Treatment for Peanut Allergy a Success

Those with peanut allergy can now savour the taste and smell of freshly roasted peanuts. After getting a certain treatment done, that is.

Doctors have come up with a treatment for peanut allergy that was seen to have transformed the lives of children participating in a massive clinical trial. The study found that about 84 percent of allergic children could not eat five peanuts a day after 6 months post the study.

Even though the study found positive results post the treatment, experts caution that the therapy is not really ready for widespread use.

Peanuts have been categorised as the most common reason why people have fatal allergic reactions to food. And, there is no treatment for it, so those people who are allergic to it have to avoid it completely. This finally leads to a lifetime of checking the labels of each food item before purchasing it.

The trial took place at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge where they tried to train the immune system of the children to tolerate peanut. The children were given peanut protein powder that started off with a dose equivalent to a one 70th of one peanut. At least once in a fortnight the dosage was increased when the children were in the hospital and the next couple of days the dosage remained high.

By the end of the study a majority of the patients learned to tolerate the peanut.

The findings of the study were published in the Lancet.

Image source: Getty Images

Article source: BBC News

Read more Health News.