Experimental Therapy Builds Tolerance to Peanut Allergies

Filed in archive Allergy: Research and Development , Food Allergies on March 18, 2009

Finally, after so many years of experimentation and careful monitoring, a handful of kids who were previously severely-allergic to peanuts can now tolerate about 15 peanuts a day.

For the study, which began five years ago, Burks and his colleagues gave children with a history of peanut allergy gradually larger daily doses of peanut protein, while other allergic children were given a placebo. The starting doses were very small, as little as 1/1000th of a peanut. The doses increased until the children ate the equivalent of up to 15 peanuts a day about 10 months later, and then they stayed on the daily therapy while they were monitored.

Nine of the 33 children participating in the study have been on maintenance therapy for more than 2.5 years, and four of them were able to discontinue the treatment and eat peanuts, the researchers said.

This study shows that while the children may not be completely free of their peanut allergies (yet), their level of tolerance to peanut protein has been raised such that they are now at least able to tolerate accidental exposure without having a reaction.

It's definitely not a complete treatment, but for me, as a parent of a peanut-allergic child, this is good enough a treatment. My son has lived without peanuts for so long; I think he won't miss anything if he were not to eat any in his lifetime. Who cares if he won't be able to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? That's not the goal. The aim is to not have a reaction if peanuts-containing foods are being served in the canteen, at the cinema, in the airplane, at parties, and other places.

Now, I wonder, if this treatment were to be offered to the public, how much would such 10-month therapy cost? Will insurance companies pay for what may perhaps be considered as a prophylactic treatment?