Peanut Allergy Research – new hope Feb 2010

I was speaking to my Mom last night in the UK who told me that there had been a programme on TV the night previous about the peanut allergy and that a NEW trial is going to be done at Cambridge. Last year at Addenbrooke Hospital in Cambridge a smaller trial had great results. In that trial 23 children were given small amounts of peanut flour daily to which resulted in them building up a tolerance to peanuts. The results were that now 20 of the children in the trial are able to eat 30 peanuts !

The trial that they are going to start on now is on a much larger scale. They are working with 100 children aged between 7 and 15. The trial will last 3 years. To start with the children will be given approximately a milligram of peanut flour daily mixed together with yogurt. Then they will be given the dosage of peanut flour to take at home every day. Every 2 weeks the dosage will be increased.

During the trial it is expected that some children will experience mild reactions such as stomach ache but eventually they will be able to tolerate peanuts. After 3 months that are expecting the children to be able to tolerate 5 peanuts daily.

If (I am praying for a positive here) the trial goes well the treatment for peanut allergies will be available at the clinic in about 3 years.

The trial takes place where there are specialists and resuscitation drugs should a child have an allergic reaction. It is definitely not a ‘do-it-yourself’ trial.

It is estimated now that 1 in 50 of children in the UK now have a peanut allergy. A child only has 20% chance of outgrowing a peanut allergy.

Sounds promising doesn’t it ? I have my fingers crossed. If this trial proves successful then they will go on to look at other allergies such as eggs, sesame etc. A life without allergies would just be a dream wouldn’t it ? I am including in this post a clip on what children think to having their allergies and experiences they have had with reactions.