Gideon Lack Induction of Toleration Study

Posted on: Wed, 03/01/2006 - 5:25am
PerplexedMom's picture
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Joined: 02/26/2006 - 09:00

Have you guys seen this? (Sorry I don't know how to make it a link.)

[url="http://www.immunetolerance.org/research/allergy/trials/lack.html"]http://www.immunetolerance.org/research/allergy/trials/lack.html[/url]

A selected highlight:

One strategy to prevent peanut allergy is to feed young infants high doses of peanuts. Pre-clinical data on oral tolerance induction in murine models favours this strategy. Epidemiological data on Jewish children also favours this strategy: young Israeli infants less than 1 year of age who eat a median of 6g of peanut protein per week do not develop peanut allergy, whereas UK Jewish infants who rigorously avoid peanut products have a rate of peanut allergy that is at least 10 times higher than in Israel.

Dr. Hugh Sampson is one of the investigators.

This kind of thing is why I'm so torn over that strict-avoidance policy. Research is showing that regularly eating peanuts keeps a child from relapsing once he's outgrown the allergy... the Dr. Burks study Melissa's child is in seems to show that careful exposure can lead to tolerance... and I see so much anecdotal evidence along the lines of 'Diagnosed with mild hives, strict avoidance for two years, anaphylaxis at an accidental ingestion.'

I mean, I'm not about to go out and give my girl Kung Pao chicken with the nuts picked out, and I'm sure none of you would either, but it does make you wonder if that strict-avoidance policy is hurting in some cases, know what I mean?

Food for thought, at any rate.

Posted on: Wed, 03/01/2006 - 1:45pm
Adele's picture
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Joined: 01/31/2005 - 09:00

How does this explain adult onset PA? There are
other adults, like me, that ate peanuts regularly before developing PA. I thought that perhaps I developed PA because I ate TOO many peanuts.
Who knows!

Posted on: Wed, 03/01/2006 - 6:17pm
williamsmummy's picture
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Joined: 03/26/2002 - 09:00

interesting, and can understand it to a point.
however am a little uncomfortable with the idea of 4 month old infants being fed peanut snacks.
I take it that all of these infants are bottle fed, and so require the need for early introduction of solids.
How would breastfeeding and mothers diet fit in to this study?
This is something to keep an eye on, may surprise us yet and give us something for our grandchildren!!
sarah

Posted on: Wed, 03/01/2006 - 10:02pm
melissa's picture
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Joined: 07/05/2004 - 09:00

This is interesting although I'd be petrified to give pn like this to an infant...however, like mentioned in the first post, w/ the study we're in w/ Dr. Burks I do wonder if somewhere down the road things will change away from the "strict avoidance" to a very carefully controlled (i.e. w/ a doctor/hospital) slow increase of pn food in order to develop a "safety level", just like we're doing in the study...I think it's been so scary for doctors to even consider doing this for fear of anaphylaxis and worse, but I do think in the future this will be a more common practice...just my two cents worth...thanks for the article...very interesting!
Melissa

Posted on: Wed, 03/01/2006 - 10:14pm
DRobbins's picture
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Joined: 07/19/2001 - 09:00

Quote:Originally posted by PerplexedMom:
[b] young Israeli infants less than 1 year of age who eat a median of 6g of peanut protein per week do not develop peanut allergy, whereas UK Jewish infants who rigorously avoid peanut products have a rate of peanut allergy that is at least 10 times higher than in Israel.[/b]
Are peanuts processed in Israel in the same way they are in Great Britain? I've read several places that it's believed that peanut allergies are much more prevalent in the west than in China because the Chinese traditionally boil their peanuts, whereas here in the US, peanuts are dry-roasted and so there's a tremendous difference in cooking temperatures. Is there any such difference between the preparation of peanuts in Israel versus England that could account for the results of this study?
--Debbie

Posted on: Wed, 03/01/2006 - 10:19pm
DRobbins's picture
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Joined: 07/19/2001 - 09:00

One other thought -- is there a genetic difference between the Israeli babies and the British babies in the study? I know they're all of Jewish descent, but did they control for Sephardic versus Ashkenazic (spelling?) heritage? How about for the level of allergic family history? Outside of the study, are the rates of PA similar between the Israeli and the British Jews?
Just wondering. They probably accounted for all of this.
--Debbie

Posted on: Thu, 03/02/2006 - 12:18am
PerplexedMom's picture
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Joined: 02/26/2006 - 09:00

Adele: You know, that's a great question. I wonder if adult onset allergies operate by a slightly different mechanism than childhood allergies? I'm thinking of the difference between Type I and Type II diabetes, here.
It's interesting, too, that you hear about a lot of people who become allergic to nuts or shellfish as adults, but I think not too many who become allergic to, say, eggs. Unless I just don't hear about 'em. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
[Edited for: typofix.]
[This message has been edited by PerplexedMom (edited March 02, 2006).]

Posted on: Wed, 03/01/2006 - 1:45pm
Adele's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/31/2005 - 09:00

How does this explain adult onset PA? There are
other adults, like me, that ate peanuts regularly before developing PA. I thought that perhaps I developed PA because I ate TOO many peanuts.
Who knows!

Posted on: Wed, 03/01/2006 - 6:17pm
williamsmummy's picture
Offline
Joined: 03/26/2002 - 09:00

interesting, and can understand it to a point.
however am a little uncomfortable with the idea of 4 month old infants being fed peanut snacks.
I take it that all of these infants are bottle fed, and so require the need for early introduction of solids.
How would breastfeeding and mothers diet fit in to this study?
This is something to keep an eye on, may surprise us yet and give us something for our grandchildren!!
sarah

Posted on: Wed, 03/01/2006 - 10:02pm
melissa's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/05/2004 - 09:00

This is interesting although I'd be petrified to give pn like this to an infant...however, like mentioned in the first post, w/ the study we're in w/ Dr. Burks I do wonder if somewhere down the road things will change away from the "strict avoidance" to a very carefully controlled (i.e. w/ a doctor/hospital) slow increase of pn food in order to develop a "safety level", just like we're doing in the study...I think it's been so scary for doctors to even consider doing this for fear of anaphylaxis and worse, but I do think in the future this will be a more common practice...just my two cents worth...thanks for the article...very interesting!
Melissa

Posted on: Wed, 03/01/2006 - 10:14pm
DRobbins's picture
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Joined: 07/19/2001 - 09:00

Quote:Originally posted by PerplexedMom:
[b] young Israeli infants less than 1 year of age who eat a median of 6g of peanut protein per week do not develop peanut allergy, whereas UK Jewish infants who rigorously avoid peanut products have a rate of peanut allergy that is at least 10 times higher than in Israel.[/b]
Are peanuts processed in Israel in the same way they are in Great Britain? I've read several places that it's believed that peanut allergies are much more prevalent in the west than in China because the Chinese traditionally boil their peanuts, whereas here in the US, peanuts are dry-roasted and so there's a tremendous difference in cooking temperatures. Is there any such difference between the preparation of peanuts in Israel versus England that could account for the results of this study?
--Debbie

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