August 13, 2007
DON'T THESE SCIENTISTS HAVE ANY KIDS OF THEIR OWN?:
Placebo effect seen in kids during allergy testing (Reuters Health, Aug 13, 2007)
A "placebo effect" can cause a diverse array of symptoms in children when undergoing food allergy testing, according to the results of a study published in the current issue of Allergy. One of these effects is that some patients believe they have had an allergic reaction when they have actually received with the placebo.This reaction is sometimes referred to as a "nocebo" effect.
Every parent has taken their kid to some school, camp, or event where peanut butter sandwiches have been banished because of imaginary allergies. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 13, 2007 7:41 PM
Comments
Not all of those allergies are imaginary. When my son was allergy tested for peanuts, I can be SURE he was not imagining anything. When they put the test drops on his back he was only nine months old. I bet he had no idea what was happening, only that he itched like crazy.
And no, I don't want peanuts banned from wherever my son goes. I want him to be careful, and those that are responsible to prevent othre kids from playing "jokes."
Posted by: Ari at August 14, 2007 10:15 AM