by Angie Best
An experimental treatment in which people with peanut allergies are fed miniscule amounts of the very food to which they're allergic is looking promising.
Oral Immunotherapy
Teams at Duke University Medical Center and Arkansas Children's Hospital gave nearly microscopic daily doses of peanut to a group of about 30 children with non-life-threatening peanut allergies. After two years, nine of them were still able to tolerate the treatment, and four appeared to be completely allergy-free. Five of nine children with peanut allergies who swallowed small doses of peanut protein under a doctor's supervision daily for over two and one-half years can now eat unlimited amounts of peanuts without any signs of allergic reaction.
Not only do they not develop hives, wheeze, or exhibit other symptoms, but immune system changes suggest they've completely outgrown their allergies, says Wesley Burks, MD, chief of the division of pediatric allergy and immunology at Duke University Medical Center. The researchers say this is the first study to show limited exposure can help someone with a food allergy become tolerant of that food. Burks presented the findings at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Academy of Asthma and Immunology.
Don’t Try this at Home
It will take two to three more years before the technique is tested enough to be used outside of an experiment. Dr. Burks said that the children in the studies were under a high level of medical supervision, and that parents should not try the approach on their own. "It's not something to do in practice or at home yet,” said Burks in an interview with the New York Times.
Keeping Your Child Safe
In an article for US News and World Report, Burks made these suggestions:
- Know the symptoms of food allergies: hives, wheezing, or other breathing problems, and stomachaches or vomiting. If it's a food allergy, these symptoms start within a minute of eating the food.
- If you think your child has had an allergic reaction to food, take her or him to the doctor for blood tests to make sure it really is a food allergy. It's easy to confuse plain old stomachaches with a food allergy.
- If your child is diagnosed with a food allergy, learn from other parents how to manage the allergy without turning family life upside down.
- Exposing children to peanuts and other foods in the first year of life might reduce the risk of developing allergies, some research suggests.
SOURCES:
- American Academy of Asthma and Immunology Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., March 13-17, 2009.
- Wesley Burks, MD, chief, division of pediatric allergy and immunology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.
- American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology web site: "Food Allergy."
- “How to Control Peanut Allergy in Children,” US News and World Report, March 16, 2009
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