Cow’s Milk Allergy Awareness
A new campaign has been launched in the UK to raise awareness about Cows milk allergy in babies. The campaign is to educate parents what to watch for and raise awareness among GPs leading to quicker and more accurate diagnosis of the allergy.
From my own experience, which is of having two boys with cow’s milk protein intolerance, this was a nightmare to pin down and work out what was wrong with them and a very long process. If this process had been shortened the children wouldn’t have gone through so much pain before I was able to work out what was wrong with them. Win win situation if there is more information available about this.
I was contacted by the campaign press officer to ask if I would highlight this to my readers. I definitely think anything that helps parents to understand and diagnose or rule out this allergy is helpful. The website with all the information is www.isitcowsmilkallergy.co.uk. While it is run by a nutrition company, Mead Johnson, it has the backing of allergyuk.org.
They did a survey among parents which showed that there is a general struggle to manage the condition because of lack of awareness among parents and GPs. I know my son’s was misdiagnosed as colic and even that he was ‘playing me’ at one stage before we got to the root of the problem. There is a very useful questionnaire on the website which a parent suspecting a cow’s milk allergy can fill out before they visit the doctor. This helps focus them on the symptoms that are important and have a clear message for the GP when they visit them. I know myself from the countless GP visits and the lack of sleep that I was often a bit all over the place while at the doctor’s surgery and then would remember stuff I should have said later on. There is also a symptom diary which you can print out and fill in at home.
Although this is a UK-based initiative, I really think it’s helpful for parents here in Ireland too if you suspect an allergy or intolerance in your little one. I think it would’ve been easier to diagnose my boys had I had these resources. I would love to hear from any parents going through this at the moment what they think of the resources or if they think it is helpful.
Cowsmilkallergy.ie is a similar site also run by an infant nutrition company, Neocate which has similar resources available.
I don’t recommend diagnosing anything by solely using the web, but these resources allowing you to have more information about the symptoms to mention to your doctor are a good idea in my opinion.
*While I was asked to highlight this campaign I was not paid to write this and all opinions are my own.
