Peanuts lead allergy list, national survey finds

The Toronto Star’s Health Zone reminds us just how many kids are nut or peanut allergic.

Canada’s first nationwide food allergy survey shows that about 1.7 per cent of children under 18 have a probable peanut allergy, while another 1.59 per cent have a probable allergy to tree nuts, such as hazelnuts and walnuts.

This study was from 2008-2009 and was conducted over the phone to 10000 families. That’s a good sized sample and shows that a great many children are affected.

It’s also notable that there is a great difference between results in the US and Canada.

He says the rates are higher in Canada than in the U.S. — a 2002 American study found that 0.83 per cent of children have peanut allergies and 0.51 per cent are allergic to tree nuts.

Keep in mind the time between studies. It is possible for those results to have changed in 6 years.

Read the whole article here.

Immunotherapy may reduce peanut allergy

The Toronto Star’s Health Zone has started a series of food allergy related articles in responce to Food Allergy Month.

This article reviews a new study from Mcmaster University and Dalhousie University in Halifax where 30 children with peanut allergies are going through the ingestion immunotherapy process.

One notable difference in thsi study compared to the one done in the US is that they will be allowing in children with severe reactions. The study in the US worked only with children whose allergic reactions were mild.

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Obese children more likely to have food allergies

This is an interesting discovery. It’s interesting also that of all the people I know who have food allergies, none of them is of larger than average size. 

Obese children and teens are 26 per cent more likely than kids of a normal weight to have some kind of allergy, especially a food allergy, U.S. researchers report.

But it is not yet clear if obesity actually causes allergies; only an “association” between obesity and allergies was found, said Dr. Darryl Zeldin, the senior author on the paper.

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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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Food Allergy Labeling Not Always Accurate

This is quite allarming and why we need to know what companies we can trust. This is also the reason we need to push our governments for stronger labeling laws.

MONDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) — A small number of food products with a “may contain” label actually do contain an allergen, while about 2 percent of foods products without such a claim also contain allergens, new research shows.

 
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Black male children are four times more likely to have food allergies: study

Black male children are at an especially high risk for developing food allergies, according to a new study presented Tuesday in Washington, DC, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

They’re about four times as likely to be food allergic as the rest of the population, says Dr. Andrew Liu, a co-author of the study, which he says was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
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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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Canberra Parents Lack Allergy Awareness: Study

Education is one of the most important points when it comes to any allergy. The facts below are startling and I am left wondering if these numbers are similar in other countries.

Nearly four per cent of ACT kindergarten children have a peanut allergy and while the regions schools are well prepared to cope with this, some parents are taking inappropriate action when dealing with their childs allergy, according to a new study.

The research was a co-operative study by the Academic Unit of General Practice and Community Health at The Australian National Universitys Medical School and ACT Health. It surveyed 3851 children in the region to discover the prevalence of peanut and nut allergies, what management systems were in place in schools and how parents viewed and reacted to their childs allergy.

 
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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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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.