Childnen's Peanut Allergy Cure On Its Way

By Margarita Nahapetyan

Doctors in Cambridge, UK, believe that a cure for children allergic to peanuts could be available within the next two to three years.

Two new studies have been conducted recently by scientists at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital, one of them suggesting that some children may have been misdiagnosed and another one testing a possible therapy for children diagnosed with peanut allergies.

The team of experts led by Dr. Andrew Clark has had success in a pilot study with a technique known as peanut oral immunotherapy. The trial involved 23 children who were given tiny doses of peanut flour on a daily basis. The dose was gradually increased and now these kids are able to eat five or even more nuts every day. It is believed that this treatment worked because it used small doses of flour, put into yoghurt, which was eaten rather than earlier attempts that involved administering peanut extract or oil injections.

Next month the investigators plan to conduct a clinical trial involving 104 children in order to try a new treatment called desensitization therapy. This therapy aims to desensitize the immune system to the allergen (the substance that usually causes an allergic reaction) by slowly increasing its exposure to that specific type of food. Participants will consume increasing doses of that grain in dust, yogurt made from a 1-mg dose to five peanuts every day. "This is going to be the largest trial of its kind in the world and it should give us a definitive idea of whether it works and whether it is safe," Dr. Clark said in an interview.

Childhood peanut allergies commonly cause difficulties to breath, asthma, the constriction of airways, as well as itching and swelling. According to the statistical data, about 10 per cent of children who suffer from peanut allergies face a serious, multisystem allergic reaction, called anaphylactic shock that for some can even result in lethal outcome. In addition to all, sensitivity to peanuts very rarely lessens or fades away over time, therefore meaning that children do not often outgrow the dangerous disorder.

Dr. Clark reports that between 1997 and 2007 there was an 18 per cent increase in childhood food allergy. According to him, nearly one in every 50 kids have a nut allergy and ten per cent of reactions to peanuts will be severe ones. Aside from potentially fatal reactions and the fear of them, kids who suffer from peanut allergies also are limited in their food choices that can affect their social behavior. And while most children will outgrow allergies to products, such as milk, eggs, soya and wheat, peanut allergies are the most persistent and an estimated 80 per cent of children remain allergic to peanuts for the rest of their lives.

The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.