Trial Paves Way for Peanut Allergy Treatment

A new therapy has proved successful in treating peanut allergy which can also help in treating allergy from other nuts.

The findings of the clinical trial, published in the Lancet, said after six months 84 per cent of children who were allergic to peanuts could eat were five peanuts a day.

As part of the trial, the researchers Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge improved body's tolerance by giving little amounts of peanut powder daily in gradual increasing doses. Allergy charities have described this as "a major step forward" as it can change lives of many who are allergic to nuts.

However, more work is needed to be done before this therapy can be tried at home, said experts.

One of the researchers, Dr Andrew Clark, said "It's a potential treatment and the next step is to make it available to patients, but there will be significant costs in providing the treatment - in the specialist centres and staff and producing the peanut to a sufficiently high standard."

Around 500,000 people in the UK and over 10 million globally are allergic to peanuts. It is the most common food allergy reaction. The main aim of the trial is not to make children eat large amounts of peanuts, but to protect them from any allergic reaction in case they accidentally take in even traces. Any accidental intake of traces of peanut can lead to a patient's death. Children tend to outgrow other allergies, but peanut allergy continues even when they grow adults.

Matthew Greenhawt of the University of Michigan described the results as "exceptionally promising". He quoted how a previous research to help treat milk allergies had failed and said it was not clear if the peanut therapy could produce "lasting tolerance."

Source: Medindia