Can Peanut Allergies Be Cured by ... Eating Peanuts?

In 2008, Gideon Lack of King’s College London published a startling study comparing the rate of peanut allergies in children in London with that of children in Tel Aviv. The study of 10,000 Jewish children, which appeared in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, found that kids in the U.K. were almost 10 times as likely to have a peanut allergy as their peers in Israel, says Lack.

Why the disparity? Although Lack can’t draw conclusive explanations from his observational study, he suggests that one reason may have to do with early exposure. In Israel, children are typically introduced to peanuts much earlier than in Europe and North America. Lack points to a popular Israeli snack food called Bamba (like peanut-flavored Cheez Doodles), which youngsters start eating as early as infancy. That early exposure may desensitize children to peanuts, even in kids with a family history of food allergies.

The theory has gained enough traction that Britain’s National Health Service is funding a seven-year study, also led by Lack, involving 640 children at high risk of allergy. Half of the study participants will avoid peanuts, while the other half will consume them regularly from 11 months to 3 years of age. Researchers will measure the rate of allergy in both groups by age 5.

The findings, which are expected by 2014, could mark a significant change in the way doctors handle food allergies. The conventional treatment has long been no treatment at all — essentially, patients are simply advised to avoid problem foods altogether. But a growing number of studies indicate that such an approach may someday be a thing of the past.  Read Article

By Adi Narayan