
Two new peanut allergy treatments are on the verge of approval - JumpCrisscross
https://www.ft.com/content/682bb942-4583-11e7-8d27-59b4dd6296b8
======
RijilV
Last year I learned that 20% of adults who were diagnosed with a peanut
allergy outgrow it after childhood. It is worth getting tested again if you
grew up with a peanut allergy.

I had signed up for a trial of one of these drugs. Having grown up in the 80s
with a severe peanut allergy that required the use of the epipen more than a
few times I was keen for anything that could help, even just something that
would lessen the reaction so maybe I could choke down some benadryl rather
than stabbing myself with that ~2 gauge (hyperbole) epipen that now costs a
fortune.

First thing they did during the trial was give me two peanut tests, skin prick
and blood test. Both came back negative despite positive results decades
earlier as a child.

I would have never thought to get tested again on my own. Not being allergic
has made such a huge difference in my life - I was always flippant about my
allergy and had developed good safeguards to protect myself. But the amount of
stress is caused me was amazing to have lifted. Hope that these drugs can
bring that to others (or just get tested again and maybe you're one of the
lucky ones!)

~~~
marktangotango
More anecdata; a friends father never had a peanut allergy, then almost died.
Friend said peanuts weren't part of his fathers diet for years, his father
decided to have a pbnj, bam, almost died. I had never heard of adult onset
peanut allergy before.

My son has a peanut allergy, I can only hope he outgrows it as well.

~~~
ekianjo
Sounds more like anaphylactic shock than allergy from how your describe it...

~~~
stijnstijn
Anaphylactic shock can be an allergic reaction, it's not an either/or
distinction.

------
Clanan
As the parent of a child with a severe, life-threatening peanut allergy, these
treatments could be a Godsend. It's hard to describe the life change that
occurs when a normal food like peanuts suddenly becomes a disguised killer
that could take my child away at any moment. The speed with which it strikes
is stunning; according to our allergist, we have only minutes to administer
EpiPens to avoid the runaway anaphylactic reaction. And we've done so. The
tragic story that begins the article seems a testament to this - if a reaction
isn't countered in time, it can't be.

I miss Snickers.

~~~
nostromo
While I appreciate your concern and caution, I feel like the medical community
has worked the public into a bit of hysteria over peanut allergies.

So few people die from peanut allergies each year it's hard to actually get
good numbers on the phenomenon. And yet I have several friends who report
having someone deathly allergic to peanuts in their family. It seems
incongruent.

~~~
pacaro
I understand your position. But (there's always a "but") I have a friend whose
kid is severely allergic, their daycare didn't take it particularly
seriously(!), for reasons similar to yours. So of course one day there is a
PBJ near the kid, he has a crazy reaction, the staff call the parents "we're
afraid to use the epipen" at which point the mom hangs up and calls 911
herself, invoke FMLA and has to hightail to the ER

~~~
pbhjpbhj
"The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) is a United States federal
law requiring covered employers to provide employees with job-protected and
unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons." (Wikipedia via Google)

~~~
pacaro
Thanks! As a parent working in the US, the FMLA is a fact of life, but that
isn't true for everyone on HN

------
raverbashing
And the best prevention is giving small kids peanut based foods

But since some genius thought the best course of action was not exposing kids
to it, we have the present situation (especially in the US)

~~~
stevetodd
According to my pediatrician, research shows that exposing children to peanuts
earlier decreases the likelihood of a child developing a peanut allergy.

~~~
marktangotango
I gave my son a bite of the peanut butter cookie I was eating, when he was six
months old, nearly killed him. So this "expose them early and it's not a
problem" maybe true part of the time for some allergens, but certainly not all
the time for all allergens.

Edit: Down voters care to comment?

~~~
zzleeper
Do you think peanut butter might be the problem? As in most Americans don't
eat raw peanuts but processed versions which might be more concentrated and
exacerbate the allergies?

~~~
pbhjpbhj
Peanut butter though is just peanuts, same concentration of everything as a
peeled peanut. Large companies put lots of salt and sugar in too, I can't
stand the sweet ones.

Maybe there's greater availability of some protein, or something, because of
the processing?

------
blhack
Another problem related to the increase in peanut allergies is the increase in
bogus science surrounding the treatment of allergies in general:

[https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/04/bogus-
allerg...](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/04/bogus-allergy-
tests-causing-real-harm-say-experts)

------
skbohra123
Never heard about peanut allergy here in India, looks like a first world
problem.

~~~
pmoriarty
There's something called the Hygiene Hypothesis which states that _" a lack of
early childhood exposure to infectious agents, symbiotic microorganisms (such
as the gut flora or probiotics), and parasites increases susceptibility to
allergic diseases by suppressing the natural development of the immune
system"_.[1]

In other words, it could mean that excessive hygiene in childhood could be
causing allergies.

[1] -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis)

~~~
theprop
Probably not so much excessive hygiene, but antibiotic use. Some studies
already indicate higher rates of allergies in kids who as toddlers took
antibiotics.

------
majewsky
Money quotes:

> Big Pharma was unmoved, believing it would be impossible to patent a
> medicine that was essentially a ground-up peanut.

> [One of the companies working on the issue] has ties to the food industry,
> which has a vested interest in finding treatments for allergies.

Make of this what you will.

~~~
Clanan
1\. Companies investing hundreds of millions want to ensure a return 2\. Food
companies want customers to eat (and not die from) their products.

Groundbreaking, I know.

~~~
majewsky
Of course it's reasonable within the system. Inward and outward reasonableness
of a system are sometimes quite orthogonal.

------
bpm140
That opening story just broke my heart. As a parent of a child with a severe
peanut and tree nut allergy, it has been completely drilled into me: If my
child is exhibiting an allergic reaction, administer the EpiPen and call 911
for an ambulance immediately.

------
alfon
Another interesting read: "about 80 percent of the children who received the
peanut protein plus probiotic treatment were able to consume about 0.1 ounces
(4 grams) of peanut protein without a reaction. What's more, when the parents
of these children were interviewed about three months after the study ended,
most said that their child was still able to include some peanuts in his or
her diet (varying from five peanuts to 3 tablespoons of peanut butter a
week)."

[http://www.livescience.com/49638-peanut-allergy-treatment-
pr...](http://www.livescience.com/49638-peanut-allergy-treatment-
probiotics.html)

------
mola
Peanut allergy is not a thing in Israel. Kids here are exposed to peanuts from
a very early age through consumption of a very popular peanut snack (Bamba).
Apparently this prevents the onset of peanut allergy.[1] It's funny (weird? )
people are being guided to avoid foods which causes them to be more
susceptible to allergy which makes a good business opportunity for some pharma
company.

[1] [https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/study-finds-
pe...](https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/study-finds-peanut-
consumption-infancy-prevents-peanut-allergy)

------
miek
If you have a baby, introduce them to watered down peanut butter or powder
between 4-6 months [1]. Many healthcare groups are still advocating for
parents to wait until 12 months before introducing peanut, but that is totally
wrong. My friend followed this advice from Kaiser Permanente last year and his
child is allergic.

[1] [http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-
way/2017/01/05/508348588/...](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-
way/2017/01/05/508348588/new-guidelines-tell-parents-when-to-introduce-babies-
to-peanut-products)

------
bjt
My niece underwent a similar treatment the past few years, but just using
trace amounts of actual peanuts and then building up to larger quantities. As
far as I know, there was no commercially-produced patch or capsule involved.
My sister in law blogged about it here:
[http://girlvspeanut.blogspot.com/](http://girlvspeanut.blogspot.com/)

------
mrfusion
It's funny it takes hundreds of millions of dollars to test putting peanut
flour on people.

Going by first principles it's probably under $100.

------
SQL2219
from the article:

About 2 per cent of American children are now allergic to peanuts, a figure
that has more than quadrupled since 1997.

------
theprop
1\. $400+ million to turn peanut fragments into a treatment. What?!?!?!

2\. I think this treatment could potentially be a lot more deadly than the
problem. It's a case of unintended side effects...in this case over-confidence
vs. a strict no peanuts ever policy.

Imagine a kid has had the treatment and can eat 3 or 4 peanuts without a
problem...a year or two later, maybe older & wanting to show off or over-
confident, the child eats 12 peanuts...has an anaphylactic attack and dies.
This case vs. a child who religiously avoids all peanuts, never considers
them. A possible unintended effect related to psychology that I think should
be considered.

3\. Antibiotic use in infants and toddlers have been linked to a higher risk
of allergies (maybe peanut allergies though I don't know if that's been
studied & maybe that's why peanut allergies are a big problem in the US but
not in India where most people don't take a lot of medicines)...try to avoid
them if possible in small children though please listen to your doctor's
advice. Antibiotics have some side effects which aren't great but on the whole
have saved an incalculable number of lives.

~~~
soperj
"3\. Antibiotic use in infants and toddlers have been linked to a higher risk
of allergies (maybe peanut allergies though I don't know if that's been
studied & maybe that's why peanut allergies are a big problem in the US but
not in India where most people don't take a lot of medicines)...try to avoid
them if possible in small children though please listen to your doctor's
advice. Antibiotics have some side effects which aren't great but on the whole
have saved an incalculable number of lives. "

Gonna have to back that up with a whole heap of citations there.

------
Acbd
I'm allergic to peanuts from the USA but not from the ones from India. I'm
from India but live/work in the US and just get a few pounds of peanuts every
time visit India.

With milk, I'm lactose intolerant to the milk in US but not in India. Cow vs
buffalo is one difference.

------
MBO35711
Never drive an emergency to the hospital. Always call an ambulance.

~~~
brianwawok
That seems silly. I am a 3 minute drive to the ER. Vs a 3 minute drive for an
ambulance here, then a 3 minute drive back.

------
SQL2219
I never knew that peanut oil was used as a vaccine adjuvant.

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2130368/pdf/jhy...](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2130368/pdf/jhyg00071-0101.pdf)

~~~
adsfqwop
Bingo.

~~~
tstactplsignore
Going to respond to your comment too just in case you don't check replies to
the parent: This is wrong. There is no peanut oil in modern vaccines. Even if
there were, peanut oil is usually safe because it contains no peanut
allergens. Even if it was in small concentrations, it would be used in such
small quantities in vaccine doses that it would be diluted past nothing. Even
if all of this were true, the proposed effect would have to be proven, and
there is zero evidence for this hypothesis. But none of these things are true,
and instead we are left only with propaganda.

