'Take Action, Prevent Reactions' At FAAN's Annual Food Allergy Conferences

Main Category: Allergy
Also Included In: Nutrition / Diet;  Conferences
Article Date: 21 Feb 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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Registration for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network's (FAAN) 16th annual Food Allergy Conferences is now open. Anyone who has a food allergy or takes care of someone with a food allergy will benefit from learning how to "Take Action, Prevent Reactions."

The conferences will be held in Baltimore, Md., on March 28, in Rosemont, Ill., on April 18, and in Tarrytown, N.Y., on May 9. The prevalence of food allergies among children under age 18 is on the rise, according to a study released last fall by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that showed an 18 percent increase between 1997 and 2007. Whether attendees have been living with food allergies for years or are dealing with a new diagnosis, these conferences will help.

FAAN's conferences offer insight on the most recent research findings about food allergy as well as enhanced discussion and networking among medical leaders in the field, caregivers, teachers, child care providers, families, and school staff. There are even special sessions for teens (ages 11 and up), nurses, and registered dietitians at the conference. Attendees will learn how to take action to prevent reactions from leading experts in the field as well as others who are living with food allergies. Topics will include:

-- Causes and symptoms of food-allergic reactions

-- How food allergies are diagnosed

-- Strategies for avoiding reactions

-- How and when to use epinephrine

-- How to eat well with food allergies

-- How to be prepared for an allergic emergency

-- Tips for dining out with food allergies

-- Ways to prepare a child to manage food allergies

-- Latest news on food allergy research.

"These conferences provide a unique opportunity to not only learn the latest information on living with food allergies, but to also meet others who can relate," said Julia Bradsher, FAAN CEO. "Until there is a cure, education is the key to avoiding a reaction, which is the goal of this year's conferences - to help people 'Take Action, Prevent Reactions.'"

Past conference attendees, particularly parents of young children, have gained a new sense of confidence about their level of preparedness for food allergy management.

The Baltimore conference will feature Robert A. Wood, M.D. He is a professor of pediatrics and international health and the director of pediatric allergy and immunology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as well as the author of Food Allergies for Dummies.

The Rosemont, Ill. conference will feature Wesley Burks, M.D. He is a professor and chief of pediatric allergy and immunology at Duke University Medical Center.

The Tarrytown, N.Y. conference will feature Hugh Sampson, M.D. and Anna Nowak-Wegrzyn, M.D. Dr. Sampson is a professor of pediatrics and immunobiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, as well as chief of the division of allergy & immunology in the department of pediatrics, director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, and dean of translational biomedical science at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Nowak-Wegrzyn is an assistant professor of pediatric allergy and immunology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, as well as a clinician and a researcher in the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at the Mount Sinai Medical Center.

ABOUT FAAN

Founded in 1991, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) is the world leader in information about food allergy, a potentially fatal condition that afflicts approximately 12 million Americans, or one out of every 25. A nonprofit organization based in Fairfax, Va., FAAN has 30,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and 62 other countries. It is dedicated to increasing public awareness of food allergy and its consequences, to educating people about the condition, and to advancing research on behalf of all those affected by it. FAAN provides information and educational resources about food allergy to patients, their families, schools, health professionals, pharmaceutical companies, the food industry, and government officials. For more information, please visit FAAN at http://www.foodallergy.org, http://www.faankids.org, and http://www.faanteen.org.

Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network
http://www.foodallergy.org