New Treatment For Nut Allergies

In an about face on treatment of peanut allergies, scientists are now recommending giving peanuts to infants  to reduce the possibility of the child becoming allergic.  Nut allergies have been treated for years by NOT giving nuts to children.  Keep nuts away  from kids that may become allergic or are allergic.  Keep the Epipen handy.  Parents always had the fear that a child would eat nuts, unbeknownst to him while away from home.  Now the approach to nut allergies is changing.

Starting with infants, at around four months of age, researchers are advocating giving small amount of nuts to children.  Over time, the amount of nut should be increased.  The research shows that this will prevent most children from developing the allergy in the first place.  It's the exact opposite treatment that we've been using for decades!

Unfortunately it has not proved useful for children that have already developed an allergy.  Apparently it can't be reversed once it has been developed, but this new approach says we can keep children from developing the allergy in the first place.  This is great news for parents who have worried for years about whether their nut allergy children might inadvertently ingest nuts.

I wonder if this might work for other allergies, like milk, shellfish, and garlic.  We'll have to wait and see what the research shows, but the new research on nut allergy treatment is very good news.