Michael R. Wexler, M.D.
Michael R. Wexler is the son of a doctor and the father of a doctor. He is a board-certified allergist/immunologist and pediatrician specializing in allergies, asthma, and immunology. A graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Wexler practices at Advancements in Allergy and Asthma Care Ltd. He is also on staff at several local hospitals and is an associate clinical professor at his alma mater. In September 2014, his practice began offering the FARM (Food Allergy Risk Management) program.
What troubles you about how food allergies are traditionally managed?
The normal course is to identify what someone is allergic to, then avoid it. If the kids happen to eat [what they’re allergic to], you treat it with emergency medicines. It’s very unsatisfactory for parents and physicians to be told, “Just do your best to avoid the food.” There’s no in-between.
How can we prevent this?
There’s been a lot of discussion over the years about trying to desensitize children. They were seeing results a couple of decades ago when they were doing allergy shots with food. Then there was a mistake, tragically, and the child died.
That was the last big approach before switching gears and introducing the food orally. Dr. Richard Wasserman has been a real pioneer.
How does FARM work?
Rather than just give medicine to treat the symptoms, we’re trying to train the body to tolerate it. The very first dose is 2.05 micrograms of peanut. One peanut weighs 250 milligrams. We have only been doing peanuts.
While we do the buildup phase, the kids eat the food twice a day within a window of time and they can’t exercise for a certain time before and after eating. If they’re sick, we have to back down a bit. If things go smoothly, the kids will get their maintenance dose in four to six months. Some parents are happy if the kids can eat foods with trace amounts [of peanuts] safely. Some parents want their kids to be bite-safe. The current recommendation is that they eat the food daily, indefinitely.
Have there been any side effects?
It’s rare, but sometimes the kids have allergic reactions and they need epinephrine. Typically it occurs when they’re exercising or sick. The most common concern is developing eosinophilic esophagitis, an allergic condition of acid reflux. We watch for it.
Has the FARM approach been tested independently?
“Dr. Wasserman and I are clinicians. We know the kids and can see what is happening. I understand the way of medicine is very controlled studies, but the approach has been so slow and cumbersome. Dr. Wasserman has desensitized about 300 kids and adults. He hasn’t had anyone who developed eosinophilic esophagitis. As long as we’re careful and know when to back off, it seems to be safe for the vast majority of people.”
Quoted from Top Doctors of 2015: Emerging Medicine–Six Twin Cities Top Docs who are on the forefront of innovation in medicine weigh in on the medical breakthroughs—from healthier kids to better sleep—we can expect in the next 20 years.
http://mspmag.com/Health/Articles/Top-Doctors/Top-Doctors-2015-Emerging-Medicine/
Medical School:
University of Minnesota Medical School 1977-1982
Residency:
Pediatrics, University of Minnesota 1983-1985
Fellowships:
Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, University of Minnesota 1985-1987
Certifications and Licenses:
Minnesota Medicine and Surgery
Board Certified American Board of Pediatrics 1987
Board Certified American Board of Allergy and Immunology 1987
Elected Phi Beta Kappa 1976
Dr. Wexler’s Allergy Clinic ‘Advancements in Allergy’ Earns #1 Score on Minnesota HealthScores for Successful Asthma Care & Treatment
Dr. Michael Wexler, M.D., earned the top status in Minnesota Healthscores Asthma Care & Treatment category from data gathered from hundreds of Minnesota allergy clinics during 2010-2011 by the non-profit community organization MN Community Measurement.
http://advancementsinallergy.com/AllergyEvaluationTreatments/AsthmaMNHealthscores/tabid/83/Default.aspx
Dr. Wexler Voted Top Doctor 18 Times
Voted Best Doctor 1998 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 1999 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2000 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2001 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2002 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2003 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2004 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2005 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2006 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2007 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2009 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2010 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2011 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2012 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2013 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2014 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
Voted Best Doctor 2015 by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine.
FARM PROGRAM:
Dr. Michael Wexler’s allergy group is now beginning a “Food Allergy Risk Management” (or “FARM”) program to help children and their families be more proactive with their food allergies.
The goal is to tailor make a program that will allow children to eat allergenic foods, so they can be “bite safe” or safely tolerate trace amounts of foods. This is to be accomplished by controlled food challenges once per week in the office for 2 to 6 months followed by maintaining the goal dosage at home twice daily on an ongoing basis. Patients cannot exercise 1 hour before or 2 hours after dosing at home or in clinic.
The FARM program will incorporate common food allergens such as peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk, wheat, and soy. Children 5 years old and older without a history of eosinophilic esophagitis will be eligible.
Food Allergy Risk Management (FARM) Mission Statement: Food allergies have been increasing in recent years. In large part, the management relies on avoidance and then treatment with emergency medications if an accident occurs. To complicate matters, many food manufacturers label their packages “may contain trace amounts of ….” or “produced in a facility that manufactures …” even if there is no contaminating food allergen. Studies have shown that there is no contamination at all in the majority (85-95%) of such products. As difficult and complex as it already is for these families, this labeling makes it even more burdensome and prohibitive for children trying to lead more participatory and happy lives. The FARM plan seeks to allow children and their families to navigate out of the manufacturers’ verbiage (“may contain” or “produced in a manufacturing plant”) while opening up many new food products that they can safely eat.
In recent years, there has been progress for children with milk and egg allergies in that many can tolerate baked products, which increases the chance for eventual tolerance.
There are now a number of allergy practices throughout the country that offer graded challenges to allergic foods to help them develop tolerance. Specifically, Dr. Richard Wasserman of Dallas and Dr. James Baker of Portland have been involved with this process for a number of years with whom we have consulted in developing our program. See Dr. Wasserman’s interview on NBC5 about this process. Our FARM protocol was designed to gradually increase children’s tolerance so that they can safely eat foods that were manufactured in large production facilities, which could have crossover contaminants, and also to tolerate an accidental bite of a food allergen.
This will also likely give anxious families the confidence to fly in airplanes and be comfortable in other concerned environments. This will dramatically increase the quality of life for these children and their families and give them a positive outlook for the future.
Contact
Dr. Wexler
Advancements in Allergy and Asthma Care, LTD
12450 Wayzata Blvd, Suite 215, Minnetonka, MN 55305
(952) 546-6866
http://www.advancementsinallergy.com/
State: Minnesota
Treats single/multi allergens at once: Mulitple: Up to 4 nuts at once
Offers SLIT for food allergens: No
Additional Features:
Articles in Our Research & Learn Center
Map to Office(s)
[property_map1]
[property_map2]
[property_map3]
[property_map4]
[property_map5]
