For many students, avoiding foods that lead to allergic reactions is a normal part of life. Recent studies, however, suggest that individuals with peanut allergies -- an increasingly common allergy and the leading cause of fatal allergic reactions according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease -- may be able to seek treatment for their condition in the future.
Dr. Wesley Burks of Duke University recently learned that young children with allergies who are fed small amounts of peanuts daily can build up a tolerance to peanuts without having an allergic reaction.
Along with researchers at the Arkansas Children's Hospital, Burks and his team tested 33 children with documented allergies by sprinkling a peanut powder over their food.
Most of the children tolerated the treatment, and there were even some who were able to discontinue using powder because they were able to tolerate peanuts in their diet on a regular basis.
There were, however, a few children who had to discontinue the treatment because they could not handle the peanut powder.
Overall, children who were given the peanut powder could tolerate ingesting a significantly higher number of peanuts than others who received a placebo powder.
"It appears these children have lost their allergies," Burks told Duke Medicine News and Communications. "This gives other parents hope that we'll soon have a safe, effective treatment that will halt allergies to certain foods."
It is estimated that about 3 million people are allergic to peanuts and 100 die each year from those allergies -- and these numbers are increasing. According to Popular Science, the number of school-aged children with peanut allergies has doubled in the past decade.
Currently, there is no approved treatment for people with these allergies except to avoid foods with peanuts in them. But some with more severe allergies can have a reaction just from being near peanuts or eating foods that were placed near peanut products.
Although the study focused on young children, the results have intrigued some older sufferers of peanut allergies as they contemplate what life would be like should a universal treatment be discovered.
"Personally, I probably would seek treatment. It's already not a serious allergy," junior Benjamin Phelps said,"It would be great just to eat a PB and J,"
Phelps explained that because he must habitually try to avoid peanuts, his allergy sometimes interferes with his life.
"I always have to check ingredients on foods," Phelps said. "I could just be having a snack like a granola bar, but I have to make sure it's not made with nuts of any sort. At Carmichael on Sunday night I'm wary of having M and Ms just because they put the Reese's Pieces nearby."
Sometimes, however, Phelps cannot avoid a reaction. "I get hives on my face. My throat gets tight and sort of closes up," Phelps said. "I get puffy around my lips. This sort of thing hasn't happened in a long time because I'm careful, and Benadryl usually takes care of it."
Sophomore Sarah Safan from Vanderbilt University had a different reaction to the idea of a treatment for peanut allergies.
"I would not seek treatment for the allergy. I struggled with it more when I was younger," Safan said. "I'm at a point in my life where I've lived so long with it that there seems no point in changing it now. Living without [certain foods] is not the end of the world."
Safan explained how her struggle with her peanut allergy growing up was a social detriment, as was the avoidance of certain foods.
"[The allergy] affects how I interact with other people," she said. "Eating in restaurants is always really hard."
While Phelps was hopeful about the study, he considered the fact that it involved the risks associated with testing children's allergies.
"I don't know if I'd want to take that risk, especially if that tiny piece of peanut could pose a problem," he said. "I've known people that even the hint of a peanut will put them into shock."
But he acknowledged that in some cases the benefits might outweigh the risk.
Similarly, Safan said she hopes that the study could eventually lead to a treatment that could help kids with allergies avoid the difficulties she has faced.
"It's definitely a good idea just so that they don't have to be as secluded as I was," she said.
