Man died an hour after being treated for peanut allergy

This tragic story has to be told. Why do health professionals feel that a study that is still in it’s infancy is safe to practice on patients? This should never have been done, let alone on someone who is known to have severe allergies to peanuts. I stronly urge anyone who is approached by thier allergenist to consider this story. 

A man who suffered from a peanut allergy collapsed and died from severe anaphylactic shock less than an hour after receiving treatment for his allergy from an alternative medicine practitioner.

 
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Nurse practitioner answers some frequently asked food-allergy questions

I like posting these types of articles because it brings to the forefront some common questions regarding food allergies. You can never have too much info about what to do or how to know what it is.

Nurse practitioner and manager of the Bunning Food Allergy Program at Children’s Memorial Hospital, Christine Szychlinski, is recruiting parents for an extensive, ongoing study to determine the causes of food allergies. She explains some food allergy basics:

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Chinese Botanical Drug to Cure Peanut Allergies

Herbal medicine has been around, well, forever and many of today’s drugs are herbal based, so we should not be surprised that there may be a natural source for controlling allergic reactions. This sounds interesting. The drug seems to counter the effects of anaphylaxis that is brought on by eating peanuts.

A recent study conducted at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York suggests that a Chinese botanical drug can help patients manage their food allergies. This new drug may help many allergic patients in the western society and could also assist in curing other conditions such as asthma.

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The Canadian Press: Mixed reaction from parents on peanut allergy advance; many remain dubious

I think that anyone who has peanut allergy, or has someone in the family with peanut allergy would jump on this study. In my own family I thought that YES, finally, a move forward, lets get on it! My wife, on the other hand wanted to know much more. Side effects, how many kids dropped out, reactions versus no reactions… All they tell you in the press releases is the good in these studies and not the bad.  For parents and individuals to feel comfortable the full scope of the study needs to be made available.

I’ll continue to try to locate the results but please exercise caution and ask many questions before jumping into this kind of study. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. The doctors and researchers are using very measured doses and processes to do this study. This could be dangerous if not fatal to attempt this on your own.

CONCORD, N.H. — One mom says she’d be first in line for a promising treatment that exposes children with peanut allergies to tiny amounts of peanut flour. Another remains fearful, with the painful image of her son’s face blown up beyond recognition still fresh in her mind.

While some parents of children with life-threatening peanut allergies see a glimmer of hope in a recent study suggesting a possible cure, others remain dubious that it will ever change their children’s lives.
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Health Day – Exposure to Peanuts May Build Tolerance to Allergy

More great news from the research front! This one includes a larger sample of people. An even larger study is hoped for soon.

Remember: “This is not something to be done at home”

By Kathleen Doheny

HealthDay Reporter

SUNDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) — Exposing children with peanut allergies to a carefully administered daily oral dose of peanuts helped them build tolerance to the point where some of them appear to have lost their allergies, a new study found.

However, the researchers, from Duke University Medical Center and Arkansas Children’s Hospital, cautioned that the approach is still experimental and should not be tried by parents on their own.

“This is not something to be done at home,” said Dr. Wesley Burks, chief of the division of pediatric allergy and immunology at Duke and a co-author of the research. “It truly is an investigational study.”

But the children in the study did build long-term tolerance, with the researchers documenting key immunologic changes reflecting a lack of allergic response.

Burks and his colleagues were expected to present their findings Sunday at the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology meeting, in Washington, D.C.

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Sheffield, UK girl (8) takes part in peanut-flour trials

I love hearing about these studies. It just opens up so many possabilities for people to not have to worry.

Hopes of a normal life for nut allergy victim Charlotte

Published Date: 13 March 2009

A Sheffield girl is taking part in a groundbreaking medical trial that could cure her of a nut allergy that currently threatens her life.

Charlotte Kirkland, aged eight, is so allergic to peanuts and other nuts that she has to carry medication in case she falls ill. She can’t have ice-cream, sweets or cakes unless her parents, Wendy and David from Stocksbridge, have carefully checked all the ingredients on the packet and are confident they contain no traces of nuts or nut oils.

Now it hoped that she may eventually be able to lead a normal life as a result of trials at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge where doctors are using a new technique to built up children’s tolerance. By the end of the programme they should be able to eat the equivalent of five peanuts a day safely.
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Herbal Remedy Could Halt Peanut Allergy – US News and World Report

It’s interesting that a Chinese Herbal Remedy may hold a key to stopping peanut allergies!

Herbal Remedy Could Halt Peanut Allergy

Tests in mice were successful, and human trials are under way

Posted February 13, 2009

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) — A new herbal formula based in ancient Chinese medicine may be able to control allergic reactions to peanuts and other foods, researchers from New York City’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine report.

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Tiny study suggests peanut allergy can be overcome

This is a very small study, but it’s a start. Hopefully this will trigger a larger study to make this more reliable.
 

Doctors in Britain are closer to finding a cure for severe nut allergies, according to a study published Friday.

A research team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge exposed children gradually to tiny amounts of peanuts over six months to build up their tolerance.

It is the first time such a desensitization program has been used to treat a food allergy.

Four children — who risked fatal anaphylactic shock from contact with traces of peanut — took part in the study published in Allergy.

The children were initially given a dose of five milligrams but by the end were able to tolerate 880 milligrams — equal to five peanuts.

“We’ve shown it works. We’ve shown it can be done safely. Now we’re at the stage where we need a larger trial and perhaps a control group, so that we can show it has a large effect,” said Dr. Andy Clark, the study’s lead researcher.

The research provides hope for the one in 50 young people in Britain with a nut allergy, he added.

“Every time people with a peanut allergy eat something, they’re frightened that it might kill them. Our motivation was to find a treatment that would change that and give them the confidence to eat what they like,” Clark told the Guardian.

Thirteen-year-old Carl Morris took part in the study.

“I got pretty scared when I was eating things with traces of nuts, but now I can just freely explore different foods that may have killed me before,” he said.

Kate Frost is the mother of a nine-year-old boy who participated in the study.

“It’s very hard to describe how much of a difference it’s made, not just in Michael’s life, but for all of us,” Frost told the BBC.

“A peanut allergy affects the whole family. You can’t go out to a restaurant. If your child goes to a birthday party, he takes a packed lunch.”

It’s estimated that more than 150,000 Canadians suffer from peanut allergies. About two per cent of people can have an anaphylactic reaction to an allergen, and peanut allergies account for 50 to 100 deaths in the United States every year.

via Tiny study suggests peanut allergy can be overcome.