Yahoo – AFP,
August 17, 2017
Australian researchers have reported a major breakthrough in the relief of deadly peanut allergy with the discovery of a long-lasting treatment (AFP Photo/A Majeed) |
Sydney
(AFP) - Australian researchers have reported a major breakthrough in the relief
of deadly peanut allergy with the discovery of a long-lasting treatment they
say offers hope that a cure will soon be possible.
In clinical
trials conducted by scientists at Melbourne's Murdoch Childrens Research
Institute, children with peanut allergies were given a probiotic along with
small doses of a peanut protein over an 18-month period.
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When the
experiment ended in 2013 some 80 percent of the kids were able to tolerate
peanuts.
The
research, published Wednesday in medical journal The Lancet, found that four
years on, about 70 percent could still eat peanuts without an adverse reaction.
"The
importance of this finding is that these children were able to eat peanuts like
children who don't have peanut allergy and still maintain their tolerant state,
protected against reactions to peanut," lead researcher Mimi Tang said.
"These
findings suggest our treatment is effective at inducing long-term tolerance, up
to four years after completing treatment, and is safe.
"It
also suggests the exciting possibility that tolerance is a realistic target for
treating the food allergy."
Food
allergy affects one in 20 children and about two in 100 adults, with seafood,
cow's milk, eggs and peanuts among the most typical triggers.
Peanuts are
one of the most common foods to cause anaphylaxis, a potentially fatal allergic
reaction.
The
researchers said the Murdoch study provides the "strongest evidence yet
that a cure may be possible for peanut allergy".
"This
is a major step forward in identifying an effective treatment to address the
food allergy problem in Western societies," Tang said.
Ten-year-old
Olivia May suffered a reaction when she tried to eat a peanut butter sandwich
seven years ago.
"We
visited the allergist the first time [and] he said 'sorry, you're going to have
to go home and empty your pantry out, clear it of all nuts, anything with nuts
in it'," Oliver's mother Tanya told the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation.
But after
taking part in the trial, Oliva no longer suffers from her allergy.
"I
think perhaps one of the best things has been to be able to just go to parties
and I can drop her off or at a sleep over," Tanya May said.
"I
used to hand over a EpiPen (epinephrine injector) to a parent I'd hardly knew
and give them a thirty-second explanation how to use it.
"[But]
to not have to worry about putting that responsibility in someone else's hands
is a great relief."
Fifty-six
children completed the study, with half receiving a placebo and half receiving
the treatment, which encourages the immune system to develop a tolerance to the
allergy.
Researchers
are now aiming to confirm the results with a larger study of the treatment they
say "holds important implications for attacking the modern food allergy
epidemic".
Australian researchers announce peanut allergy breakthrough #peanutallergy pic.twitter.com/u0fADkxshF— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 18, 2017
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