Doctors Use Immunotherapy to Treat Peanut Allergies
Author: tiger Published Under: Health
In a recent study, eight children with peanut allergies were given increasingly large doses of peanut flour over the course of 18 months. At the end of the treatment, five of the children were able to tolerate peanuts without having an allergic reaction.
The study, which researchers warn should never be tried at home or without direct medical supervision, used immunotherapy to help the children build a tolerance against peanuts.
Researchers started by giving the children a very small doses of peanut flour, specifically the amount that the children could handle without an allergic reaction. This dose was gradually increased over the course of the several months.
By the end of the experiment, 5 of the children were able to tolerate peanuts 8 grams of peanut flour, which is approximately 15 peanuts, without showing any signs of peanut allergy. For now, these children must continue therapy, because the researchers do not want the peanut allergy to return.
Research on this matter continues, but doctors urge that parents not try peanut allergy immunotherapy at home or without medical supervision, because of the serious risks it poses.
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This research seems to confirm a report released last year that found that peanut allergies where much more common in countries, like the United States and Europe, where children were not exposed to large quantities of peanuts. This report found that Israeli children, who consumed a large amount of peanut products during their first year of childbirth, where significantly less likely to contract peanut allergy than children in Europe.
Peanut Allergies are very serious and the number of people affected by them in the United States appears to be growing. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America concluded that peanut allergy is the most common factor in food related deaths. It should be noted, however, that this is still a statistically small number, with 1 death per 830,000 children reported in the United States last year. Other symptoms include, vomiting, diarrhea, asthma, and anaphylactic shock.
Since peanut products are so prelevant, it can be very difficult to avoid them, especially for children. Many restaurants use peanut oil and even just coming in contact with something that touched peanuts can result in an allergic reaction in some cases.
The most recent study, which was preformed at Duke University, used immunotherapy desensitization to reduce peanut allergy. This process was first developed in the 1870s as a means of treating hay fever and involves exposing an individual to increasingly larger doses of the allergen.
Again, it is important to note that immunotherapy desensitization should only be preformed under the direct supervision of a doctor.