. When given a whole egg, only four out of eighty-seven children had a reaction.
A follow-up study is planned that will compare the egg desensitization treatment to a placebo group — children who will get cake but no egg. (Boy, I’d hate to be a participant in this study!) Having a control group will help researchers see just how effective the treatment is when compared to no treatment at all.
Keep in mind that you shouldn’t try to treat food allergies without the supervision of a doctor or allergy specialist! Talk to your doctor before you try to change the way you’re currently treating an allergy. Don’t just start handing out cake to kids with egg allergies… you may end up doing more harm than good.