Brett & I were interviewed by a group about what it is liketo participate in a research study. Below is a link to the video.
OVERCOMING ALLERGIES
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| Brett Nasuti, here for a milk desensitization trial, is monitored by clinical assistant/phlebotomist Jessica Gatto (left) and nurse Ivy Villanueva, RN, BSN, CPN. |
Eleven-year-old Brett Nasuti reclines, smiling, in La-Z-Boy, wearing a “Got Milk?” t-shirt. It’s 10 a.m., and he’s just consumed one and a half ounces of milk, an impressive feat for a boy with a life-threatening milk allergy. “When I was little, I got hives in the shape of my mom’s lips when she kissed me after drinking coffee with just a little milk in it,” he says.
Brett is in the final months of a milk desensitization trial. Doctors have found that general seasonal allergy shots also suppress the body’s reaction to other allergens, like peanuts and milk. Children’s allergist and immunologist Dale Umetsu, MD, PhD, the trial’s principal investigator, hopes this suppression will provide a window allowing milk to be introduced slowly into the patient’s diet, so resistance can build up over time.
Brett’s already had his allergy shot, and now, after his milk dose, nurses will closely monitor his vital signs for the next two hours, ready with IV medications to combat any reaction. But Brett’s confident he won’t need the drugs and that the trial will work. “I’m looking forward to eating ice cream with my friends,” he says. “And I’m having a pizza party when this is all done.”
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