Peanut allergy treatment approved in the United States
The drug Palforzia, or AR101, administers children minute amounts of peanut protein increasingly over a six-month period to build up youngster's immunity to the legume strain.
By ZACHARY KEYSERPeanuts(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA)
A remedy to prevent the onset peanut allergies has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States - a first for the most common food allergen in the country.The drug Palforzia, or AR101, administers children minute amounts of peanut protein increasingly over a six-month period to build up youngster's immunity to the legume strain.Following, users of the newfound treatment will be administered daily doses of the protein to counteract "accidental exposures" to peanuts, according to the BBC.Additionally, patients must continue to avoid digesting peanuts in their diet, as the treatment does not completely cure the risk of anaphylactic reactions - just assists in the severity.The drug, which has been approved in patients between the ages of four and 17, in administered orally through a powder sprinkled over food -it has not yet been authorized for use in the United Kingdom."Currently, immunotherapy is the only treatment option we can offer peanut allergic patients," the King's College of London said after conducting a similar study the year before, according to the BBC. "The question was whether the immunotherapy could switch off the allergic response. Some patients and parents hoped they would be able to eat the food but this will only be able to give them protection against accidental exposure.""This may not be a cure (hopefully one day one will be found) but immunotherapy is a positive step in providing a treatment to give a level of protection where previously one had not existed," said Amena Warner of Allergy UK.
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