An allergy to peanuts is one of the most dangerous food allergies, both because peanut products are widely used in processed foods and because even minute amounts of peanut protein can be enough to trigger fatal anaphylactic shock.
Researchers have determined that diagnosis of a peanut allergy is not necessarily a life-long sentence. A blood test to measure peanut specific antibodies can identify children who may have outgrown their allergies. They can then be tested in a controlled situation with a small amount of peanut protein to see if they are still allergic. Children with a peanut allergy should be retested every few years.
Two current areas of research:
Development of a vaccine to help tone down the body’s overreaction to peanuts.
The use of activated charcoal to bind the allergy-causing proteins when an allergic person realizes they have accidentally eaten peanuts.
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