Last year I learned that 20% of adults who were diagnosed with a peanut allergy outgrow it after childhood. It is worth getting tested again if you grew up with a peanut allergy.
I had signed up for a trial of one of these drugs. Having grown up in the 80s with a severe peanut allergy that required the use of the epipen more than a few times I was keen for anything that could help, even just something that would lessen the reaction so maybe I could choke down some benadryl rather than stabbing myself with that ~2 gauge (hyperbole) epipen that now costs a fortune.
First thing they did during the trial was give me two peanut tests, skin prick and blood test. Both came back negative despite positive results decades earlier as a child.
I would have never thought to get tested again on my own. Not being allergic has made such a huge difference in my life - I was always flippant about my allergy and had developed good safeguards to protect myself. But the amount of stress is caused me was amazing to have lifted. Hope that these drugs can bring that to others (or just get tested again and maybe you're one of the lucky ones!)
More anecdata; a friends father never had a peanut allergy, then almost died. Friend said peanuts weren't part of his fathers diet for years, his father decided to have a pbnj, bam, almost died. I had never heard of adult onset peanut allergy before.
My son has a peanut allergy, I can only hope he outgrows it as well.
My father outgrew his peanut allergy when he was 15 and said I would too, but sadly I didn't. I still carry an EpiPen around and flat out avoid going to Thai places.
On the other (anecdata) hand, my wife has been severely allergic to peanuts for decades, and still is... she can tell if someone is eating peanuts nearby.
As the parent of a child with a severe, life-threatening peanut allergy, these treatments could be a Godsend. It's hard to describe the life change that occurs when a normal food like peanuts suddenly becomes a disguised killer that could take my child away at any moment. The speed with which it strikes is stunning; according to our allergist, we have only minutes to administer EpiPens to avoid the runaway anaphylactic reaction. And we've done so. The tragic story that begins the article seems a testament to this - if a reaction isn't countered in time, it can't be.
While I appreciate your concern and caution, I feel like the medical community has worked the public into a bit of hysteria over peanut allergies.
So few people die from peanut allergies each year it's hard to actually get good numbers on the phenomenon. And yet I have several friends who report having someone deathly allergic to peanuts in their family. It seems incongruent.
According to my pediatrician, research shows that exposing children to peanuts earlier decreases the likelihood of a child developing a peanut allergy.
It largely is. That is, globally peanut is among the most common severe food allergies, but it's still fairly rare. But in the developed world (IIRC, particularly the US) popular guidance to mitigate the risk of peanut allergies in very young children (who can't communicate symptoms.as effectively, so, if they have an allergy, are at greater risk of consuming more and/or having treatment delayed) was to avoid any exposure.
It turns out that that guidance actually increased the incidence of severe peanut allergies immensely, because it made it much more likely that when people were exposed later, they would develop an allergy, and peanut allergy is far less common where children are usually exposed at a young age.
It's weird how acknowledged the problem is in the US (and Europe?) and how rare it is elsewhere. Trying to convince people in certain countries that peanut allergies are real can be really difficult, because they have never heard of such a thing. It's also even hard to find information online about the worldwide prevalence of peanut allergies because almost all of the data is US-based, with the occasional tidbit from the UK or continental Europe.
There's something called the Hygiene Hypothesis which states that "a lack of early childhood exposure to infectious agents, symbiotic microorganisms (such as the gut flora or probiotics), and parasites increases susceptibility to allergic diseases by suppressing the natural development of the immune system".[1]
In other words, it could mean that excessive hygiene in childhood could be causing allergies.
Quite likely - some of the more recent thinking is that it is linked to a loss of gut bacteria - which makes sense for our case as our boy had antibiotics young, and first reacted to nuts at 4 months.
India does have a huge problem with lots of people dying from poor food (and other) sanitation practices, though. When your house is burning down you don't notice a light left on in the attic.
That opening story just broke my heart. As a parent of a child with a severe peanut and tree nut allergy, it has been completely drilled into me: If my child is exhibiting an allergic reaction, administer the EpiPen and call 911 for an ambulance immediately.
Another interesting read: "about 80 percent of the children who received the peanut protein plus probiotic treatment were able to consume about 0.1 ounces (4 grams) of peanut protein without a reaction. What's more, when the parents of these children were interviewed about three months after the study ended, most said that their child was still able to include some peanuts in his or her diet (varying from five peanuts to 3 tablespoons of peanut butter a week)."
Peanut allergy is not a thing in Israel. Kids here are exposed to peanuts from a very early age through consumption of a very popular peanut snack (Bamba). Apparently this prevents the onset of peanut allergy.[1]
It's funny (weird? ) people are being guided to avoid foods which causes them to be more susceptible to allergy which makes a good business opportunity for some pharma company.
If you have a baby, introduce them to watered down peanut butter or powder between 4-6 months [1]. Many healthcare groups are still advocating for parents to wait until 12 months before introducing peanut, but that is totally wrong. My friend followed this advice from Kaiser Permanente last year and his child is allergic.
My niece underwent a similar treatment the past few years, but just using trace amounts of actual peanuts and then building up to larger quantities. As far as I know, there was no commercially-produced patch or capsule involved. My sister in law blogged about it here: http://girlvspeanut.blogspot.com/
1. $400+ million to turn peanut fragments into a treatment. What?!?!?!
2. I think this treatment could potentially be a lot more deadly than the problem. It's a case of unintended side effects...in this case over-confidence vs. a strict no peanuts ever policy.
Imagine a kid has had the treatment and can eat 3 or 4 peanuts without a problem...a year or two later, maybe older & wanting to show off or over-confident, the child eats 12 peanuts...has an anaphylactic attack and dies. This case vs. a child who religiously avoids all peanuts, never considers them. A possible unintended effect related to psychology that I think should be considered.
3. Antibiotic use in infants and toddlers have been linked to a higher risk of allergies (maybe peanut allergies though I don't know if that's been studied & maybe that's why peanut allergies are a big problem in the US but not in India where most people don't take a lot of medicines)...try to avoid them if possible in small children though please listen to your doctor's advice. Antibiotics have some side effects which aren't great but on the whole have saved an incalculable number of lives.
"3. Antibiotic use in infants and toddlers have been linked to a higher risk of allergies (maybe peanut allergies though I don't know if that's been studied & maybe that's why peanut allergies are a big problem in the US but not in India where most people don't take a lot of medicines)...try to avoid them if possible in small children though please listen to your doctor's advice. Antibiotics have some side effects which aren't great but on the whole have saved an incalculable number of lives. "
Gonna have to back that up with a whole heap of citations there.
I'm allergic to peanuts from the USA but not from the ones from India. I'm from India but live/work in the US and just get a few pounds of peanuts every time visit India.
With milk, I'm lactose intolerant to the milk in US but not in India. Cow vs buffalo is one difference.
If you care about what's true and what's not true, please downvote this. There is no peanut oil in modern vaccines. Even if there were, there are almost always no peanut allergens in peanut oil. This is completely wrong and dangerous propaganda.
[1] http://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-cente...
[+] [-] RijilV|8 years ago|reply
I had signed up for a trial of one of these drugs. Having grown up in the 80s with a severe peanut allergy that required the use of the epipen more than a few times I was keen for anything that could help, even just something that would lessen the reaction so maybe I could choke down some benadryl rather than stabbing myself with that ~2 gauge (hyperbole) epipen that now costs a fortune.
First thing they did during the trial was give me two peanut tests, skin prick and blood test. Both came back negative despite positive results decades earlier as a child.
I would have never thought to get tested again on my own. Not being allergic has made such a huge difference in my life - I was always flippant about my allergy and had developed good safeguards to protect myself. But the amount of stress is caused me was amazing to have lifted. Hope that these drugs can bring that to others (or just get tested again and maybe you're one of the lucky ones!)
[+] [-] marktangotango|8 years ago|reply
My son has a peanut allergy, I can only hope he outgrows it as well.
[+] [-] samgranieri|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chris_st|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cynicalbastard|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Clanan|8 years ago|reply
I miss Snickers.
[+] [-] nostromo|8 years ago|reply
So few people die from peanut allergies each year it's hard to actually get good numbers on the phenomenon. And yet I have several friends who report having someone deathly allergic to peanuts in their family. It seems incongruent.
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] SQL2219|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] raverbashing|8 years ago|reply
But since some genius thought the best course of action was not exposing kids to it, we have the present situation (especially in the US)
[+] [-] stevetodd|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blhack|8 years ago|reply
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/04/bogus-allerg...
[+] [-] skbohra123|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dragonwriter|8 years ago|reply
It turns out that that guidance actually increased the incidence of severe peanut allergies immensely, because it made it much more likely that when people were exposed later, they would develop an allergy, and peanut allergy is far less common where children are usually exposed at a young age.
[+] [-] jordigh|8 years ago|reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases_of_affluence
It's weird how acknowledged the problem is in the US (and Europe?) and how rare it is elsewhere. Trying to convince people in certain countries that peanut allergies are real can be really difficult, because they have never heard of such a thing. It's also even hard to find information online about the worldwide prevalence of peanut allergies because almost all of the data is US-based, with the occasional tidbit from the UK or continental Europe.
[+] [-] pmoriarty|8 years ago|reply
In other words, it could mean that excessive hygiene in childhood could be causing allergies.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis
[+] [-] ljf|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] CydeWeys|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dboreham|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] majewsky|8 years ago|reply
> Big Pharma was unmoved, believing it would be impossible to patent a medicine that was essentially a ground-up peanut.
> [One of the companies working on the issue] has ties to the food industry, which has a vested interest in finding treatments for allergies.
Make of this what you will.
[+] [-] Clanan|8 years ago|reply
Groundbreaking, I know.
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] bpm140|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alfon|8 years ago|reply
http://www.livescience.com/49638-peanut-allergy-treatment-pr...
[+] [-] mola|8 years ago|reply
[1] https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/study-finds-pe...
[+] [-] miek|8 years ago|reply
[1] http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/05/508348588/...
[+] [-] bjt|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrfusion|8 years ago|reply
Going by first principles it's probably under $100.
[+] [-] SQL2219|8 years ago|reply
About 2 per cent of American children are now allergic to peanuts, a figure that has more than quadrupled since 1997.
[+] [-] theprop|8 years ago|reply
2. I think this treatment could potentially be a lot more deadly than the problem. It's a case of unintended side effects...in this case over-confidence vs. a strict no peanuts ever policy.
Imagine a kid has had the treatment and can eat 3 or 4 peanuts without a problem...a year or two later, maybe older & wanting to show off or over-confident, the child eats 12 peanuts...has an anaphylactic attack and dies. This case vs. a child who religiously avoids all peanuts, never considers them. A possible unintended effect related to psychology that I think should be considered.
3. Antibiotic use in infants and toddlers have been linked to a higher risk of allergies (maybe peanut allergies though I don't know if that's been studied & maybe that's why peanut allergies are a big problem in the US but not in India where most people don't take a lot of medicines)...try to avoid them if possible in small children though please listen to your doctor's advice. Antibiotics have some side effects which aren't great but on the whole have saved an incalculable number of lives.
[+] [-] soperj|8 years ago|reply
Gonna have to back that up with a whole heap of citations there.
[+] [-] Acbd|8 years ago|reply
With milk, I'm lactose intolerant to the milk in US but not in India. Cow vs buffalo is one difference.
[+] [-] MBO35711|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brianwawok|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SQL2219|8 years ago|reply
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2130368/pdf/jhy...
[+] [-] tstactplsignore|8 years ago|reply
[2] http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/antiv...
[+] [-] adsfqwop|8 years ago|reply