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New Immunotherapy Trial Cures Kids of Peanut Allergy For Up To Four Years (theguardian.com)

Using a new kind of immunotherapy treatment, Australian researchers have managed to cure a majority of the children in their study suffering from a peanut allergy. "The desensitization to peanuts persisted for up to four years after treatment," reports The Guardian. From the report: Tang, an immunologist and allergist, pioneered a new form of treatment that combines a probiotic with peanut oral immunotherapy, known as PPOIT. Instead of avoiding the allergen, the treatment is designed to reprogram the immune system's response to peanuts and eventually develop a tolerance. It's thought that combining the probiotic with the immunotherapy gives the immune system the "nudge" it needs to do this, according to Tang. Forty-eight children were enrolled in the PPOIT trial and were randomly given either a combination of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus with peanut protein in increasing amounts, or a placebo, once daily for 18 months. At the end of the original trial in 2013, 82% of children who received the immunotherapy treatment were deemed tolerant to peanuts compared with just 4% in the placebo group. Four years later, the majority of the children who gained initial tolerance were still eating peanuts as part of their normal diet and 70% passed a further challenge test to confirm long-term tolerance. The results have been published in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

33 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. Up to? by schnipschnap · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Four years later, the majority of the children who gained initial tolerance were still eating peanuts as part of their normal diet and 70% passed a further challenge test to confirm long-term tolerance.

    That sounds much better than "up to four years". Very refreshing to see a headline that understates research results :)

    1. Re:Up to? by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 2

      A proper /. headline might read; "Have Scientists Just Eliminated Peanut Allergies?"

    2. Re:Up to? by lgw · · Score: 2

      Cure your peanut allergy with this weird trick invented by a Melbourne mom! Big pharma hates her.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  2. When I was in school by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    nobody had a peanut allergy.

    Now your kid can be suspended for even having a granola bar (ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY).

    1. Re:When I was in school by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      nobody had a peanut allergy.

      Peanut allergies are a first world problem. They are rare in developing countries, where kids grow up around chickens, pigs, and goats, so they develop strong immune systems that don't overreact. In China and Vietnam, peanuts are a very common ingredient, and kids eat them everyday. Yet in America, it is the kids of neurotic Asian mothers who have the worst problems with allergies. My kid's elementary school has a "peanut free" zone, and 90% of the kids who eat there are either Chinese or Vietnamese.

    2. Re:When I was in school by Kjella · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Peanut allergies are a first world problem. They are rare in developing countries, where kids grow up around chickens, pigs, and goats, so they develop strong immune systems that don't overreact.

      Part of why it seems like such a huge first world problem is the gross over-reaction to "casual" allergy to protect a few hyper-allergics. I'm allergic to peanuts. I don't care if you eat a peanut bar in the adjacent seat or if the kitchen used the same spoon. Hell, I could eat that peanut bar and though it might cause me a bit of discomfort it wouldn't actually be dangerous. But if I tell anyone I have peanut allergy that tends to invoke "faint traces of nuts = lethal danger" levels of paranoia. Don't get me wrong, they exist and it's nice that we accomodate them so they don't die or anything but you sometimes feel those with a common cold and ebola are put in the same box labeled "sick".

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    3. Re:When I was in school by sjames · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is important to understand. Practically all peanut allergies are like yours. People with the severe trace of nuts in the room equals death level allergy are extremely rare. Even they can be (carefully) de-sensitized enough to make casual contact harmless.

    4. Re:When I was in school by Rockoon · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I no longer tell people that I am allergic to dogs/cats (pet dander) when visiting them because of the insanity that follows. You would think that if I am reaching out to pet your dog that you would get a clue... but nope... instead they scream at their dog, swat it away, and whatnot...

      I blame the liberals. Seriously. They raised entire generations that overreact to everything.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    5. Re:When I was in school by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Only suspended? You're lucky. In our school district, kids can be ARRESTED for possessing any kind of nut or peanut based food (remember peanuts are not nuts, they are legumes).

      Reckless endangerment or something... it's ridiculous. Bad parents refuse to properly raise their kids, so they end up with nearly lethal allergies to common things, and the rest of us are the ones who get punished.

      Fuck them.

    6. Re:When I was in school by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Nobody is fooling me. This is just some fake science dreamed up by the peanut lobby. Big Peanut will stop at nothing to make a buck, even if it means endangering our innocent children. Its a slippery slope, first make us think we don't have to worry about peanut allergies, next we'll be forced to eat Thai food and lubricate our cars with peanut oil. Go ahead, keep your heads in the sand. I warned you.

    7. Re:When I was in school by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      This is part of our pampered, bubble wrapped society. I ask when people stay over if they have an allergy to cats and if the answer is yes then I will typically spend 5min extra vacuuming the area where they will sleep and then let them know we have some antihistamines.

      Frankly half the time the people who really need to be subscribed with a cup of cement aren't the people suffering from a disease.

      We as a society have labeling fear. "That's GMO, it must be bad or they wouldn't label it so." "That says gluten free on it. Last time I had the one with gluten I had an upset stomach, I must be celiac!"

    8. Re:When I was in school by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2, Funny

      I finally have a good reason to only wash my dinner plates and bowls only once a week! I'm not gross, I'm building a strong immunity!

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    9. Re:When I was in school by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      This is part of our pampered, bubble wrapped society.

      Maybe, but have you ever played with bubble wrap? That shit is amazing!

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    10. Re:When I was in school by famebait · · Score: 3, Funny

      My country is more liberal than yours. I see nothing like that here. I blame your flag. Just as well-founded.

      --
      sudo ergo sum
    11. Re:When I was in school by redmasq · · Score: 2

      Allergies vary depending on the individual. I have a strange one: red onions. They will give me a mild contact rash that goes away after a day or so. It won't kill me; it does make me rather unpleasant for a day or so, less if I had taken an antihistamine about an hour or so prior to contact. On the other hand, I know someone that was put into hospital for over a week from eating a food to which he was allergic. I have to take quite a bit of care concerning food prep when he visits, but it is no reason to panic.

      Concerning peanut allergies, I know several people with them. A few have minor reactions such as upset stomach from consuming or rashes from contact exposure. One swells up like a balloon from consuming them and must keep Epinephrine on person for such unfortunate occasions.

      I think there is a place for notices in case of allergies. I also think that people should actually confirm they have an allergy before they announce it to the world and not use it as an excuse for not eating something he or she does not like. I have noticed that some individuals treat their (sometimes real) allergies as trophies. I think they like for people to make the effort to cater to them; however, that is just open speculation. For me, it's just easier to tell people that I do not like red onions and pick them off with a napkin if they disagree. As a side note, not so much an allergy per se, but, it is interesting to see how many people will have cheese removed from their dish because "lactose intolerance" but will order ice cream for dessert.

      And, btw, bubble wrap is pretty fun to pop.

    12. Re:When I was in school by omfglearntoplay · · Score: 2

      I've seen this sort of thing too with my Vietnamese and Chinese friends from college. It definitely seems like hiding your child from normal immune development at early ages is the biggest trigger for allergy problems. The nice thing is that if they can cure kids of a peanut allergy that can straight up kill you, there is a great amount of hope for people with mild allergies. And it doesn't have to be a doctor doing it.

      One of my kids has allergies to... well to *something* in the air. Probably pollen or mold. We don't give him a bunch of immune suppressing who-knows-what-kind-of-side-effects allergy medicine, except once during a trip out of town because it was ruining his trip and making him freak out. We see signs that over time his allergies are getting less and less problematic, and I'm willing to bet, just like dear old dad, he will be 100% allergy free as an adult (confirmed by testing from an allergy specialist... I do have a bit of acid reflux though).

    13. Re:When I was in school by denzacar · · Score: 2

      I blame his overblown allergy to liberals.
      It has made him paranoid of any contact with liberals or liberal ideas so much that he sees liberals everywhere and blames them for everything.
      He screams at them, tries to swat them away, insanity ensues...

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  3. Peanuts are an abomination! by Narcocide · · Score: 3, Funny

    So sayeth The Lord.

    1. Re:Peanuts are an abomination! by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      God also hates Figs. I feel like I need a commandment to understand which foods I'm not supposed to eat, but all we got were some lousy footnotes.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  4. Guardian reporting is going downhill by thegarbz · · Score: 2

    Somehow a study that checked back on people 4 years after treatment get's converted to "works up to four years".

    Do these people even english?

    1. Re:Guardian reporting is going downhill by The+Cynical+Critic · · Score: 2

      Seeing how the whole media industry has been in continuous decline for the last couple of decades it's probably to be expected that most of the actually talented people have moved on to less... Dying... Industries. Then again there's also the clickbait aspect all commercially funded media is subject to and the general news media never really having been all that great at understanding actual science (probably because journalism falls more way more under liberal arts than under hard science).

      --
      "Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough as it is without wanting to invent any more of it."
    2. Re:Guardian reporting is going downhill by famebait · · Score: 2

      This is a common way of expressing "can work for at least four years" in academia.

      The problem with former is that is can be read as "works no longer than 4 years"
      The problem with the latter is that is that is sounds hypothetical, leaving doubt about whether these durations have actually been observed.

      The ambiguity could be removed by expanding it into what the original is (fairly established) shorthand for: "has been observed to work for up to four years"

      --
      sudo ergo sum
    3. Re:Guardian reporting is going downhill by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 2

      Since when has Science ever had anything to do with Science Reporting. Most of these reporters have no idea about science

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    4. Re:Guardian reporting is going downhill by PPH · · Score: 2

      Do these people even english?

      Well, this IS The Grauniad. What did you expect?

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  5. Re:Allergies and placebos ? by famebait · · Score: 2

    Yes, it just you who thinks this is what happened.

    --
    sudo ergo sum
  6. do not want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    My snowflake is perfect as is. You need to check your peanut privilege.

  7. You know what else works? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You know what else "cures" a peanut "allergy?"

    Peanuts.

    Desensitization works for peanut allergies nearly 100% of the time. In fact, isolation from allergens typically only makes allergies worse. I had a peanut allergy as an infant. I almost died once according to my parents. My mom, being a well-educated and smart woman, ignored the idiot doctor's orders to keep me away from all things peanut (doctors only say this to cover their asses, there is no medical research that supports evasive therapy for allergies) and instead would put a tiny amount of peanut on my lip every day. I would break out in hives at first, but after a couple of months, my reactions went away.

    Now I eat peanut butter all the time and I have my mom to thank. Since learning of this when I was old enough to understand, I've never avoided allergens - and I've never had allergies of any kind, to anything.

    BTW, if anyone tells you their kid will die at the slightest contact with something peanut, they're lying. Nobody is that allergic to peanuts. It's all in their heads.

    1. Re:You know what else works? by GerryHattrick · · Score: 3, Interesting

      At least 10 years ago, journals were reporting that a microdose of peanut protein, increased each day (with careful monitoring) could desentise successfully after months. This study uses probiotics - interesting and wholly credible too, but where is the 'control' that probiotics specifically have contributed, and to what extent?

    2. Re:You know what else works? by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      there is no medical research that supports evasive therapy for allergies

      Really? Because people who have peanut allergies who aren't exposed to any peanuts have successfully not died from their peanut allergy 100% of the time. Using big words like "therapy" just shows you have no clue as to what doctors told you or the reasons behind it.

      BTW, if anyone tells you their kid will die at the slightest contact with something peanut, they're lying. Nobody is that allergic to peanuts. It's all in their heads.

      You're a fucking idiot.

  8. Re:Allergies and placebos ? by GrumpySteen · · Score: 4, Informative

    The kids were given a skin prick test with peanut allergen before and after the treatments. Only the kids who no longer reacted to the allergen would have been told they could eat peanuts. Kids who still reacted would have been told they still had to avoid peanuts.

    So yes, it's just you misunderstanding how clinical trials work.

  9. Re:Allergies and placebos ? by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 2

    One way or the another, you reduce the number of peanut allergic kids.

  10. So if I say I'm allergic to idiots ?? by Salgak1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    . . . I can force others to keep them away from me ??

    (OK, it was worth a shot. . . . )

  11. Political peanut allergies? by sjbe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I blame the liberals. Seriously. They raised entire generations that overreact to everything.

    Really? Peanut allergies are political now? I find it amazing that so many conservatives seem to find a way to blame liberalism for anything that annoys them. That is called scapegoating and it says more about you than it does about them. I coach a high school sports team and I can assure you that conservative parents are just as obnoxious and over-reaction prone as liberal ones. I deal with both routinely and it has NOTHING to do with their political bent.