Patients with life-threatening milk allergies see hopeful treatment, thanks to AI breakthrough

Doctors estimate about 1.5 million Americans live with life-threatening cow milk allergies. This is far different from lactose intolerance and much more serious.

Now, local researchers say they've found a fix for milk allergies with the help of artificial intelligence. It's an innovative way to treat kids with food allergies.

At his doctor's office, 11-year-old Vivek Peterson takes a big bite out of his chocolate ice cream cone. It's part of his treatment for a severe cow's milk allergy. He's lived most of childhood avoiding dairy.

"I was the one kid with allergies and the one kid that couldn't have any of that stuff," he said.

It was more than an inconvenience. Ingesting even drops of cow's milk could lead to the deadly consequences of anaphylactic shock. The threat was insidious.

"Everything has dairy in it. Everything has milk in it," said Vivek's mom, Priti Shah.

Then a friend told her about the Food Allergy Institute in Long Beach, where scientists are using artificial intelligence and biosimilar proteins such as goat's and mare's milk to re-train the immune systems of food allergy patients.

"We give them to the patient in a forecasted way. So that before we ever give them cow's milk, their system has already been turned down. And then in a matter of just a few months, they've gone from never having cow's milk to consuming roughly about 10 ounces of uncooked cow's milk in one sitting," said Dr. Inderpal Randhawa with the Food Allergy Institute.

The biosimilar milks are measured out in gummy bear-sized portions. Randhawa said this method is far different from administering small amounts of allergen to desensitize a patient. Instead, custom doses are given based on AI calculations drawn from 20 years of research.

"We simply draw their blood. We run hundreds of markers across their blood. Compare it to the thousands and thousands of patients who have come before them, and find a way to down regulate their immune system to the point that they're no longer going to be anaphylactic," he said.

All of the 214 patients in the study achieved remission in about a year. While there is still some maintenance, all of the patients - just like Vivek - can eat dairy freely.

"A couple things I was disappointed with, but a couple of other things I was happy with, like ice cream," Vivek said.

The Tolerance Induction Program for pediatric patients has a base price of about $4,500 a year depending on need. Vivek's mom says it's such a relief to see her son safe around milk.

"He's living his best life now. It's amazing. He's able to have anything that he wants," Shah said.