Editors: Dr. Teuber and patients are available for interviews to raise awareness
about potentially life-threatening food allergies, including those who have had
reactions in unusual situations, such as from a kiss.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 27, 2003

SUBJECTS NEEDED FOR NUT ALLERGIES STUDY

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Investigators at the UC Davis School of Medicine are seeking people with allergies to seeds and tree nuts, such as peanuts, walnuts, almonds, sunflower or sesame seeds for an ongoing research study.

Each year, food allergies kill about 150 people, many of whom are children or teens who unknowingly eat a food with an ingredient to which they are allergic, such as peanuts. Even trace amounts of such foods have caused severe allergic reactions. For example, such a reaction has occurred after a person has kissed someone who has eaten the food in the past several hours. Such reactions also can be triggered in extremely allergic people through exposure to airborne particles of food — a possibility that gave rise to recent controversies over serving peanuts on commercial aircraft.

Participants are needed who have either severe reactions (such as throat swelling, asthma, hives and swelling of the face and mouth, nausea and vomiting, light-headedness, or fainting) or milder reactions consisting of itching of the mouth or swelling of the lips. The study will compare antibodies in the blood from people with severe allergies to those from people who have mild allergies. There may be other differences between people with severe or mild allergies, such as the age of onset of the food allergy. Researchers also hope to determine if an association exists between allergies to nuts and certain pollens that are common in California.

Subjects will be asked to complete a questionnaire over the phone that takes about 15 minutes and have a small blood sample drawn at a laboratory convenient to them.

This is a one-time study. The principal investigator is Suzanne Teuber, a physician and associate professor in the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology. To obtain more information, call (530) 752-7665.

Copies of all news releases from UC Davis Health System are available on the Web at
http://news.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu

MEDIA CONTACT:

David Ong, Medical News Office: (916) 734-9049

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