Interesting research on Peanut Allergies

[SueM in MN]

I read an interesting article recently about some studies they are doing into peanut allergies - a report about completed studies and funding for another five years of study.

Duke University has been doing a study on oral immunotherapy. The idea is to desensitize children to peanuts by very gradually giving them larger and larger doses of peanut protein.
***NOT something to try at home - must be done under medical supervision***

By the fourth month of daily treatment under this study, a child previously allergic to peanuts should be able to eat a full serving of them without a problem. Children who were desensitized would have to continue being exposed to peanuts in order to maintain desensitization.
Link to an article on Go Ask Mom
Link to Duke University article about their study.

People may wonder why anyone who is allergic to peanuts would want to go to all this trouble to eat peanuts?
It’s not to be able to eat peanuts, but to make people less sensitive. Many people are so sensitive to peanuts that exposure to just a tiny amount of peanut protein can cause anaphylactic shock. It’s fairly easy to be exposed to tiny amounts of peanut protein so many people with peanut allergies need to be constantly on high alert - this can be especially difficult when the allergic person is a preschool age child or when peanuts are a ‘hidden’ ingredient.
Coming up with a way to desensitize people could make their lives much safer.

 

[leebee]

This article makes me wonder... I don't claim to be a doctor or immunologist, but I am a research scientist, so I'm familiar with all these concepts. When I was a kid, nobody was allergic to peanuts. Chocolate, yes, strawberries, sometimes, but rarely did you find anyone allergic to nuts. Of course, we all ate peanuts (and other nuts) all the time. THEN there was a big thing in the 1980's with aflotoxins in peanuts and all the recommendations about not giving toddlers or little kids peanuts. Fair enough, aflotoxin poisoning was pretty nasty, and if memory serves, could be fatal. EVERYONE stopped giving their kids peanuts, peanut butter, etc. Now there are peanut allergies galore, everywhere. I can't help but wonder if we over-sensitized kids by not giving them any peanut products, and that accellerated the peanut sensitivity and allergy issue. The Duke study, giving controlled, small doses of peanuts, is very similar to just having fed kids peanuts all along. No way to know, but surely enough to make me wonder.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I'm not a research scientist but I've always thought people are oversensitizing their kids, to germs/peanuts/strawberries/treenuts/dairy/chocolate. I understand that germs and food allergies are different but I think it makes sense. I work at a grocery store and constantly hear people asking about allergens and see
them checking ingredient labels.

I had a woman just the other day who wanted cheese but had a kid who was allergic to peanuts. I asked how allergic is he. She said something ridiculous like "Well if you've eaten peanuts in the past few days and you touch what I'm getting, he'll have a reaction." I'm not even going to get into my food barrier procedures but I took it as "He's highly allergic and any cross contamination could be harmful" I had to tell her the bulk of my cheese department was off limits then because while we don't use peanuts directly, I have open work areas that could potentially be contaminated by peanuts. I could only suggest things that were cryovac'd, or vaccuum sealed and then told her she'd have to check the labels anyway because a few things have shared production area warnings. Anyway, my point is it wasn't until say 10 years ago that I started hearing about all these crazy allergies. I don't remember hearing about allergies in school, or very rarely and then it tended to be chocolate or strawberries and once in a grand while, peanut product. Anyone else my age and older say the same thing, they don't remember it being so rampant as it is nowadays.

 

[cinderella73]

Sue, thanks for the info. One thing I recently found out was that they were only using moderately or lower level allergenic children/ adults for the immunotherapy test studies. So highly allergic people do not qualify . To tell you the truth its to scary to even contemplate . When the study first started things didnt go so well. But I do hope they can get somewhere with this. It is hopeful.

There is also another study also being undertaken so far with great results . Its based of chinese herbs( some kind of mushroom base) that when injected into PN allergic mice was able to keep a full out reaction at bay for up to 5 months. They are just now on the second round of human testing with it . I know it will take years but its another exciting glimmer of hope. I dont recall all the technical stuff about how it works but it helps inhibit the release of the histamines and so forth.

Lockshockbarrel and Leebee

While I have to say that I know people with both mild and severe pn allergies its much more common for it to be severe. Its not uncommon for some people to be touch , inhalation , and ingestion sensitive when it comes to PN protein. My child once reacted and went into a full out reaction from sitting near a kudos wrapper. I would have never thought that could happen myself. He has to wear gloves when he goes out its so bad.

Anyway here is my take on it . My children were raised on Isomil infant soy formula. Knowing what I know now I hate myself for it . I did it at the recommendation of my childs dr. at the time. My one child now has autoimmune hypothyroidism and the other child severe pn allergies . I found out that the soy in the formula is the monsanto roundup ready soy and I believe that based on what I have ready and studied on the internet that this led to the hypo and the pn allergies.

I was driven to understand what happened with my child . After really looking long and hard into it, that is exactly what I am 100% convinced of. I have heard the germ thing , the shot things , and assorted other things . But this just clicked to me.

Not all kids with the allergy have had the soy formula of course, but that same gentically modified soybean is in just about every single processed food in our closets and refridgerators. So I think moms can pass that on through breast milk also. ( I think BF is awesome btw , just wouldnt eat gentically modified foods while I was BF after what I learned .)

Sorry to type off so much. I get so passionate about this. Thanks for listening .

 

[brat]

cinderella73

One of my former Foster kids reacted to anything round-up treated. Thought you might also need to watch for this as it can be related to the issues your kids have.

 

[Mrs. Sojourner]

Slightly off topic, but I have been wodering the last couple years about peanut allergies. Where we live in West Africa peanuts are a huge staple and source of protein. They eat peanuts and they also use them to make peanut sauce for rice. I know peanut allergies are big in the US and I was wondering if it is or is not a problem here. (It's not something I can just ask because they would have no idea. Very little actually goes diagnosed here.) I have been wondering if either because they have small amounts from an early age and build up an immunity to the allergy it is perhaps less common here or if those who have the allergy die (infant and child deaths are high for many reasons here, it is not talked about or mounred, it is simply the excepted way life is) and it is just never diagnosed that that was the cause.

 

[cinderella73]

cinderella73

One of my former Foster kids reacted to anything round-up treated. Thought you might also need to watch for this as it can be related to the issues your kids have.

Thank you , I have made the effort to get rid of a lot of gentically modified foods ( round up , etc) . I planned on getting rid of all of it but its almost impossible because its in everything. Lets just say I was never a cook but I am certainly learning now . Did you have to cook everything from scratch for him ?

Our pn detecting dog has helped a lot. We have had no more tummy aches or headaches, let alone reactions since we got him.

 

[SueM in MN]

Sue, thanks for the info. One thing I recently found out was that they were only using moderately or lower level allergenic children/ adults for the immunotherapy test studies. So highly allergic people do not qualify . To tell you the truth its to scary to even contemplate . When the study first started things didnt go so well. But I do hope they can get somewhere with this. It is hopeful.

There is also another study also being undertaken so far with great results . Its based of chinese herbs( some kind of mushroom base) that when injected into PN allergic mice was able to keep a full out reaction at bay for up to 5 months. They are just now on the second round of human testing with it . I know it will take years but its another exciting glimmer of hope. I dont recall all the technical stuff about how it works but it helps inhibit the release of the histamines and so forth.

Lockshockbarrel and Leebee

While I have to say that I know people with both mild and severe pn allergies its much more common for it to be severe. Its not uncommon for some people to be touch , inhalation , and ingestion sensitive when it comes to PN protein. My child once reacted and went into a full out reaction from sitting near a kudos wrapper. I would have never thought that could happen myself. He has to wear gloves when he goes out its so bad.

Anyway here is my take on it . My children were raised on Isomil infant soy formula. Knowing what I know now I hate myself for it . I did it at the recommendation of my childs dr. at the time. My one child now has autoimmune hypothyroidism and the other child severe pn allergies . I found out that the soy in the formula is the monsanto roundup ready soy and I believe that based on what I have ready and studied on the internet that this led to the hypo and the pn allergies.

I was driven to understand what happened with my child . After really looking long and hard into it, that is exactly what I am 100% convinced of. I have heard the germ thing , the shot things , and assorted other things . But this just clicked to me.

Not all kids with the allergy have had the soy formula of course, but that same gentically modified soybean is in just about every single processed food in our closets and refridgerators. So I think moms can pass that on through breast milk also. ( I think BF is awesome btw , just wouldnt eat gentically modified foods while I was BF after what I learned .)

Sorry to type off so much. I get so passionate about this. Thanks for listening .

Yes, they would need to start with people with lower level allergies. It would be too dangerous to start with people with high level allergies.
But research on people with lower level allergies could hopefully lead to safer treatments in the future for others.

I think one of the interesting things is that nothing is so clear cut as it looks in the beginning.
One of the hypotheses about the increase in allergies, asthma and autoimmune based diseases like MS and diabetes is the idea that as we make our children’s world cleaner and more germ free, their immune systems don’t have the ‘work out’ against things outside the body, so start reacting to things that are part of the body or are so common (like foods).