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Reversing peanut advice prevented tens of thousands of allergy cases, researchers say

For years, parents were told not to expose their babies to peanuts, to prevent a potentially dangerous allergy. But 10 years ago, a landmark study found the opposite to be true, stating that if babies consume peanut products at an early age, they were far less likely to become allergic to them. Health experts quickly took notice — and the resulting reversal in pediatric guidance has helped to push peanuts out of the No. 1 spot as the cause of food allergy for children under 3 in the U.S., according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics.

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 Peanut Allergies Have Plummeted in Children, Study Shows

Doctors have long recommended that infants avoid peanut products. But in 2017, experts officially reversed that guidance, and food allergies decreased sharply.

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How research provided dramatic new ways to think about peanut allergies

In 2000 and the decade following, pediatricians recommended delaying the introduction of peanuts in babies and children until the age of three years to reduce this potentially fatal food allergy. Between 1997 and 2008, the rate of peanut allergy in children tripled. Now, looking at the data, it’s clear that delaying the introduction of peanuts led to the alarming rise in peanut allergy. What followed was landmark research published in 2015 that completely changed how we approach the prevention of food allergies in infants and children.

New Peanut Allergy Drug Shows ‘Lifesaving’ Potential

Results from a new study may lead to approval of what could be the first drug that ameliorates potentially deadly reactions in children with severe peanut allergies.

The source of peanut allergies has been found in a surprising place

A new study points to how allergy-causing antibodies could be hijacked.

Therapy Could Cure Your Peanut Allergy

New research funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows that oral immunotherapy—the process of eating small, gradually increasing amounts of peanut—can successfully suppress peanut allergies in young children.

Another Reason to Give Babies Peanut Butter

A new study finds early exposure to the legume can stave off allergies among high-risk children—even if they go a year without eating peanuts later in childhood.

Australia Just Cured Your Peanut Allergy

Scientists from Down Under may have discovered a cure for peanut allergies—and it requires nothing more than a bit of bacteria that's naturally found in yogurt.

Everything You Need to Know About Peanut Allergy

Peanut allergy is one of the nine most common food allergies, affecting approximately 1-2% of the U.S. population. Peanuts grow underground and are considered legumes. Most individuals with peanut allergy can tolerate other legumes, such as peas, soy beans, lentils and chickpeas. Fewer than 5-10% of peanut allergic people have an allergy to other legumes.

Feed Your Kids Peanuts, Early and Often, New Guidelines Urge

Peanuts are back on the menu. In a significant reversal from past advice, new national health guidelines call for parents to give their children foods containing peanuts early and often, starting when they’re infants, as a way to help avoid life-threatening peanut allergies.

Hey, Baby, Meet Peanuts: How And When To Safely Introduce The Food

Peanut allergies can be among a parent's biggest worries, though we've had good evidence for more than a year that when most babies are 6 months old or so, introducing foods that contain finely ground peanuts can actually reduce babies' chances of becoming allergic to the legumes. Even so, many parents are scared to do that.

How Food Allergies Can Destroy Your Life

After a couple bad experiences with trace amounts of peanuts, I was sent into a spiral of anxiety and fear that took me months to recover from.

Nestlé Moves Further Into Health, Buying Peanut-Allergy Treatment Maker

The treatment isn’t intended to allow allergic patients to begin eating peanuts, but rather to reduce the risk of reactions after accidental exposures. Children who take the new therapy are still advised to keep avoiding peanuts and maintain access to emergency epinephrine shots, such as EpiPen, in case of reactions.

Peanut allergy cured in children using immunotherapy

A potentially life-threatening peanut allergy has been essentially cured in nine out of 10 recipients of a new treatment which gradually escalates the amount of peanut protein the body can tolerate. Other treatments such as vaccines and antibodies are also under development, but the new oral immunotherapy is claimed to be the first to successfully allow people to tolerate such a food allergy.

Peanut allergy in babies successfully treated in US with immunotherapy

Of 40 children allergic to peanuts, nearly 80% were able to eat nuts after receiving oral immunotherapy, researchers say.

Peanut allergy may start in the gut – opening up new ways to tackle it

Severe food allergies can be terrifying, both for the person affected and their loved ones. Allergies are increasing and affect between 3% and 6% of the population. But science has yet to fully grasp the reasons why. One theory – which appears to be backed up by the evidence of a new study – is that the answer lies in the human gut.

Peanut-allergy therapy 'protection not a cure'

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Peanuts, eggs and your baby: How to introduce food allergens during the coronavirus pandemic

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Shielding kids from peanuts might cause peanut allergies

Children are much less likely to develop peanut allergies if they are frequently fed peanuts, according to a new study published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings are part of a shifting understanding of what causes peanut allergies — one that's pointing away from avoiding nuts while young.

The advice on babies and peanut butter just got a massive update

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The Cure for Peanut Allergies Could Be More Peanuts

Researchers in England have found that roughly 80 percent of children with peanut allergies who participated in an experimental treatment were able to build resistance to the allergy.

The U.S. Health-Care System Found a Way to Make Peanuts Cost $4,200

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Tough nuts: why peanuts trigger such powerful allergic reactions

Food allergens are the scourge of the modern school lunchbox. Many foods contain proteins that can set off an oversized immune reaction and one of the fiercest is the humble peanut.

Turns out the secret to beating a peanut allergy is…peanuts

It’s possible to limit the risks of a peanut allergy by giving people with the allergy a minuscule and sustained dose of the nut itself. The method proved so successful in the laboratory setting that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now reviewing a new, peanut-derived drug produced by Aimmune Therapeutics that may one day help people develop a tolerance to peanut exposure.

Why are peanut allergies on the rise?

Peanut allergies are still relatively rare — affecting about 1 to 2 percent children in the United States. But some studies have indeed found evidence that the number of reported nut allergies is increasing over time. That said, it's tough to disentangle this from broader trends.

Why Are So Many Kids Allergic to Peanuts?

Theories abound, though, and most involve an overactive immune system. "We have done such a good job of eliminating the threats that the immune system is supposed to manage, that it's looking for something to do," says Anne Muñoz-Furlong, CEO of the nonprofit Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network.