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Peanut allergy cured in majority of children in immunotherapy trial

theguardian.com

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Re: Peanut allergy cured in majority of children in immunotherapy trial

#91

Post by ashark »

gehwartzen wrote: post #78

The AAP also recently changed its guidelines for introducing peanuts to babies based on a study [1] showing a pretty dramatic decline in the development of the allergy with early exposure vs total avoidance. [1] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1414850#abstract

Huh. My wife and I deliberately did the opposite of the "avoid exposure to allergens (especially nuts)" guidelines for kids because it seemed like obviously ass-backwards, stupid advice, considering that rates of kids with serious food allergies seemed to have gone up like 10x under those guidelines vs. when we were kids and everyone just fed their kids peanut butter (and everything else) ASAP and serious food allergies were a thing that a couple kids per school had, rather than a couple per classroom now. Looks like we guessed right on this one.

Re: Peanut allergy cured in majority of children in immunotherapy trial

#92

Post by gehwartzen »

giarc wrote: post #84
gehwartzen wrote: post #78

The AAP also recently changed its guidelines for introducing peanuts to babies based on a study [1] showing a pretty dramatic decline in the development of the allergy with early exposure vs total avoidance. [1] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1414850#abstract

We've created this fear in parents that they must keep peanuts away from their child. My colleague wouldn't bring peanuts into the house with her first child and by age 3 her son still hadn't eaten peanut butter or any other peanut products. She wanted to introduce peanut butter to him and went as far as bringing him to the Children's Hospital emergency department and gave him a tiny amount of peanut butter while sit…

I agree. And the study actually points out that "There was no significant between-group difference in the incidence of serious adverse events."

It's important to remember how vital early introduction to both beneficial and harmful environmental agents are to human development. Its easy to have the mindset that I will wait until my child is 3+ years old before I introduce anything potentially harmful with the idea being that they will be bigger and stronger. The immune system is actually quite strong and adaptable early in development which is precisely why vaccines work better at an early age

That being said the parent (esp mother) also plays a large roll in the first introduction of helpful bacteria that break down various foods. The bacteria that are transferred during a vaginal birth give the baby a leg up in establishing its early gut flora. Additionally there is a direct transfer of antibodies through the placenta and breast milk which help protect the baby. I would imagine a mother eating peanuts during both those times would help pass some of these antibodies to her offspring.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_immunity

Re: Peanut allergy cured in majority of children in immunotherapy trial

#93

Post by mljoe »

alextheparrot wrote: post #56
rhexs wrote: post #32

Does anyone know the history of why allergists assumed this just wouldn't work for decades? I'm assuming they initially tried this at the dawn of the allergist specialization but gave up due to bad practices / deaths? I only ask because it seemed to have been general knowledge that this was impossible / couldn't be done up until recently. As a outsider looking it, it seems quite obvious, but that's just due to naivet…

When I was in school, allergens were taught as follows (This also explains why people presumed it would fail): 1) Your body "sees" this, meaning it has antibodies that react to it 2) Cells whose antibodies are activated replicate, as they are recognizing something that is, to the body, presumably foreign and bad 3) Because you now have more cells after the originals replicated, the effects of the allergy worsen as yo…

IgG is usually implicated in fighting off pathogens like viruses and bacteria. It doesn't typically cause an allergic response. IgE is usually implicated in fighting off pathogens like parasitic worms or mosquito bites. It's the antibody that regularly get confused and binds to peanut proteins and pollen. There is speculation on why the IgE mediated immune response gets confused. One hypothesis is IgE evolved much more recently and "needs more work".

The immune response to IgE binding is intense. Allergic reaction is an IgE response to a harmless antigen. However, IgE can be downregulated by repeated exposure to the antigen in question. If the body uses IgE too much (eg. from repeated exposure), it starts to replace IgE antibodies with the more subtle IgG antibodies.

The immune system is very fascinating really. IgE might be the key to effective cancer immunotherapy. Imagine if we could program your immune system to fight a cancer as intensely as it fights a pollen grain or peanut in an allergic individual. There is a lot of research in this area these days.

Re: Peanut allergy cured in majority of children in immunotherapy trial

#95

Post by azernik »

gehwartzen wrote: post #78

The AAP also recently changed its guidelines for introducing peanuts to babies based on a study [1] showing a pretty dramatic decline in the development of the allergy with early exposure vs total avoidance. [1] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1414850#abstract

For a bit of extra anecdotal evidence - in Israel a common easily-digested semi-junk food is Bamba, peanut puffs. Rates of peanut allergy are very low there.

What you have instead is milk allergies, and briefly doctors recommended delaying introducing milk to infants. (This advice has also changed.)

Re: Peanut allergy cured in majority of children in immunotherapy trial

#96

Post by pkaye »

S_A_P wrote: post #82
ljf wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to hear that - but I understand that Celiac disease it not an immune response in the same manner - so likely any treatment will be different to this - though as ever - probiotics and gut bacteria are worth a try. My wife has celiac disease too, and I really wouldn't worry too much - it is pretty damn easy to eat out now (in the UK, Europe and America at least) - and compared to 10 years ago, she can shop really…

You are right, this really is a great time(even though that sounds weird to put it that way) to have a food allergy. I think about even 10-20 years ago how hard it would be to eat gluten free at most places. Thank you for the link- travel is always something we "worry" about. Most of the time we bring an extra suitcase of non perishables that my daughter can eat in case we cant accommodate her diet. Another reason wh…

Sorry to hear about your daughter's healthy issues. For a while I've been dealing with food intolerance issues myself though things are much better now. One working theory I have is to have a high protein diet to build up the the lining of the gut. Maybe incorporate more high quality protein into your daughters diet and see if any improvement. I have no scientific evidence for this, just anecdotal experience... I don't think even doctors have all the answers based on those I dealt with.

Re: Peanut allergy cured in majority of children in immunotherapy trial

#98

Post by aaight »

nikolay wrote: post #29
VeejayRampay wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, so yogurt REALLY is a Bulgarian thing! In France, we've always had a slew of "Bulgarian taste" yogurts, which are usually slightly acidic in taste (and which I enjoy a lot) and I've always wondered if it was just a marketing thing or grounded in reality.

Yogurt's homeland is Bulgaria, and if it doesn't have Streptococcus Thermophilus and Lactobacillus Bulgaricus, it's not yogurt, but just a form of fermented milk. It has to be tangy and, in fact, in Bulgarian, its name is literally "sour milk". After joining the EU, our traditional manufacturers started to westernize yogurt, and now we have all kinds of fruit-sweetened forms, and the country's taste is shifting via t…

wikipedia does not agree with you about Bulgaria being the origin, says origin of yogurt is unknown but could be Mesopotamia in 5000 BC. The bacteria strain seems to be called "bulgaricus" because it was discovered by a Bulgarian student studying his yogurt in Geneva a little over 100 years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogurt#History

Re: Peanut allergy cured in majority of children in immunotherapy trial

#99

Post by pm90 »

S_A_P wrote: post #39

My daughter has Celiac disease. It was diagnosed at age 4 when her growth chart showed she did not gain a single pound and grew ¼" from age 3-4. We did a biopsy of her small intestine and it was completely smooth. (Should be almost like velvet) Herblood levels also showed high sensitivity to gluten. We have her on a strict gluten free diet and she has since followed the growth chart perfectly. However she is sensitiv…

I really wish you and your family well. It can't be easy to accommodate her food habits; although I imagine after a while it becomes an (albeit difficult) habit.

And I agree with her quality of life being affected. Hopefully, other restaurants will catch on, similar to how we label food that may contain peanuts.

Re: Peanut allergy cured in majority of children in immunotherapy trial

#100

Post by gehwartzen »

manmal wrote: post #18

Can we derive that Lactobacillus rhamnosus could reduce all kinds of allergies when taken, even without adding proteins that you are allergic to?

Hmm one interesting thing I found is that Lactobacillus rhamnosus is "The Lactobacillus rhamnosus and L. reuteri species are most commonly found in the healthy female genito-urinary tract" [1]

I would think that it is transferred to the child at birth. Some factors that could lead to a higher incident of peanut allergies if this bacteria is vital to preventing it:

- Child was delivered via cesarean w/o a vaginal swab transfer. The rate of c-sectons has certainly increased quite a bit in the last few decades.

- The Mother did not have a health population to begin with.

- The use of antibiotics that could wipe these strains out. Either in the mother prior to delivery or in the child after being born.

- lack of introduction through other sources (some yoghurts and cheeses)

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactobacillus_rhamnosus

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