South Australian researchers find boiled peanuts help reduce peanut allergies in children

new clinical trials They discovered that boiling peanuts can help desensitize up to 80% of children with allergies to peanuts.

Boiling nuts changes their chemical composition, making them less likely to cause allergic reactions, and the researchers suggested that children participating in a year-long trial could be introduced to nuts gradually, with less boiling time. can.

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By the end of the trial, 80% of the children were able to tolerate a dose of 12 uncooked peanuts.

This is potentially life-changing news for parents of children with severe nut allergies like 9-year-old Xavier Connelly, but experts warn against trying it at home.

But scientists are working on further research with broader applications.

The trial, conducted by Flinders University and the South Australian Institute of Health and Medicine, involved 70 children aged 6 to 18 who suffered from varying degrees of peanut allergy.

“Our clinical trial demonstrates that boiled peanuts may provide a safe and effective treatment for children with peanut allergy with continuous administration of boiled and roasted peanuts over an extended period of time. It shows promising early signs of

Peanuts given to children were boiled for 12 hours over the first 12 weeks of the trial. For the next 20 weeks she was only boiled for 2 hours and for the final 20 weeks she was fed roasted unboiled peanuts.

Sixty-one percent of participants experienced “treatment-related adverse effects” during the trial, but only three children had to discontinue because of those effects.

Of the 67 participants who reached the end of the trial, 56 (or 80% of the original cohort) became desensitized to the target dose of peanuts.

And of the 45 desensitized participants who were followed up after six months, 43 were able to consume the target dose of peanuts without having a serious allergic reaction, Grzeskowiak said.

The study is good news for Bridget Connelly and may reduce mealtime stress for her son Xavier, who is one of 3% of children in the Western world who suffer from peanut allergies.

When he was just 18 months old, Xavier was rushed to the hospital after eating a small amount of satay sauce.

“His mouth started to swell and he started to have hives around his mouth and face. Then… he vomited projectiles,” Bridget said.

Some pediatricians have previously recommended different types of oral immunotherapy (OIT), including increasing the amount of food allergen given under medical supervision depending on the severity of the allergy, but OIT Product is not approved by Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Dr Preethi Eldi, an expert at the University of South Australia looking to develop a vaccine for peanut allergy, said research such as this latest study is a positive step toward gaining approval for OIT.

“What these OIT trials do is offer an option to raise the threshold, but it depends on whether you continue to receive that treatment.

“That’s the problem with OIT. (It’s) a long-term or lifelong treatment, and it’s difficult to maintain the desensitization threshold.”

Earlier studies showed that about 20% of children who received OIT completely overcame their peanut allergy, and 80% became more tolerant, Erdi said.

Xavier said mealtime would be more enjoyable if he could overcome his allergies.

“Sometimes I feel left out from eating food,” he said.

His mother said he would be a lot less stressed when she wasn’t at Xavier’s mealtime.

“Being really honest with you is absolutely life-changing, because it’s something that’s always been in the back of our minds,” Bridget said.

Grzeskowiak said larger, definitive clinical trials will be needed to further confirm the study’s findings.

“Currently, there are no approved treatments for peanut allergy in Australia, so more research is needed.

“Oral immunotherapy does not work for everyone and understanding of how these treatments work and what factors may influence how people respond to treatment is in the process of deepening

“This is very important for assessing individual suitability for treatment and improving treatment decisions in the future.”

This clinical trial was funded by Channel 7’s Children’s Research Foundation and published in a journal. clinical and allergies.

Researchers at Flinders University urged families not to attempt the experiment at home.

Associate Professor Tim Chattaway says, “If you don’t do it right, you can create a truly silent allergy product.