Word: noah
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Susan Fradin has nightmares about Cheerios. Specifically, the Honey Nut variety. Her son Noah is allergic to peanuts and almonds, and her nighttime torment began during his first trip to sleepaway camp, when he was 9. Fradin, a former publicist in Los Angeles, worried that her son would eat cereal he shouldn't and go into anaphylactic shock. "I woke up in the middle of the night thinking, What if he eats Honey Nut Cheerios thinking they are regular Cheerios?" she says...
...Fradin is one of those incredibly anxious parents who would prefer that her son never so much as lay eyes on a Mr. Peanut logo ever again. Noah's allergist at UCLA, Dr. Gary Rachelefsky, who has treated him since babyhood, describes her as initially "one of the most fearful mothers I ever came into contact with." She's calmer these days, but her concerns are not unfounded. A few months before Noah went off to camp, she woke up one night to find him covered in hives, coughing and gasping, and she had to jam a syringe full...
...Noah is now 16 and a surprisingly well-adjusted member of what might be called the Allergy Generation. In addition to peanuts, he is allergic to lentils, beans, peas, tree nuts, sesame and shellfish. The Fradins and the 3 million other families in the U.S. with food-allergic children have to navigate not only the complexities of the grocery aisle but also the growing skepticism among those who wonder if the sudden rise in food allergies is due more to hysteria than to histamines. A waiter, for example, may not grasp the seriousness behind Noah's endless questions about...
...families like the Fradins, however, knowing the why of food allergies is less important than knowing whether their children will be affected - and how. (Noah has a brother who has no food allergies.) Because allergic reactions to food can vary, even within the same person, allergists often shrug when it comes to advising parents about forecasting anything about their child's next reaction. "We really have no test that can tell us who is apt to have a severe, life-threatening reaction and who is more like the vast majority who will never have that kind of reaction," says...
...find yourself having to take a chance," says Noah, who continues to eat his favorite brand of pretzels even though it now carries the warning "Produced in a facility that handles peanut butter." And he's not alone. A study by Sicherer in 2007 found that 75% of food-allergic people ignored these labels when shopping, unsure exactly how great the danger of cross-contamination was. The same study also found that 1 in 10 products tested actually contained the allergen noted in the warning on the packaging...