Blogger Nicole Smith posted a new report on her treatment for eosinophilic esophagitis and mast cell activation with Dr. Xiu-Min Li. You can read about this unusual case here.
CONFERENCE NEWS–MOUNT SINAI
July 15, 2018–3rd East-West Integrative Forum on Study and Treatment of Food Allergy, Eczema, Asthma, and More
Reports on new drug development, food allergy treatment, asthma, and skin disorders from both East and West. Speakers from Henan Medical University, MIT, and Columbia University as well as Mount Sinai. Patients will describe their treatment with Chinese herbal medicine. More to come as the program takes shape.
“Treatment Summer Camp” to be held at Mount Sinai July 16-21
July 16-21, 2018 Dr. Xiu-Min Li will hold the annual “treatment summer camp” at the Mount Sinai Faculty Practice for the first time. Parents who come to town for camp should come a day early so they can attend the conference on July 15–sorry no babysitting. The Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai said of the 2017 camp on its Facebook page:
“Patients and their families enjoyed Dr. Xiu-Min Li’s summer treatment camp that included a week of acupuncture, acupressure, and the ‘herbal patch’ in which medicinal herbs are applied to acupuncture points. They came from as far away as California and even Asia and enjoyed the great weather and many sites of New York City afterwards. The close interaction between patients, families, and their doctor not only delivers therapy in an intensive fashion but it also enhances the sense of teamwork and commitment that is crucial for their treatment. Thank you to our patients and families for participating and we hope to see you again next year!”
Dr. Li and books about her work covered in the Netherlands.
@AACMaven article in NL pic.twitter.com/8hjtZTimCd
— voedselallergie (@AllergieVoeding) December 9, 2016
Dr. Xiu-Min Li was interviewed by the FHTI founder Renata Bushko Hear this medical pioneer reflect on her career and achievements.
Dr. Xiu-Min Li’s paper written for the Future of Health Technology Institute is now published online and can be read here.
Renata Bushko, Founder of the Future of Health Technology Institute informs us:
“It is my great pleasure to announce that Dr. Xiu-Min Li has been named the recipient of the 2016 Future of Health Technology Award for her research and clinical work on botanical drugs for asthma, food allergies, and other diseases of the immune system, and for her vision to make them available to patients through integrative medical practice. The award will be presented on May 2, 2016, during the 20th Anniversary Future of Health Technology Summit™ at the MIT Media Laboratory in Cambridge Massachusetts, USA.” (Previous winners include Dr. Marvin Minsky and Dr. Raymond Kurzweil)
This page is dedicated to news about the book: Food Allergies: Traditional Chinese 
Medicine, Western Science, and the Search for a Cure, which was announced recently here. It recounts the research of Dr. Xiu-Min Li at Mount Sinai.
News About Dr. Xiu-Min Li’s Research
Dr. Xiu-Min Li’s team has two significant recent publications:
One, published in the Jan. issue of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, is called Maternal Antiasthma Simplified Herbal Medicine Intervention therapy prevents airway inflammation and modulates pulmonary innate immune responses in young offspring mice. It described experiments to reduce the transmission of asthma from mother mice to their offspring. After female mice were induced with asthma via intragastric feeding with egg allergens and an adjuvant, some were treated before conception with steroids, some were treated with anti-asthma herbal medical intervention ASHMI™, a three-herb formula, and some were left naïve. Their offspring were subsequently exposed to the same allergen. The untreated offspring were sensitized to a high degree with asthma symptoms. Those whose mothers were treated with steroids achieved some protection. The ASHMI™ mice were substantially less asthmatic. Read More
The second article from the Canadian journal Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology, “Successful prevention of extremely frequent and severe food anaphylaxis in three children by combined traditional Chinese medicine therapy” gives case accounts of three patients with frequent severe food anaphylaxis (FSFA).
“Three FSFA patients (P) ages 9–16 years (P1 allergic to milk; P2 and P3 to tree nuts) qualified for case analysis. All experienced numerous reactions requiring administration of rescue medications and emergency room (ER) visits during the 2 years prior to starting TCM. P1-experienced approximately 100 reactions, 50 epinephrine administrations, 40 ER visits, and 3 admissions to intensive care units. P2 experienced 30 reactions; all requiring epinephrine administration, as well as 10 emergency hospitalizations. P3 experienced 400 reactions, five of which required epinephrine administration and ER visits. TCM treatment markedly reduced or eliminated reactions in all. P1 experienced no reactions after 2.5 year of TCM. P2 experienced no reactions after 1 year of TCM treatment, at which time she passed an oral almond food challenge. She continues to be reaction-free 6 months off TCM while consuming nuts. P3 has achieved a 94% reduction in reaction frequency following 7 months of TCM, has discontinued daily antihistamine use, and has required no epinephrine administrations or ER visits.”
Read More
About the Book
The book is now for sale at Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble has both paper and ebook
The Kindle edition is now available here
Kirkus Reviews – In this thoroughly researched volume, Ehrlich approachably analyzes a new method: a lovely and perhaps inevitable coupling of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western science. Ehrlich’s strength… is his cogent analysis of the synthesis of alternative and mainstream methods and treatments, and his focus on the balance between quality patient care and robust scientific principles. Anyone seeking to better understand food allergies will benefit from the depth of Ehrlich’s examination. More
Thanks to Food Allergy Sleuth, Jessica Martin, PhD neuroscientist for her compliments:
“Mr. Ehrlich’s book beautifully articulates the unfolding “motion picture” of science behind FAHF-2 to treat food allergies…Bravo, Henry, for writing this unfolding gem of a story in translational science. Experts will appreciate the thorough coverage of years’ worth of scientific studies, and patients and their families will have a deeper understanding of the complex inner workings of allergies, all while riveted to its pages. Take that, sleep-inducing immunology textbooks!”
Read the full review here, and read Jessica’s wonderful posts on this website here, here, and here.
You can also follow Dr. Li’s work in the Facebook group Chinese Herbs for Allergies, which was created by mothers whose children are in treatment privately with her.
Dr. Li was one of the first guest editorialists for this website. You can read her original post by clicking here. Further insight into Dr. Li’s work and the nature of modern scientific collaboration can be found in this account of a lunch-time meeting with Dr. Kari Nadeau of Stanford, one the the world’s experts on food allergies and other aspects of allergic disease.
Henry Ehrlich gave the keynote speech at the first Food Allergy Blogger Conference, held in Las Vegas in November 2013, which announced the forthcoming book and updated the audience on the state of Dr. Li’s research. You can read the speech by clicking here. Subsequently it was chosen for the February 2014 edition of Vital Speeches of the Day, the cover of which appears at right.
The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Volume 133, Issue 2 , Pages 309-317, February 2014:
“During the last decade, there have been many examples of potential therapies for food allergy that have been demonstrated by using murine models. One of the most discussed is the use of Chinese herbal formulations, which has been the subject of previous reviews. In particular, work on Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2 (FAHF-2) has demonstrated the potential for murine models as a tool to aid in the development of novel therapies. FAHF-2, a concoction of 9 herbal extractions, has been clearly demonstrated to limit the severity and progression of food-induced allergic responses to peanut in these models, and its effects were sustained over several months. Importantly, although relatively large doses of the extracted formulation are necessary, there was no reported evidence of toxicity from this treatment strategy. In an initial phase 1 trial of 18 patients, FAHF-2 has been reported to be safe and to have reduced expression of CD63, an activation marker, on ex vivo–stimulated basophils from these patients. Further studies have begun to be aimed at elucidating the mechanisms through which these effects might be mediated.”
Advance Notice from Allergic Living:
Susan Weissman, author of Feeding Eden: the Trials and Triumphs of a Food Allergy Family says, “While reading I was struck by the inherent logic of merging TCM with modern medicine and equally in awe of Henry Ehrlich’s tenacious abilities as writer. He distills complex scientific processes, translating each and every detail into language and constructs for patients, parents and doctors. After reading Food Allergies: Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western Science, and the Search for a Cure I felt I had been given the gift of the possibilities that lie ahead for my own child – an homage of respect from an author who understood that his readers had been waiting for this story of science to unfold.” – Read more at Susan’s blog
Thanks to Selena Bluntzer for her touching review in AmazingandAtopic. Also to Colette Martin, outspoken cookbook author and all-around food allergy authority for hers on Learning to Eat Allergy Free.
Gina Clowes, editor of the Allergy Moms Newsletter, has a child in treatment with Dr. Li and has published two interviews with her, the second of which appears here. It recounts news of Dr. Li’s most recent research.
Gwen Smith, editor of Allergic Living and friend of our website, also has news of Dr. Li’s recent research in this piece covering Dr. Li’s talk at the recent meeting of the AAAAI in San Diego.
Thanks to Grateful Foodie Caroline Moassessi for her generous review: Henry begins this incredible story by describing our plight with allergies and the challenges that we face. Superbly, he explains the science behind Dr. Li’s work in terms that an average everyday person like myself can understand and embrace.
This book left me feeling hopeful as Henry describes the future in the last chapters. He examines the possibilities as he explains how clinical trials work and details real case studies of patients and their current status. Peering into the lives of families suffering through the trauma of allergies and anaphylaxis and reading of their changes almost brought me to tears.For the full review, click here.
From SafeandScrumptious.com –I tore threw it like a good novel, and as I began to approach the end, unable to blink and rapidly thumbing to the next page of the eBook, I realized this wasn’t an account of early-stage research, or speculations on far-future applications. That actually, there might even be a happy ending already. In my daughter’s childhood.What if she could just be a kid—just herself? And not the kid with the allergies, and the rashes, and the restrictions, and the endless doctor visits, and… But I’m getting ahead of myself. The FAHF-2 research is exciting—and the patient stories are AMAZING!—but it is still being refined and explored. Still, I think I am finally ready to clear some room in my head to dream.—Mikhaela Reid
“…a splendid mix of journalism, science and humanity. Another friend purchased the book when it came up and we both agreed that it’s exceedingly well written–especially for a topic that could be rather dry and abstract.”–Pamela Price. See the full review here.
PURITY OF MEDICATIONS USED IN DR. XIU-MIN LI’S CLINIC The company that manufactures these preparations tests for quality, but a third-party lab, Pony Testing International Group in Beijing, tests the extracts and final products for microbial, heavy metal and pesticide residual levels. This is an official WHO collaborative lab. The same lab also tests the IND product (B-FAHF-2), which is used in research. The US FDA accepts the data from this lab. The Mount Sinai lab does additional tests for batch consistency. For those of you who want to see the standards, See question #31:
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