Breakthrough in Understanding Peanut Allergies

For quite a while now, physicians and healthcare providers have emphasized the fact that people prone to developing a peanut allergy should steer clear of them and products containing peanuts. But a new randomized clinical trial, presented in Houston at this years AAAAI Convention, comes to dispute that concept, clearly showing that children who were served products containing trace amounts of peanuts, even though they were prone to developing an allergy later on, had considerably avoided it.The study focused on whether adding products which contained peanuts in the first year of life to children prone to developing the allergy would have any effect, positive or negative. Out of the control group who were instructed to give their kids products with peanuts in them at least 2 or 3 times a week, only 3% developed an allergy. In the other group, which completely avoided peanuts and products containing them, a staggering 17% developed allergies.For everybody else, this is both good and bad news. For starters, medical professionals may have been wrong all this time, advising people to steer clear of products they were prone to develop an allergy to. Inadvertently, they may even have contributed to the spike of people suffering from various allergies. The study clearly shows that introducing these foods early on in life, particularly in the first 11 months of a child’s life, can help them develop the normal immune response and not the allergy outbreak.A word of caution though – this does not warrant you or your kids eating things you know you’re allergic to, or introducing trace amounts of them into your weekly diets. Research still needs to be made and an appropriate portion determined for your own safety.If you have question and live in the NYC area, give me a call for a consultation, DO NOT introduce a known allergen into your body without consulting a reputable healthcare provider. Already developed allergies can be managed through avoidance and special medication successfully.