It is possible to treat the peanut allergy in kids by feeding them with tiny amounts of peanuts protein daily, according to U.S. media reports Tuesday.
Teams at Duke University Medical Center and Arkansas Children's Hospital, collaborating on the research with the Arkansas Children's Hospital, carried out an experimental treatment on 29 severely peanuts-allergic children, giving them nearly microscopic pieces of peanut daily for 2 years.
The researchers claimed over time the immune system tests helped desensitize their allergic reaction to peanuts, particularly, five of them showed no sign of remaining allergy.
"We're optimistic that they have lost their peanut allergy," said lead researcher Dr. Wesley Burks, chief of pediatric allergy at Duke University. "We've not seen this before medically. We'll have to see what happens to them."
Other studies have shown that "as long as you keep something in your diet, your tolerance stays," Burks said.
The pilot study was released at a meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, but the doctors stressed the treatment remains experimental, and it shouldn't be tried outside a research study in which subjects are closely monitored.
"Anything that would enable kids to eat peanuts would be a major advance," said Dr. Marshall Plaut of the National Institutes of Health, but cautioning that more study is needed.
"We have to wait and see if the children continue to tolerate peanuts over the long term," Burks added.
More than 3 million Americans are allergic to peanuts or tree nuts, such as walnuts, and, for reasons that aren't clear, the number seems to be rising.
(Agencies via Xinhua March 17, 2009)