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Opinion: Oral immunotherapy can be a game changer for many with food allergies

Oral immunotherapy isn't a miracle cure. It can help individuals with peanut allergies successfully consume one peanut. That might not sound like a lot, but it can make a life-changing…
Source: Patrick Sison/AP

Food allergies upend lives. In children, food allergies can scale back or completely stop participation in birthday parties, organized sports, and summer camps. Parents may need to reduce their work hours and homeschool their children. For adults, grocery shopping or eating out becomes an ordeal. Oral immunotherapy could change that.

Part of the difficulty with food allergies is their sheer unpredictability — a life-threatening allergic reaction can occur at any moment, hidden in what looks to be a “safe” food. For some, this leads to psychological repercussions that include depression and anxiety.

A major problem with food allergies is that there’s currently no cure for them. For the past few decades, all doctors could do

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