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Peanut allergy cured in majority of children in immunotherapy trial

theguardian.com

161–170 of 174 posts

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

#161
If you're in the bay area and considering OIT, a friend of mine is opening a private practice offering only OIT [0], starting next Wednesday in Redwood City. She is currently a full-time clinician at the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University.

Her clinic is relatively unique, in that it will be offering multi-allergen rapid desensitization. Using this procedure, a person can be desensitized to multiple allergens simultaneously, in as little as three months. She can treat milk, egg, wheat, soy, peanut, tree nut, fish, and shellfish allergies.

[0]: http://wmboit.com

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

#162

Physician-scientist here. My graduate work was in an immunology lab. Just wanted to clear up some confusion I've seen in multiple posts. While both peanut allergy and celiac disease involve pathogenic immune responses, they represent very different types of problems and this study's results do not suggest any relevance to celiac. The peanut allergies that they are referring to in this study are one of the most striki…

> This has been done for some time with other, less aggressive types of IgE-mediated conditions like dog and cat dander allergies Can you link to this please? Is this "allergen immunotherapy"[0]? [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allergy_to_cats#Allergy_shot...

Yes, that's correct. Mayo Clinic has some good basic information here: http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/allergy-shots/bas...

Hope that's helpful.

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

#163
post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not entirely true. The study itself lists several previous works that only introduced the peanut allergen in varying amount over time. The results of those studies show that yes the body increasingly builds antibodies while the allergen is introduced but those effects diminish rapidly after the treatment is stopped. The importance of this work is that with the simultaneous introduction of this bacteria the eff…

It still would have been nice if they'd done a control group, an allergen-only group, and an allergen-and-probiotic group – all from the exact same initial randomization and using the exact same administration/follow-through practices. That would have best quantified what, if any, added benefit the probiotic creates.

True. Additionally it would be good to have a baseline measurement of the probiotic population in each subject prior to starting.

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

#165
post #128
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just these days... Not long ago breast milk was considered distasteful/inferior to formula and newborns were forced on their stomachs so they didn't choke to death on their own tongues/vomit. The latter by the way led to a dramatic increase in incidents of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome causing us to roll out the "back to sleep" movement. Many still disapprove of sleeping next to your baby despite it being as safe…

Yes there have been some bad errors by the medical and public health communities. But on the other hand, now we have parents who don't vaccinate because they "feel" it's better for their child. Most peoples' feelings aren't to be trusted.

To be fair, the vast majority of people feel they should vaccinate their children.

And I use "feel" explicitly because often on more subtle issues there wont be a clear answer, even from your doctor.

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

#166
post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [we] did the opposite of the [...] guidelines [...] because it seemed like obviously ass-backwards, stupid advice > Looks like we guessed right on this one. You conclude that the advice is wrong because of your sample size of however many kids you have? You didn't explicitly say "our kids" but merely "kids"; God help you if you feed nuts to other peoples' kids based off your conclusion.

Did you read the linked page? Or google for how recommendations re: feeding kids peanuts have changed since 2015? We concluded the advice was wrong because very few of our peers in school had food allergies, but now a crazy percentage of the kids who've grown up under the no-peanuts-for-kids-or-even-for-pregnant-women advice are allergic to peanuts. And it turns out we got that one right.

What I'm saying is: do what you want with your own kids.

Feel free to discuss your ideas/concerns with other parents and censure them like anti-vaxxers if you want. BUT if you either 1) don't ask them first and give their kids peanuts or 2) disregard their concerns and give their kids peanuts, and a kid dies because of it, you are culpable and responsible for that kid's death.

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

#167

Very severe peanut allergy here - honestly go away with this crap of comparing your gluten allergy. I have to carry an epipen and worry about risking my life when I so much as eat food that was on the same table as baked goods that MIGHT have traces of peanut butter.

Yeah, this article is great news. I have a relative with a severe reaction similar to yours - I swear it's off to the hospital if he looks at something that was processed in the same state as food with peanuts. It's heartbreaking, and his parents break out into a cold sweat whenever he's far from emergency medical care, like on a long flight.

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

#168
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It wouldn't surprise me, the human microbiome (which includes bacteria) out numbers cells in the human body something like 100:1. Fake news! [1] [1] https://www.nature.com/news/scientists-bust-myth-that-our-bo...

Ok Donald, the ratio may be off, but your own linked article does in fact conclude microbiobial in the human body outnumbers cells (just slightly) and the study you linked isn't very clear in that it discusses just bacteria which is only part of the microbiome. Further, the ratio has little to do with the actual function which is the major takeaway. Nice fake account btw! Edit: from your article, “It is good that we…

What an odd way of thanking someone for correcting a misconception?

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

#169
post #123
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We really don't know - but I really think there is a link between gut bacteria and allergies, based on some of the reading I've done, though it's all very early days for research in this area. Our boy has allergies and we've been giving him Water Kefir daily for the last year (we would give Milk Kefir, but he's currently allergic to dairy too :( His allergies developed after a dose of antibiotics - which likely would…

Suggestion based on my N=1. If your son has any seasonal allergies, try giving him tiny amounts (1/4 of a teaspoon) of raw local honey every single day.

Cheers for that - need to track some local honey down now ;)

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

#170
post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read the linked page? Or google for how recommendations re: feeding kids peanuts have changed since 2015? We concluded the advice was wrong because very few of our peers in school had food allergies, but now a crazy percentage of the kids who've grown up under the no-peanuts-for-kids-or-even-for-pregnant-women advice are allergic to peanuts. And it turns out we got that one right.

What I'm saying is: do what you want with your own kids. Feel free to discuss your ideas/concerns with other parents and censure them like anti-vaxxers if you want. BUT if you either 1) don't ask them first and give their kids peanuts or 2) disregard their concerns and give their kids peanuts, and a kid dies because of it, you are culpable and responsible for that kid's death.

Where'd I say I was giving strangers' kids peanut butter, like some kind of creepy peanut butter bandit?
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