March 16, 2015 – Peanut Allergy

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Anchor lead: Feeding peanut early may be the best way to avoid allergies, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Consumption of peanuts very early in infancy may preclude the development of peanut allergy, a New England Journal of Medicine study shows.  Redonda Miller, an internal medicine expert at Johns Hopkins, describes the findings.

Miller: Peanuts are not the leading cause of death from food allergies in our country. This is a randomized trial of peanut consumption in infants who are at high risk for peanut allergy.  The investigators looked at 640 infants.  These infants were randomized to consume peanuts when they were small babies versus avoidance until 60 months of age. 35% in the folks who avoided peanuts had allergy at age five, versus 10.6%, 70-80% reduction in the risk of developing a frank allergy.  :35

Miller says parents should talk with their pediatrician to find out if such a strategy may be helpful for their child.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.