Jump to content

Menu

Peanut allergies and a possible way to avoid them


Amira
 Share

Recommended Posts

I heard on NPR about a new study that's just been released that children are far less likely to develop a peanut allergy if they eat peanuts as babies.  Apparently the main researcher started the study because he'd noticed a significant difference in peanut allergies between Jewish children raised in Israel where they ate peanuts frequently as babies and Jewish children raised in the UK and US where many parents avoid giving babies peanuts because of allergy fears.

 

Does that match your experience?  Do you think parents should avoid feeding their babies peanuts?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The story on NPR stated that any child believed to be at a higher risk for allergies should first eat peanuts only when a doctor is present.

 

Children with normal risk levels should be exposed to peanut products before they are one year old. Of course peanuts and peanut butter are choking hazards. Apparently in Israel they have a popular brand of peanut puffs that babies eat. I have no idea what is available in the US that would work for the 6-12 month set.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was an idiot apparently and never knew that babies should avoid peanuts. Mine had peanut butter and other foods containing peanuts at a young age. There are no peanut allergies here. There are no peanut allergies in my family at all, though. One dd has asthma and both have environmental allergies.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am always curious about this.  Peanut allergies in less-developed countries are apparently unheard of.  Why would that be?  Are we doing something in the US to increase the chances of allergies, or are the babies in LDCs dying of undiagnosed allergies or what?

 

In my family, nobody avoided giving any foods to babies and there are no allergies.  No idea if there is any causation there or not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My youngest ds reacted to cashew milk at 8 months, so they also tested for peanut and found him allergic even though he had never eaten them. He is now 2 and has outgrown the cashew allergy completely. He has partially outgrown the peanut allergy and is able to eat small quantities of peanut butter as long as it doesn't touch his skin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know. I'll say I'm certainly thankful my son's first anaphylaxis was when he was old enough to tell me something was wrong with, "Mommy, it feels like a rock is stuck in my throat."

 

Infants in homes with two or more pets were supposed to have lower levels of allergies and asthma. We had two cats. He tested positive for cat allergy, among other environmental allergies, at 2. He was also asthmatic. Maybe, for some kids, exposure just doesn't matter.

 

The top allergens, and causes of anaphylaxis, in various countries is quite different. And the top are always what is eaten most in that country. http://www.neocate.com/blog/food-allergies-around-the-world/

 

 

 

  • Seafood Allergy: Fish allergy is more common in countries where fish consumption is high, such Scandinavia, Norway, Portugal and Japan....
  • Sesame Allergy: Sesame allergy is ....common in Israel, where sesame consumption is high[1]....
  • Rice Allergy: Rice allergy is rare in most countries and is usually considered one of the foods that is least likely to cause an allergic reaction. That’s why rice cereal is usually the first food we’re introduced to as infants. However, rice allergy is fairly common in countries of Eastern Asia, where rice is commonly eaten, such as in Japan.

 

 

 

Maybe peanut works differently?

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am always curious about this.  Peanut allergies in less-developed countries are apparently unheard of.  Why would that be?  Are we doing something in the US to increase the chances of allergies, or are the babies in LDCs dying of undiagnosed allergies or what?

 

In my family, nobody avoided giving any foods to babies and there are no allergies.  No idea if there is any causation there or not.

 

One reason is likely that infants/children in those less developed countries have higher incidences of things like parasites. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/health/01iht-01prof.14122951.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

While carrying out field work in Papua New Guinea in the late 1980s, he noticed that Papuans infected with the Necator americanus hookworm, a parasite that lives in the human gut, did not suffer much from an assortment of autoimmune-related illnesses, including hay fever and asthma. Over the years, Pritchard has developed a theory to explain the phenomenon.

"The allergic response evolved to help expel parasites, and we think the worms have found a way of switching off the immune system in order to survive," he said. "That's why infected people have fewer allergic symptoms."

of course hookworm infections  also cause a high rate of deaths and anemia in kids. So....

 

Also:

In 2000, Maria Yazdanbakhsh, an immunologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, studied 520 Gabonese children and found that those with Schistosoma haematobium, one of a family of parasites that cause schistosomiasis, had lower levels of allergic responses to dust mites, one of the most common environmental allergens.

 

 

There is more in there, and googling will find even more. For example, I read a recent finding that those who lived in homes without dishwashers had lower rates of allergies due to the higher rates of bacteria on the dishes in the homes. I think infectious organisms likely explain a lot in terms of reduced allergy rates in developing countries.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I heard on NPR about a new study that's just been released that children are far less likely to develop a peanut allergy if they eat peanuts as babies.  Apparently the main researcher started the study because he'd noticed a significant difference in peanut allergies between Jewish children raised in Israel where they ate peanuts frequently as babies and Jewish children raised in the UK and US where many parents avoid giving babies peanuts because of allergy fears.

 

Does that match your experience?  Do you think parents should avoid feeding their babies peanuts?

 

I read a similar study some time ago--this must have been going on for some time (the research, I mean).

 

In my opinion, there are far too many confounding factors, such as processed foods eating, environmental issues, and many other things that may occur during gestation.

 

More importantly, peanut allergies seemed to rise in prominence while people were still eating peanuts.

 

We already knew it wasn't genetic because it was appearing in populations that had never faced this issue, but over a time period in which it would have been impossible to see such a radical genetic change. So the idea that the study is more valid because it's a genetically similar population... okay, well we knew that.

 

The big changes we see between the US and Israeli Jews are not genetics, but those weren't the changes between my mom's generation and my kids' generation, either.

 

Honestly? The people I know with the most allergies were raised eating dirt on a farm. I don't know what the deal is. It terrifies me. My kids are old enough that they are past high risk age and I'm just plain grateful. A boy on our street has a peanut allergy. His mom said she never tried to shield them, she ate organic but not perfect, etc. Very tough stuff.

 

 

 

 Peanut allergies in less-developed countries are apparently unheard of. 

 

Check out the infant mortality rates, though. While I do think it seems like allergies are on the rise, I don't think that anaphylactic shock is necessarily well-recorded and studied in, say, Egypt, what with all the civil unrest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was an idiot apparently and never knew that babies should avoid peanuts. Mine had peanut butter and other foods containing peanuts at a young age. There are no peanut allergies here. There are no peanut allergies in my family at all, though. One dd has asthma and both have environmental allergies.

 

Me too.  My littles often eat toast with peanut butter sliced up into little bite sized bits.  It's sticky, messy and keeps them busy so Mommy can wolf down her half cooled dinner!  And one of the funnest parts of going to see grandpa is the giant jar of peanuts he keeps on the counter for the kids to munch on.  Our kids have always been exposed to peanuts and none of the cousins have any allergies.  Now, whether that's luck or genetics or due to early exposure, I don't know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My daughter is extremely allergic to peanuts (her numbers are very high -one doctor said they were the highest she's ever seen)...and she was given peanut butter as a toddler, and used to throw peanuts to the squirrels. She also ate soy until at 12 she had a reaction. She is now very allergic to soy. She did NOT have tree nuts much, but she is allergic to three of those too. She had some exposure to peas, but is now allergic to them. She is 15.

The advice has changed several times since she was a baby. Expose them, don"t expose them, expose them...

I think they have no clue yet. I personally think it has more to do with antibiotic exposure, including in meat, etc, messing up the gut flora.

Another one is the hygiene theory or lack of pets causing food allergies. We have always had pets, and dust, and the kids have always played on farms, etc.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dh introduced peanut butter to ds earlier than I was comfortable but not sure of exact age. Ds is fine with it. He once had a bad reaction to a nut in an assorted box that was at a relative's home during a holiday.

 

This is not really related, but once my dad opened a nut in an assorted bag of shelled nuts and he handed it to me and said, don't eat this, just smell it (thanks dad).  OH MY HECK!  It was the most vile smell I have ever experienced in all my life.  I cannot even imagined what that could have caused if someone ate it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My DS presented with food allergies almost from birth.  He reacted to peanuts that I ate through my breast milk.

 

In theory, I think there is something to it, because of how the immune system works, but I don't think we are going to cure allergies by feeding babies peanut butter.

 

(This is the same theory behind the patch being developed to cure peanut allergies.  It's all about getting the immune system to change it's make up and not attack harmless food proteins.)

 

As far as other countries having lower rates, a lot of factors go into it, cleanliness being a big one.  Also, I've read the way we roast peanuts is different than in foreign countries.

 

I kind of hate studies like these, because it can make a parent feel like it's their fault. "If only I would have given him peanuts, he wouldn't have to worry the rest of his life."  There is most likely the chance that many factors are in play here besides early exposure or the lack there of.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The study had parents of children who were higher-risk for developing peanut allergies (because they already had other allergies) feed peanut products to their children beginning between 4 and 11 months.  After 5 years, children who'd been fed peanuts before they were a year old were far less likely to develop a peanut allergy compared to other higher-risk children.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just as a PSA, I'd like to note that peanut allergy is the most common cause of fatal anaphylaxis.

 

 I think infectious organisms likely explain a lot in terms of reduced allergy rates in developing countries.

 

I too would guess that these sorts of things play a huge role.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was an idiot apparently and never knew that babies should avoid peanuts. Mine had peanut butter and other foods containing peanuts at a young age. There are no peanut allergies here. There are no peanut allergies in my family at all, though. One dd has asthma and both have environmental allergies.

 

Yeah, I would make little PB and J sandwiches for my little ones when they were at the finger food age. Also peanut butter cookies were a favorite for them to gum up.

 

We have a dd with lots of allergies, (allergic to breast milk even!) but peanuts are the one thing she';s not allergic to.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This reminds me of the sleep position flip-flops of the medical community. 

 

It's best for an infant to sleep on his back. Now it's best for him to sleep on his tummy. No, we were right before -- it's best to sleep on his back.

 

And now with peanuts: avoid allergy by not giving him anything with peanuts before a year or 18 months. Oops -- do the opposite: be sure to get him exposed to peanuts early in life to avoid allergic reactions. 

 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I swiped some peanut butter from my older sister when I was two and immediately had a severe reaction. Could that have been prevented had it been introduced into my diet earlier? Perhaps, but I highly doubt it.

 

Both my sister and cousin are now allergic to peanut butter - both developed at the age of about 20 and went from no reaction at all to severe with one bite.

 

There are so many factors involved. I don't know that you can really say that age 5 is the point at which allergies will no longer develop.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The incidence of peanut allergies in Israel is not 0. In other words, there will still be kids who are allergic to peanuts; if your child is, it does not mean you did something wrong. If your child is allergic to peanuts despite early exposure, it also does not mean this study is wrong. But if early exposure really changes the percentage of peanut allergies in a population that is at higher risk from 13% to less than 2%, that is definitely worth exploring further.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had pets, I didn't disinfect the house, I ate allergenic foods, the baby ate allergenic foods, blah blah blah....

 

I have not found any of the research causes to be applicable in our case.  And for goodness sakes, if it is a relative whose child has the allergies, don't tell them about articles that imply they would have saved their child from this fate if they had just done something different.  We carry enough guilt as it is. 

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My DS was diagnosed with a peanut allergy before he was a year old.  We had peanut butter around the house, my older kids loved it.  I did everything "right" with my youngest.  We got a dog while I was pregnant.  Having a dog in the house is supposed to help prevent allergies.  I fed DS what I was told to by the professionals that were supposed to know.  The only thing I did wrong was give birth to a premie and have a c-section, neither of which were under my control.  He still has a very severe allergy to peanuts and has developed a very severe allergy to almonds even though he ate them in almond milk and almond butter at a very young age as an alternative to milk and peanut butter which he couldn't have.

 

While I would love to see something that would lower the incidence of food allergies, I hate these studies be so publicized.  People read these and then proceed to tell me that if I would have just done X or not done Y my child wouldn't have an allergy, like it is all my fault.  I already feel badly enough, I don't need more guilt piled on.  A few months ago my DS had an anaphylactic reaction to something which included epipen and ER visit.  It was scary.  I was pretty sure it would end up being almond or tree nuts.  It was almond.  Huge reaction, quite allergic.  When I told MIL her first words were that allergies are caused by avoiding too many foods.  It felt like a slap in the face.  I avoid most nuts because of cross contamination, but almond was something he had been exposed to.  I think she really believes that it is my fault he has so many allergies.

 

This study is not a new thought by any means.  I have heard about this for years. But there are also studies that late introduction may be the answer.  Who are we supposed to believe as parents?  It seemed as if we are damned if we do and damned if we don't.  At the time DS was first diagnosed with a peanut allergy at the ripe old age of 9 months, he allergist told me that they believe that the rise in allergies to peanut has a lot to do with how we process peanut in the US vs. other countries.  Who knows for sure?  We all do the best we can with the information we are given, and yet it seems nothing we do is good enough. 

 

I am hopeful that there will be a cure for severe allergies very very soon.  The studies are looking promising for those with peanut allergies to be desensitized to peanuts and I am super excited for that.  I don't want my child to have severe allergies where we have to watch everything he eat, read every label every time, etc.  It is not a fun way to grow up for any child.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bored and unchallenged immune systems lead to allergies. First world children tend to be exposed to fewer pathogens and parasites. I'd want to see pathogen and parasite exposure and vaccination and household chemical and air pollution in the respective environments before deciding that exposure to peanuts is a causal correlate.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our dd reacted to formula at a couple of months old. When I had her allergy tested, she was allergic to a whole list of things,including peanut. I actually highly doubt this study.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only thing I did wrong was give birth to a premie and have a c-section, neither of which were under my control.  

 

FWIW, I had an interesting discussion with an immunologist who explained that premies are more at risk for immune system issues (as well as c-section babies).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are an interesting case study because we have so many kids (10).  I've eaten the same diet with each pregnancy (including lots and lots of peanut butter and other nuts, because I love them), and my kids have the same diet.  My 3rd DS reacted with hives all over his face from chewing on my fork, which I had used to eat coffee cake (which had walnuts, milk, and eggs), when he was 6 months old.  He also had a terrible, terrible case of eczema.  Those 2 things got him a referral to the base allergist by the time he was 7 months, at which point he tested positive to peanuts, milk, eggs, and wheat (and later to walnuts and pecans).  He never reacted to wheat, he outgrew eggs at 3, and milk (finally!) at 9.  He is still allergic to peanuts and tree nuts.  He also has asthma and seasonal allergies.

 

Two other kids have had slight allergies to milk that they outgrew by 2.  No one else has any nut allergies.   No one else has asthma, although a few kids have some seasonal allergies.  Obviously DS 3 hit some kind of genetic allergy jackpot.  There's no way giving him peanuts at . . . .4 months? . . . or something would have prevented his allergies.  And also it can't be all environment, since no one else in our family has allergies like he has.  We're not a peanut-free house by any means, so peanut butter is still around (DS doesn't react to airborne peanuts), just as it was for him when he was a baby.  Allergies are weird.  Like many others have said on this thread, we're still a long, long way off from understanding them.  I really enjoyed reading Epidemic of Absence by Moises Velasquez-Manoff.  He had some really interesting theories regarding inflammation, parasites, worms, etc., and their relationship to allergies.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Forgot to mention, my DH at around 35 developed a shellfish allergy for the first time.  This last week a DECADE later, he started getting hives from eggs.  So really, as far as predictions go- I'm a little unimpressed by the experts.  :glare:

I inhaled watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, and avocados as a kid and teen. All of a sudden, I'm allergic to them. 

My daughter didn't present with egg allergies until after she'd eaten it a few times. 

My mom developed a severe fish/shellfish allergy in her 50s. Aside from hives, if she eats it, she has temporary blindness. It's crazy!

 

Definitely unimpressed with the experts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For any of your with life threatening food allergies in your friends and family, may I suggest reading more about Oral Immunotherapy.  OIT is being used right now in private allergist's clinics in the US and abroad.  It is not the peanut vaccine nor the peanut patch, but simply a trained allergist feeding microscopic amounts of the allergen and updosing every week or two until the patient is able to tolerate eating a signifigant amount of the allergen.  The patient currently must continue eating the allergen every day, but research is showing that a percentage of OIT patients are actually not allergic to their allergen any more after 1.5-5 years after starting OIT.  My daughter had a severe allergy to peanuts (she reacted ANA to less than 1/100 of a peanut) and seven months later ate 24 peanuts in 15 minutes. 

 

You can PM me for more information or you can join a FB group devoted to talking about this life-giving treatment.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/PrivatePracticeOIT/

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For any of your with life threatening food allergies in your friends and family, may I suggest reading more about Oral Immunotherapy.  OIT is being used right now in private allergist's clinics in the US and abroad.  It is not the peanut vaccine nor the peanut patch, but simply a trained allergist feeding microscopic amounts of the allergen and updosing every week or two until the patient is able to tolerate eating a signifigant amount of the allergen.  The patient currently must continue eating the allergen every day, but research is showing that a percentage of OIT patients are actually not allergic to their allergen any more after 1.5-5 years after starting OIT.  My daughter had a severe allergy to peanuts (she reacted ANA to less than 1/100 of a peanut) and seven months later ate 24 peanuts in 15 minutes. 

 

You can PM me for more information or you can join a FB group devoted to talking about this life-giving treatment.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/PrivatePracticeOIT/

 

Our dd did this years ago for milk and peanuts.  It was life-changing for us.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not convinced. I've just known too many people who were exposed young and it did nothing to abate allergies. I've known too many adults who have eaten specific foods all their lives and then in the 20's, 30's, 40's are suddenly allergic.

 

I ate wheat my entire life, and was put on solid foods at 6 months along with formula. Yet, a 42 went from normal to wheat allergy in nothing flat...gastrointestinal pain and hives.

 

I have a friend that ate shellfish her entire childhood and early adult life and then suddenly nearly died from ANA over a single shrimp in the dining commons in college.

 

It may anecdotal but it has simply happened in such profound numbers that I am very skeptical of the current theory and most certainly because it does not even come close to addressing the issue of adult onset food allergies in which exposure to offending items has been liberal throughout infancy and childhood.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not convinced. I've just known too many people who were exposed young and it did nothing to abate allergies. I've known too many adults who have eaten specific foods all their lives and then in the 20's, 30's, 40's are suddenly allergic.

 

I ate wheat my entire life, and was put on solid foods at 6 months along with formula. Yet, a 42 went from normal to wheat allergy in nothing flat...gastrointestinal pain and hives.

 

I have a friend that ate shellfish her entire childhood and early adult life and then suddenly nearly died from ANA over a single shrimp in the dining commons in college.

 

It may anecdotal but it has simply happened in such profound numbers that I am very skeptical of the current theory and most certainly because it does not even come close to addressing the issue of adult onset food allergies in which exposure to offending items has been liberal throughout infancy and childhood.

 

Yep.  Allergies can change at the drop of a hat.  Even each individual reaction could be wildly different than the last.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For any of your with life threatening food allergies in your friends and family, may I suggest reading more about Oral Immunotherapy.  OIT is being used right now in private allergist's clinics in the US and abroad.  It is not the peanut vaccine nor the peanut patch, but simply a trained allergist feeding microscopic amounts of the allergen and updosing every week or two until the patient is able to tolerate eating a signifigant amount of the allergen.  The patient currently must continue eating the allergen every day, but research is showing that a percentage of OIT patients are actually not allergic to their allergen any more after 1.5-5 years after starting OIT.  My daughter had a severe allergy to peanuts (she reacted ANA to less than 1/100 of a peanut) and seven months later ate 24 peanuts in 15 minutes. 

 

You can PM me for more information or you can join a FB group devoted to talking about this life-giving treatment.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/PrivatePracticeOIT/

I recently read this incredibly inspiring article about a doctor, Kari Nadeau, who does pioneering research about OIT.  She sounds like an amazing person who has helped so many people so selflessly.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think food allergies have multiple triggers and if the right ones come together in the right person, it's dangerous.

 

 

Heredity factors in, I believe.  I think there must be genes that make a person more susceptible to severe allergies.

 

Vaccines.  We aren't meant to ingest eggs and peanut proteins straight through the bloodstream.  I think science will prove this is *a* cause in the future.  (Not THE cause, but one of many.)

 

 

Farming practices. For some things, especially wheat, it isn't so much that we are allergic to wheat...but that we are reacting to the genetic modifications and the herbicides/pesticides that our wheat is soaked in. 

 

 

Dosage.  A minute exposure to an allergen, several times, over the course of time is more likely to help a person avoid an allergy.  The WORST thing you could do (if you want to avoid a food allergy) is to hand a little baby a large dose of peanut butter. 

 

 

 

PSA:  The first exposure is not usually the exposure with the anaphylaxis.  Often times, nothing happens on the first exposure, but the body is reading the food as an intruder and preparing for the next exposure.  The 2nd exposure might present with hives, mild symptoms.  The 3rd exposure and beyond get really dangerous.  Of course, you may not know that your child has already been exposed to an allergen so you can't assume it's the 1st/2nd/3rd.  Respiratory distress is scary at any age, but little babies have tiny airways which make it even more scary...so if you are going to do trials on possible food allergens, wait until the child is older.  Do it ONLY with a Dr. who is trained in food allergies.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe it depends on what you mean by "babies," as in what age specifically.

 

But no, FWIW, that does not match my experience.  I fed my ds peanut butter at 12 months and he broke out in hives.  He is still very peanut-allergic at 12 y.o. and has added some other food allergies since then (tree nut, sunflower seed, sesame seed).

 

I would be inclined to guess that the differences lie in the extent of immune dysfunction between the two groups.  Immune system parameters are not typically measured without a reason in babies.  Moreover, much remains unknown at this time, particularly with regard to the microbial environment in the gut.  (Disclaimer, I did not read the link yet.)  From what little I know, babies I'd recommend avoiding peanuts would include those who were premature, those with lots of antibiotic use for medical issues in infancy, those with family history of asthma/allergies (obviously), autoimmune disorders or immune disorders of any type, and possibly even certain types of mental health issues that may one day be shown to have an immune angle.

 

They did a study here, divided up kids into two groups, both groups were considered high risk for peanut allergies. One group avoided peanuts, the other group fed peanut butter mixed with fruit to their kids (younger than 1 year old...the benefit seems to be from having peanuts before one year, and the earlier the better). There was an 80% reduction in peanut allergy in the kids that got peanut products before one year vs those that didn't. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw this and find it puzzling. My mum ate peanuts while she was pregnant with me, and there was always peanut butter in the house - one of my earliest memories is of hiding from the peanut butter smell under the table. My allergy manifested rather early. Are they suggesting babies between 6 and 11 months eat peanut ? Because that's how early it would have had to have been for me. By the time I was 12 months, I was allergic.

 

Yes, before 1 year old, the earlier the better. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One reason is likely that infants/children in those less developed countries have higher incidences of things like parasites. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/health/01iht-01prof.14122951.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

of course hookworm infections  also cause a high rate of deaths and anemia in kids. So....

 

Also:

 

There is more in there, and googling will find even more. For example, I read a recent finding that those who lived in homes without dishwashers had lower rates of allergies due to the higher rates of bacteria on the dishes in the homes. I think infectious organisms likely explain a lot in terms of reduced allergy rates in developing countries.

The israel thing was just the trigger for the study. The actual study was done onmatchd kids, all with a high risk for peanut allergy, half avoided peanuts, half had peanut products before one year. There was an 80% reduction in the kids given peanut products before 1 year old. Nothing to do with different populations or parasites. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My DS presented with food allergies almost from birth.  He reacted to peanuts that I ate through my breast milk.

 

In theory, I think there is something to it, because of how the immune system works, but I don't think we are going to cure allergies by feeding babies peanut butter.

 

(This is the same theory behind the patch being developed to cure peanut allergies.  It's all about getting the immune system to change it's make up and not attack harmless food proteins.)

 

As far as other countries having lower rates, a lot of factors go into it, cleanliness being a big one.  Also, I've read the way we roast peanuts is different than in foreign countries.

 

I kind of hate studies like these, because it can make a parent feel like it's their fault. "If only I would have given him peanuts, he wouldn't have to worry the rest of his life."  There is most likely the chance that many factors are in play here besides early exposure or the lack there of.

 

The study said there was an 80 percent reduction. Not 100 percent. So no, some kids will still develop allergies. But hating the study, when it gives us a way to potentially keep 80% of kids from developing a life threatening allergy, seems crazy. I'm sorry your child has allergies, but I'm sure glad to have this knowledge in case I have any  more children. 

 

And for everyone who thinks this is about kids in Israel, it's not. That was just what got the scientist interested inthe topic. The actual study was not comparing kids from different countries.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On one food allergy forum we frequently get a new member post from a flustered mom whose older child had always eaten the allergen with no issue, until the day it sent him or her into anaphylaxis. It is happening to adults, too.

 

the study showed an 80% reduction, not 100%. Some kids/people would still develop allergies. But at a much lower rate. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just heard about this on the news. The publicity behind this study seems dangerous to me. I'm waiting to see what my cousin who works for a food allergy outreach says. 

 

Wouldn't NOT publicizing a study that could reduce a life threatening allergy by 80% be dangerous??? This is AMAZING news. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...