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Nov. 28, 2006 -- Children with food allergies are told to avoid problem foods at all costs, but a novel experimental treatment is taking the opposite approach.
In a two-year pilot study conducted by researchers at Duke University and the University of Arkansas, eggs were very gradually introduced into the diets of kids who were highly allergic to them in an effort to desensitize the children.
A similar study is under way involving children with peanut allergies, which more often trigger potentially life-threatening allergic reactions.
Early findings suggest that this gradual challenge approach increases tolerance to problem foods, senior researcher A. Wesley Burks, MD, tells WebMD. Burks is a professor of pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center.
Researchers hope desensitization will help protect food allergy suffers from serious reactions brought on by accidental ingestion of problem foods.
It may even cure people of their food allergies, although it is too soon to tell, Burks adds.
In the peanut study (currently unpublished), children were initially given the equivalent of 1/3,000 of a peanut. Most were eating a peanut a day within six months with little reaction.
"Some children who had allergic reactions to literally a thousandth of a peanut at the beginning of the study had no reaction later on when challenged with 15 peanuts," says Burks.
Don't Try This at Home
While very promising, the desensitization approach to treating food allergies is also highly experimental and should never be attempted without close medical supervision.
Children in the egg and peanut trials were watched closely, and many did experience mild allergic reactions to the food challenges early on, Burks says.
"This is definitely not something that would be safe to try at home without medical supervision," he warns.