Peanut allergies: Largest ever treatment trial

22nd February 2010 - The largest ever trial to find a treatment for peanut allergies will take place in Cambridge over the next three years. A team from Addenbrooke’s Hospital is embarking on a one million pound programme to tackle the potentially fatal allergy, which affects as many as one in 50 young people in the UK.

The research

The technique used is called desensitisation, where a patient is exposed to a small amount of the peanut flour.
In earlier tests, the participants started with a tiny five milligram serving and slowly built up the dose over six months. They trained their bodies to tolerate at least 800 milligrams, 160 times the starting dose, and equivalent to five whole peanuts. Before the trial, exposure to the starting dose would have meant being rushed to A&E.
The pilot study showed that 21 out of 23 children were effectively desensitised to peanuts.
Dr Andy Clark, who led the research, said in a news release: “Every time people with a peanut allergy eat something, they’re frightened that it might kill them. Our motivation was to find a treatment that would change that and give them the confidence to eat what they like. It’s all about quality of life.

The new trial

104 children aged between seven and 17 suffering from peanut allergy will be involved in the new trial. Their doses of peanut flour will be added to yoghurt.
The researchers say the study will give a definitive idea of whether the approach works and whether it's safe.

Past research not a success

The researchers say previous peanut allergy desensitisation trials in the 1990s produced serious side-effects and failed. These used peanut injections rather than the small oral doses tested at Addenbrooke’s.

Food allergies

A food allergy is a condition where the immune system experiences a bad reaction to specific proteins found in our food.
The symptoms can range from a tingling in the mouth or a skin rash, to a life threatening severe swelling of the throat making it difficult to breathe. A life-threatening allergic reaction is called anaphylaxis.

However, deaths from food allergies are very rare. The NHS says that, in 2008, six deaths as a result of food allergies were recorded in England, which makes the chances of dying due to a food allergy around one in 340,000.

Find out more about living with a nut or food allergy here.