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Food Allergy – Doctors Develop Therapy To Cure Peanut Allergy

Thousands of children around the world suffer from peanut allergy, to cure this situation doctors have found a potential solution recently. This breakthrough therapy, controlled doses of the peanut flour that are used for retraining the child’s immune system in order to bring it back to the normal condition.

Initially, doctors treated 20 children who were severely suffering from peanut allergies with this therapy. Six month after the experiment, some youngsters were able to eat up to twelve peanuts daily without undergoing any allergic reaction that may have harmed their life. Now, researchers at the Cambridge want to find out whether a similar technique can also be used for tackling other food related allergies like kiwi fruit, gluten and milk.

It has been found that around 2% of children in Britain suffer from allergy from peanuts and in total; around four hundred and fifty thousand children and adults have this condition. Allergy to peanuts can cause several symptoms in the allergic people that may range from rashes and mild itching to dangerous swellings of airways, severe asthma and breathing problems. Peanut allergy is one the most common allergic reaction in people and it appears to be rising even more.

On an average, 7 children die due to peanut allergy every year. Dr. Pamela Ewan, who played a significant role in the study and works as a consultant allergist in the Addenbrooke’s Hospital, said that the treatment that has been found cannot be identified as a cure. Basically, the aim of the technique is to retrain the immune system of the person by exposing his body to peanuts with a low dose initially and then gradually increasing the amount.

Some people show serious symptoms even at a very low amount of peanut (1/400 peanut) and for such people, the minimal amount is used to begin with. It is still to be seen that how long this desensitization term can work.

Wherever people go, they have to eat peanuts in one or another form, being free from peanut allergy is a life-changing experience. However, parents have been warned to not use the technique at their home. Giving doses of peanut flour to the children can be extremely dangerous and it should be done only under expert medical supervision.

20 children suffering from severe peanut allergy were given small doses of peanut flour daily for 6 months. Initially, the amount of peanut flour given was not enough to trigger an adverse reaction, then the dose was increased in every 2 weeks. The procedure followed until the children were able to eat peanut flour equivalent to 6 peanuts everyday. After 16 weeks, their immune system was desensitized by eating peanuts daily.

According to the researchers and the doctors, the 20 patients who were between 5 to 17 years of age can now eat up to 12 peanuts in a day. They said that these 20 children will be monitored for the next 3-4 years so that their tolerance level can be followed. Studies will also be conducted to see whether peanut flour can also be given in the form of a tablet.

The chief executive of Allergy UK, Jules Payne, has welcomed the study and said that this is giving a tremendous hope for people who are suffering from food allergies because being allergic to foods can make one’s life very miserable.

One of the major causes of food allergies in children is cleanliness in the homes. They believe that homes are too clean today and children are not exposed to germs and dirt of outside, and as a consequence, their immune system is not developed properly and their body reacts even at the slightest amount of foreign matter.