Cow's Milk Allergy (CSA) treatment, like the treatment of all other food allergies, involves removing the culprit from the body; that is, diet. In the diet, it is necessary not only not to drink milk but also to cut out everything that contains milk and dairy products.
In order not to cause confusion, we will complete the treatment part by examining some common situations here one by one:
Mother only Can a baby who is breastfed have ISA? How can this condition be treated?
Yes, food allergies, especially cow's milk allergy, can be seen in babies who are exclusively breastfed. Cow's milk proteins that cause allergies can pass from mother to baby and the baby may develop eczema, colitis, vomiting, etc. In this case, the mother should also be given a cow's milk protein diet. In order to prevent calcium deficiency when the mother does not eat milk and dairy products, 2000 mg calcium tablets and at least 2000 mg omega fatty acids should be given externally a day.
How do we feed a small baby who receives both breast milk and formula as a supplement?
Since standard formulas also contain cow's milk protein, it is not enough to give only cow's milk protein diet to the mother, it is also necessary to give hydrolyzed formulas or amino acid formulas to the baby. (You can find detailed information about these foods in the following lines).
Is a cow's milk allergy diet necessary in older children? How can it be done if necessary?
Although rare, food allergies, most commonly ISA, can be seen in older children who are over the age of drinking formula and breast milk. (I have some patients that I know very well; while there was no problem until the age of 2, in one of them, after the age of 2, as soon as the spoon with yoghurt touched his lips, his whole body became red and itchy, and in another, he had vomiting and severe cramps.) These children also have to follow a cow's milk protein diet.
What kind of food is used in ISA?
The latest point in 2012 medicine in ISA treatment is only cow's milk protein diet and diet foods. A definitive solution can be achieved with these formulas.
If a baby with ISA has additional food allergies, a solution may not be achieved with only a cow's milk protein diet; detection and elimination of the second or even third allergen is essential.
Fully Hydrolyzed Formulas ( THF)
This food These are foods for medical purposes and are sold in pharmacies, not in markets. In these foods, large cow's milk proteins that cause allergy have been broken down by enzymatic methods and reduced in size, reducing their allergenic properties.
Aminoacid Foods
Some children with a very allergic nature may even be allergic to such reduced protein fragments, that is, peptides. Patients whose complaints continue despite these foods should be given amino acid foods whose protein structure is completely broken down into amino acids. In amino acid foods, proteins are broken down into their building blocks, amino acids. If we want to explain it with an analogy; If protein is a “house”, amino acids are bricks. Their nutritional properties are the same. But these amino acids cannot be recognized as allergens by the immune system and cannot initiate an allergic reaction in children with IJ.
Soy-Based Foods
While soy-based foods used to be widely used in children with IJ, they are now available in both soy-based foods. Their use has decreased due to allergies and tHFs being widely used and sold everywhere. However, we do not want to close the subject here without mentioning that parents who do research on ISA on the internet and how their babies can be fed can still find information about soy-based formulas on the websites of some dietitians and health professionals.
Goat milk, goat milk products, goat milk. formulas
If the patient does not have a cross allergy to goat milk products - which is 50 to 90% likely - and does not have antibodies against goat milk, these products can be used. I would like to immediately answer a question that is still asked due to classical medical information that those fed with goat milk and goat milk products may have folic acid deficiency: If the baby is under 1 year old, feeding ONLY goat milk is out of the question, so folic acid deficiency cannot occur. If the patient is fed with goat milk-based foods, folic acid deficiency will not be observed since these foods also contain folic acid.
What happens if ISA is not treated?
Let's think about it:
The patient has If there is ISA with bloody diarrhea, it is out of the question not to be treated, but let's say that no diet was given. It didn't fix it. Then, vital problems such as growth retardation, anemia, and even intussusception may occur in the patient. If the patient has abdominal pain, colic and vomiting, and if the symptoms recur occasionally when family elders "accidentally" give dairy products, then, as you will read in the long-term prognosis section, an invitation is made for other allergic diseases, especially allergic asthma. This is valid for all types of food allergies, especially food-related eczema.
LTRA, antihistamines, antireflux drugs
The place of these drugs in the treatment of ISA may be to reduce symptoms and provide temporary relief. For example, antiallergics can reduce itching in a baby with eczema, moisturizers prevent drying of the skin; Antireflux medications are also helpful in cases of vomiting. However, if the underlying allergic background is not treated, these drugs will only act as "make-up"...
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