Date Change for Philadelphia Food Allergy Walk

Walking for a Good Cause

The date for the Philadelphia area Food Allergy Walk has been changed to Sunday, September 22, 2013. For walk dates in other locations, check the F.A.R.E. Walk for Food Allergy website. 

Love the slogan, Help Us Say FAREwell to Food Allergies". There are over 65 walks planned in the U.S. this year and 40,000 plus are expected to walk for food allergy. Are you one of them?

A Little Market Competition for EpiPens

EpiPens by Mylar

Holy smokes! I just paid $44 for our back-to school EpiPens! A few years ago, I paid $10.

Now believe me, I'm always happy to give our unused pens to the doctor's office (although we first inject them in an orange for practice before turning them in). I'd rather pay and not have to use the epinephrine, than have a medical emergency requiring their use; however, with no competition, no matter how high the price may go, many of us are going to pay it.

We must. It's the only thing we've got in an emergency.

Things may change this fall when Sanofi introduces Auvi-Q and again in 2015 when Teva puts out a generic EpiPen (pending FDA approval).

We'll see. I was hopeful that Twinject may have been a competitor to the EpiPen in terms of pricing, but that hasn't happened. In this NY Times article, "Tiny Lifesaver for a Growing Worry",

an analyst at Cowen & Company questioned whether parents would be willing to switch to a different brand in such life-or-death situations, saying, “parents may want the real thing".

So, I'm wondering...are you willing to try something new or are you sticking with the tried and true EpiPen? Are you excited about Auvi-Q?  Are you buying fewer EpiPens as the prices have increased?

Epinephrine in Credit Card Sized Case

It's here!!!! I've had my eye on this new product for awhile and finally FDA approval has been announced. Auvi-Q™ offers people who carry epinephrine a new device style. This compact epinephrine auto-injector is credit card sized and the thickness of a smartphone. It easily fits into a pocket (great for boys!) or small purse.

A cool feature I wasn't expecting is that this new device offers audio cues.

Yup, it talks to you!

When the device is pulled from the carrying case, a calm female voice walks the user through all the steps of the injection process. What a great help for babysitters, teachers, grandparents and others who may be unfamiliar with (and nervous about) using an auto-injector for anaphylaxis.

Oh, and the injector only stays in the outer thigh for five seconds (which the calm voice will count down calmly), rather than 10 seconds like the traditional EpiPen. Five seconds may not seem like much of a difference, but every second feels like forever when you're in the midst of an anphylactic reaction.

I'll be checking with my insurance company to see if they cover the new device and with my pharmacy to see if they carry it. Let me know if you're able to get it.

Read all about Sanofi's release of Auvi-Q (and check out a demo) here.

New Discovery May Help Food Allergic

Research May Provide Clues to Food Allergy.

Science experiments can be a frustrating when expected results are not forthcoming. Sometimes, though, it's the unexpected results that can lead to the best findings. Dr. Rodney Newberry, a gastroenterologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has come across something that may eventually benefit those with food allergies.

Dr. Newberry's team placed a video in the gut of a mouse to observe what they thought would be dendritic cells sampling food particles and then seeking out antigens to neutralize or attack if the samples were found to be threatening. However, what they discovered was an escort, called goblet cells, whose job it is to bring the food sample to the dendritic cells. This discovery leads researchers to believe that goblet cells play a much more important role than previously thought. If these escort cells could be trained to bring food samples to the dendritic cells and introduce them in a friendly manner, perhaps the body wouldn't over-react to an innocent egg or peanut protein.These findings may help scientists introduce a drug therapy to tame an over-active immune system, like that found in people with food allergies or celiac disease.

Aaahhh...if we could only get our cells to play nice and cooperate...

Check out Christopher Wajnek's article Special Gut Cells May Help Tame Food Allergies for more information on Dr. Newberry's study.

Food Allergy Ambassador Promotes FAAN Walks

Have you seen the 2010 Heart of FAAN Ambassodor, 7-year old Leandro speaking up about food allergies. He's got a PSA promoting the upcoming Miami Food Allergy Walk. While there, check out the 2010 Delaware FAAN Walk video.

FAAN walk events have begun.

The organization is 1/3 of the way toward their fundraising goal. Walks are scheduled in dozens of cities and there is even an online virtual walk.

Are you participating in a FAAN Walk this year? Let us know!