One Study's Advice May Have Led to a Decline in Peanut Allergies

"Peanut allergies are very common in the modern world. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, between one and two percent of the U.S. population is allergic to peanuts. If you aren't allergic yourself, it's very likely that you know someone who is. Given that peanut allergies can be life-threatening, this also poses a substantial health risk around the world."

"In 2015, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study on the effectiveness of giving small children small doses of peanuts to build up their resistance to potential allergies. That study's authors concluded that "[t]he early introduction of peanuts significantly decreased the frequency of the development of peanut allergy among children at high risk for this allergy." Speaking to NPR that same year, food allergy expert Scott Sicherer called the results "a landmark study.""

Peanut allergies affect roughly 1–2% of the U.S. population and present serious, potentially life-threatening risks. A 2015 NEJM study found that controlled early introduction of peanut to high-risk infants decreased development of peanut allergy. Clinical guidelines were issued recommending early peanut introduction and later expanded with addenda. A recent Pediatrics analysis comparing pre-guideline and post-guideline cohorts detected lower rates of IgE-mediated food allergies, including peanuts. The analysis reported a 27.2% reduction in cumulative incidence of peanut allergy in the post-initial-guidelines cohort versus the preguidelines cohort. Early peanut introduction appears effective for lowering childhood peanut allergy prevalence.

Read at InsideHook