New treatment may 'desensitize' children to food allergies

One couple is helping their son reverse his allergy. The treatment is called desensitization. It is similar to allergy shots, except you drink the allergens that make you sick. The Oklahoma Asthma and Allergy Institute is one of the only clinics in the country that does it. Jamie Hayes and his son James are regulars at the allergy clinic. "He has to come in once a week to increase his dosage." James suffers from food allergies. "James has always tested positive to both egg and peanut." Dr. Amy Darter has been treating James for more than a year. She says about eight percent of children have food allergies, but she says some food allergies are reversible. "Basically it takes about 4 to 5 months to totally re-educate the immune system and desensitize the child to the food," said Dr. Darter. Dr. Darter has already started re-educating James' immune system. "We start with very low doses and we gradually increase the dose." Kids are given 25 doses of diluted allergens the first day to re-introduce the food allergens into their immune system. KoolAid helps it go down. James worked his way up to eating eggs and is going through the process again. This time to reverse his peanut allergy. "Peanuts and eggs are huge for us." In the past, Jaime and his wife Brooke have been reluctant to let James spend the night at his friends houses because of the responsibility that puts on the other parents. "One time we were somewhere and he was riding a little boy's bicycle and he touched the bicycle handles and rubbed his eye and his eye swelled shut," said Brooke. Jamie says the Epi-pen speech isn't one he likes to give. "If you see something wrong, stab him in the thigh and give us a call," said Jaime. With that fear gone, Jaime and Brooke say the whole family can breathe a sigh of relief. "Even going to restaurants now, we can order for him off the menu and don't have to talk to somebody about making him something special without eggs. Krispy Krème that's been the biggest hit since he can eat eggs." Once he conquers peanuts, James says he plans to tackle a candy that he has had his sights on for some time. "Reeses Peanut Butter Cups," said James. Once James works his way up to eating peanuts comfortably and finishes the desensitization process, Dr. Darter says he will still need to eat a maintenance dose of the protein every day for a year. That's about eight peanuts.