Question:

My 7 month old daughter has a milk protein allergy, and I will be weaning her from Neocate Infant formula soon. Do you have any tips about how to wean a baby who has a milk protein allergy? I know that I need to avoid any foods or products with milk, but wasn’t sure where to start!

Answer:

We just launched a new product called Neocate Nutra. It’s the first hypoallergenic semi-solid medical food for children and infants over 6 months of age. Nutra is about the same consistency as yogurt and is great for helping transition infants with milk allergies onto solid foods because it allows a child to safely explore foods without the fear of allergic reaction. It’s also a good source of iron and vitamin D and high in calcium.

To learn more about Neocate Nutra, check out http://www.neocate.com. Good luck!

This June, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed into law a bill that will require private insurance companies to cover amino acid-based elemental formulas like Neocate, regardless of whether the formula is taken orally or via a feeding tube.

Insurance reimbursement is required for the following conditions:

• IgE and non IgE-mediated allergies to multiple food proteins (i.e. milk protein allergy);
• Severe food protein-induced entercolitis;
• Eosinophilic disorders; and
• Impaired absorption of nutrients caused by disorders affecting the absorptive surface, functional length, and motility of the gastrointestinal tract.

The law applies to health plans that are delivered or renewed after January 1, 2010. To read the entire bill click here.

This is great news for families in Texas and will provide some much-needed economic relief. There are currently nine other states with reimbursement legislation:  Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York. However, each state’s laws are slightly different – to view a copy of a specific state’s legislation click here.

If your state does not currently offer insurance reimbursement for amino-acid based elemental formulas, please visit the Children’s MAGIC website. They are committed to promoting healthcare coverage and reimbursement of elemental formulas for children who are unable to consume a natural, life-sustaining diet due to various allergies or diseases. You can find a useful guide to enacting legislation in your state, along with updates on progress across the country.

This pudding is a delicious and nutritious snack or dessert for your little ones with food-allergies. 

 Nutra Banana-Nut Pudding

 • 4 scoops (18.5 g) Neocate Nutra powder

• 1 fl oz water

• ¼ of a banana, mashed

• 1 Tbsp natural sunflower seed butter (such as SunButter®)*

 Measure Neocate Nutra powder and add 1 oz of water. Blend until smooth. Add the mashed bananas and sunflower seed butter. Mix

well, chill and serve.

 Yields 1 serving

 Calories  210

Protein  5 g

Carbohydrate  22 g

Fat  12 g

Calcium  125.9 mg

Vitamin D 1 mcg

 *If sunflower seed allergy is suspected, any desired nut butter that is tolerated can be substituted.

At two and a half months old, R.J. was experiencing a painful, itchy, red rash on his cheeks that quickly spread to his chin, ears and neck. By the time he was four months old, the condition worsened, spreading to his scalp, back, stomach, legs and diaper areas.

Baby R.J. was miserable. The rash was so itchy and irritating that he was constantly scratching his face and rubbing it against anything he could find. He was extremely fussy, crying excessively and having difficulty sleeping. R.J.’s condition affected the entire family.

His father said “I personally had a difficult time eating and concentrating at work, as it broke my heart to see him suffer.”

R.J.’s parents took him to several doctors who tried several different treatments, all to no avail. Treatments included topical steroids, topical antifungals and oral antihistamines. They purchased dust-free bedding, allergen-removing carpet shampoos, high-quality air purifiers, a shower filter for R.J.’s bath water, chlorine-free diapers and wipes and 100 percent cotton bedding and clothing. R.J. still had no relief. R.J.’s mother was breast feeding and tried eliminating possible food allergens from her diet as well as switching to a milk-based formula and then to a hydrolysate formula. Nothing worked.

Finally, the family found a pediatrician who recommended Neocate, an amino acid-based formula used to treat infants and children with an allergy to dairy proteins. The dairy allergy can cause a variety of gastrointestinal, respiratory and skin problems. For R.J., the allergy had manifested itself as eczema.

“Neocate worked almost overnight to improve the rash,” says R.J.’s father.

In less than a week, R.J. was sleeping better, crying less and the rash had reduced so much that it was barely visible. R.J. enjoyed drinking Neocate, a nutritionally complete amino acid-based formula that will provide him optimal growth.

All the more reason to be allergy aware! The Center for Disease Control recently released a study on food allergies and children. The federal study, called “Food Allergy Among U.S. Children: Trends in Prevalence and Hospitalizations,” is very extensive.

Here are a few of the highlights:
- Four out of every 100 children have a food allergy. That’s about 3 million kids!

- There has been an 18% increase in children with food allergies since 1997 with 1 in 26 children having food allergies.

- The number of children hospitalized for food allergies jumped from 2,600 in the late 1990s to 9,500 annually in the most recent years.

And to see all of the key findings, click here.

Also, here is a great Washington Post blog entry on this topic. It provides real life issues and examples that allergy parents face.

As we always say, be careful with allergies! Keep a watchful eye and make sure everyone around your allergy prone child is just as vigilant.

Be well,
Dr. Y