Posted on 01/30/2014 3:56:58 PM PST by dennisw
Gradual exposure to peanut protein powder over six months helped more than half of kids with peanut allergies learn to tolerate the equivalent of about 10 peanuts per day, according to results of a new clinical trial.
Phase 2 trial also found that the overwhelming majority of kids who tested the experimental therapy were able to eat the equivalent of about five peanuts each day without having an allergic reaction. This led to significant improvements in the quality of life for the families of these children, according to report published Thursday by the Lancet.
Estimate 15 million Americans and 17 million Europeans are allergic to peanuts, and most of them are children. Among food allergies, reactions to peanuts are the “most common cause of severe and fatal allergic reactions,” the study authors wrote. As many as half of all kids with peanut allergies wind up eating them by accident over the course of a year, and the constant fear of eating hidden peanuts is a big drag on the quality of life for these kids and their families.
A group of researchers from the U.K. has been experimenting with oral immunotherapy as a way to desensitize kids to peanuts. Their regimen involves feeding kids increasingly higher doses of a finely ground peanut protein powder, mixed in with their regular food. It starts with a dose of 2 milligrams of peanut protein powder per day, then building to a daily dose of 5 mg, 12.5 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, 400 mg and finally leveling off at 800 mg. (Oral immunotherapy, or OIT, has been tested for allergies to eggs and milk as well.) In the peanut study, the first exposures to each dose occurred at a clinical research facility; after that, kids were able to eat at home.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I have several grandchildren (all from the same family) who are exceptionally allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. I certainly wouldn’t try this at home.
Don’t worry, somebody will be along shortly to tell you that the allergy is not real because nobody had it when they were kids.
And here I am. I know that the peanut allergy is real and can be deadly; what I don't understand is what has changed to bring it on. I never saw anyone with a peanut allergy in the late 60s. Is it because babies would die before they got old enough to see the effect? Is it due to the antibiotics or hormones in food? What is the trigger? As I understand it, in the worst cases, they can't even stand to have the peanuts near them.
It is nice to see that they might have a way to reverse or minimize the effects. If I had it or had children who did, I would make them carry two epi-pens, supply two to the school nurse and ensure the teachers and nurses know what to do. To go into anaphylactic shock from the aroma of a peanut is pretty terrifying.
Their hospitalizations were real.
My son in law (different family) once worked in an office where a visiting editor came in to help ‘put a book to bed’. Everyone was working late to meet a deadline and they decided to order food delivered.
They decided to order Chinese. Although they knew of the editor’s peanut allergy and they avoided all dishes with nuts in them, they forgot that most Chinese food is prepared in peanut oil. She died on the spot before the medics could get there.
That would make you a believer.
You aren’t denying that the allergy exists (unless my reading comprehension skills are too taxed today), you’re asking the questions we all ask about it. My cousin’s son is so bad he has two Epipens: one for initial contact and one for the short hospital trip. He must receive care at ER immediately. I actually question our food supply. I also wonder if we expose children to food too soon. I type this as a nursing mother, I think that mom’s are so anxious to cut back on formula expenses that they introduce food early to offset the cost. Just my 2¢.
When I was a kid we all ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at school. We used to sing, “peanut butter and jelly and a sock in the belly”
This came up in the thread from a couple of days ago where the kid had I think a salad that had peanuts in the dressing and the mom didn't have the epi-pen so she went to a pharmacy and the person at the counter wouldn't give her one to use and the kid died. Just tragic. But my question is, how long does the epi-pen take to work and how long does it last? Does the epi-pen have more than one shot available?
That really sucks to have a child have to fear for his life over a peanut, just damn. How bad is he, is one peanut enough to set it off or is it even worse where the aroma is dangerous? Do any other family members have it?
Unfortunately, The therapy “is years away from routine clinical use,” Greenhawt wrote. The additional research needed “must be done without added pressure or heightened expectations to quickly produce a marketable therapy.”
Definitely something you don't want to try at home but I bet some will try.
The only thing I remember from school anything like this was a couple kids were allergic to bee stings and I have one friend who is allergic to them.
That is a terrible story. I can't imagine watching the woman suffer and everyone being helpless to do anything and I've seen a couple people die. To die from takeout food, I bet everyone that was there is seriously scarred for life.
My wife is a vegan and when we go out to eat, she asks if there is any animal products in the food, they lie all the time but it wouldn't kill her. Imagine asking the server about peanuts, the server lies or doesn't know and doesn't bother to ask and someone gets sick, not good at all.
Does the epi-pen have a long shelf life? It would be a good idea to have a few on hand if you owned a restaurant. The only thing is, no good deed goes unpunished and if the restaurant supplied the epi-pen and the person died, they would get sued.
While everyone usually is allergic to something, more than likely most of those peanut allergies are in the minds of overly fanatic parents. It's well known that kids get their immunities while young so, of course, this therapy works. Taking away their phones and xboxes and kicking them outside into the sunshine and dirt might just help grow healthy bodies.
Well, I won’t say anything about the prevalence of peanut allergies, but I will say that if we have to go to war again, our enemies may well concentrate bombing raids on ADD medication factories and fire peanut-grapeshot at our troops...
I suspect it's because of so many chemicals in our homes and processed foods. With all these unnatural substances kids are breathing in and eating, their bodies are having to fight constantly so something has to eventually give. I bet a study would find that there are more allergies in general in city kids vs. country kids. Also, more in kids who are inside with A/C vs. those who breathe fresh air from open windows. More in kids who play their xbox vs. those who go outside to play with their dogs.
I’ve been a lurker for, I don’t know, years. You’re comment is the first in a long time that I have responded to. We too, used to eat peanut butter. Used to laugh quietly about peanut allergies too. Then our son went into anaphylaxis after eating some cake with peanuts in the frosting. He was four at the time. Did I laugh at him after he threw up and had difficulty breathing? No, I did not. Whatever the cause, this “normal” American family ended up with a kid who is now deathly allergic to peanuts. We didn’t do anything to make him this way (obviously, that we know of) and it is what it is.
Do you make most of your judgments using this same logic as you expressed in your comment? Just Damn.
The current thinking is that too clean of an environment has created some overactive immune environments.
I think she was faking.
I agree......The kids grow up in too antiseptic an environment
That is my thinking as well. When I was a kid we were always outside, riding bikes or motorcycles and exploring all the open fields that were everywhere before they paved everything over. So, our immune systems got a lot of things to fight and then the antibodies stay in our systems so the older I got, the less colds I got.
Also, the chemicals I used to rebuild carburetors were nasty and if you got it on your hand, it would dry it out and the skin would flake off but boy did it boil out the carb’s passages. Same thing with the parts solvent machines. It didn’t really affect me like carb cleaner did but it probably wasn’t good to have extended exposures. Now they have the safe solvents and they are useless.
I don’t know about these peanut allergies though. I think the overly processed food, the hormones and antibiotics are a witches brew of chemicals that amazingly don’t affect that many people but for those it does affect, it can be deadly. I would say this is also the reason that Doctors are seeing more antibiotic resistant strains like MRSA.
It’s nice to see that there’s a possible treatment on the horizon.
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