How people with severe peanut allergies might get to eat the nut again

A small food that causes big problems for some – peanuts.

“They get hives, their eyes can close, seizures, whole body rashes, and they’ll die because the closing of the throat,’ Dr. Steven Nelson of Synergy Wellness Clinic said.

Peanut allergies continue to rise – affecting about 1 in 50 children, such as Barbara Zucherman’s six-year old grandson, William.

“He cannot be near peanuts , or anything that touches peanuts. He really has to stay away from them,” Barbara Zucherman said.

British researchers looked into oral immunotherapy – a treatment that involves carefully feeding allergic kids small amounts of powdered peanuts. Bit by bit, this safely built up tolerance. After months of this, many of them could eat the equivalent of five peanuts – without a bad reaction.

“I am hesitant because I have seen his reaction to other things as well,” Zucherman said.

Barbara’s concern, and some doctors, too, comes from the severity of this allergy.

Peanuts are the most common cause of fatal food allergy reactions. The only way to avoid a reaction is to avoid peanuts. That’s not always as easy as it sounds.

“It’s a struggle because if his friends have candy with peanuts in them, he cannot be near his friends,” Zucherman said.

Don’t start craving those peanut butter just yet. This finding comes with a strict warning from doctors – this shouldn’t be tried at home without a doctor’s supervision.

“They have to prove over a series of clinic trials over large numbers of people that they can desensitize a large percentage of the population. My guess is this isn’t a large sample, I don’t know it doesn’t tell me,” Dr. Nelson said.

Doctors behind this study call it “exceptionally promising” but also “years away from routine clinical use.”

The intention of the treatment isn’t to help kids eat large amounts of peanuts, but to prevent a life-threatening allergic reaction if they somehow eat a small trace.