Treatment for Peanut Allergies Shows Promise

[DainBramaged]

A medically supervised daily dose of peanuts may help children with peanut allergies greatly increase their tolerance to the food, according to two new studies that raise the possibility of a cure for this potentially life-threatening condition.

The findings, presented on Sunday at a meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in Washington, suggest that a treatment for peanut allergy may be developed in two or three years, said Dr. Wesley Burks, the chief of the division of pediatric allergy and immunology at Duke University Medical Center, who helped conduct the research.

An estimated 12 million Americans suffer from food allergies, including about 2.2 million children. About 3.3 million people are allergic to peanuts or tree nuts. While drugs can be used to treat an allergic reaction, there are no approved treatments for food allergies.

Because even a minor exposure can set off a reaction, many people at risk strictly avoid foods that contain an allergen or were prepared in places where nuts or other allergens might have been used.

Nearly half of the 150 deaths attributed to food allergies each year in the United States are caused by peanut allergies, according to Duke University.

The new treatment uses doses of peanuts that start as small as one-thousandth of a peanut and eventually increase to about 15 peanuts a day. In a pilot study at Duke University and Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, 33 children with documented peanut allergy have received the daily therapy, which is given as a powder sprinkled on food. Most of the children are tolerating the therapy without developing allergic reactions, and five stopped the treatment after two and a half years because they could now tolerate peanuts in their regular diet. But four children dropped out because they could not tolerate the treatment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/health/16peanuts.html?_r=1&hp

[Demeter]

1. How Very Interesting! Thanks for the Post!

[Diane R]

2. My son has a life-threatening allergy to peanuts. This would be very good news.

[Diane R]

3. Actually, reading this, it appears this won't work for the severely allergic, like my son.

Sounds like this will only help those with 'normal' allergy to peanuts. Many in the study couldn't tolerate even the most minute exposure, which is in keeping with the reactions I've seen in my son.

[DainBramaged]

4. When I was in my 20's, I FINLLY realized I had REALLY severe allergies

mostly food allergies; shellfish, some types of nuts, wine (the tannic acid, oh boy did I get sick), and MSG, so bad to the MSG that I had to read labels on food to see where it fell in the ingredients. I went to an allergist and did all of the tests (they sucked) and started to get the shots (and I also met my Beloved to whom I owe the beauty of my beautiful Daughter to) and learned to stay away from all of the things I loved but made me sick.


Now as I approach 60, all of the allergies I had when I was young (except to the MSG) are gone. And I didn't realize they were gone until very recently when I had scallops, wine, almonds all in the course of about a day, and haven't been sick since I've eaten them again.


I wish I knew when I outgrew those allergies, because I missed a lot of good eating for a lot of years.

I hope they find a cure for peanut allergies. There is nothing quite so fine as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.