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Subscribe to RSSScientists may have found a way to turn off food allergies.
Researchers from Northwestern University found a way to tweak the immune system so that it doesn’t go haywire when foods like peanuts and eggs are encountered – in mice, at least.
That’s very good news since recent studies have shown that food allergies have been on the rise for the past decade or so. And food allergies can be deadly. Just a speck of peanut protein in a sensitive kid’s mouth can spark a life-threatening allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis.
National Institutes of Health scientists estimate that about 4.7 percent of children younger than 5 years old and 3.7 percent of children aged 5 to 17 suffer from food allergies. Each year there are some 15,000 to 30,000 episodes of food-related anaphylaxis, according to the NIH. Currently there is no reliable therapy for food allergies, other than eschewing the offending edible.
The trick to turning that reaction down – or even off - is to convince the body’s immune system that these foods are safe, said Paul J. Bryce, an assistant professor of medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, whose study was published in the Journal of Immunology.
“The key concept here is that we are supposed to be able to eat foods,” Bryce said. “Allergies to peanuts and other foods occur when the immune system goes wrong. We’ve been trying to understand how the immune system tells the difference between what it should and should not respond to.”
Allergic people react to peanuts and other edibles because their bodies interpret proteins in these foods as pathogens that must be killed.
Once a person is sensitized to a food, like peanuts, immune cells called T helper cells go into action. Like army scouts, these cells are constantly on patrol looking for the protein they’ve determined is dangerous. When they find it, they call in the troops and switch on a massive immune reaction that can be so severe that it can kill.
Bryce and his colleagues discovered that they could block that reaction by taking a bit of peanut protein, wrapping a white blood cell around it and then injecting the altered cell into an allergic mouse’s body. Once the immune system spots the protein lodged in a white blood cell it recalibrates, now designating the protein as safe.
So, how big of a stretch is it to go from mice to humans?
“There are many differences between immune responses in mice and humans,” Bryce said. “There are also many similarities.”
The same principle applies to autoimmune diseases – like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis – which work very much in the same way as allergies do, Bryce said. The only difference is that the protein being attacked is part of the person’s own body, rather than a food that is consumed.
The research in autoimmune diseases is further along.
“This approach to inducing tolerance is in early clinical trials for multiple sclerosis,” Bryce said. “We are hopeful that any success there would justify further trials, including those designed to test its use for food allergy.”
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Considering peanut allergies are a hoax it shouldn't be too difficult to turn them off.
Really? I've almost died from this hoax a few times. You are an idiot.
Looks like UDunno-What U are talkin' 'bout-BRO.
UDunnoBro - I wouldn't wish a peanut allergy on anyone! Or any other food allergies. Those allergies are often deadly - from peanuts to soy beans, and everything in between. If they are, as you say, a hoax, then what is causing the life-threatening reactions?
This is not news...oral tolerance in mice has been known for at least a decade. We can also cure lymphoma in mice.
Very little of this research translates to humans.
If only scientists could figure out how we can "turn off" trolls :D
My 12 year-old nephew and my 71 year-old father both have peanut allergies. If you'd ever had an anaphylactic reaction, you'd think very differently.
I'm beginning to think UDunnoBro is a hoax.
"Dunno" sure don't know what he's talking about.
Please teach us, oh wise one, what causes people to go into anaphelactic shock after eating a peanut, if it is a hoax. Just because you don't have food allergies, doesn't mean they don't exist. Of course, you are way too smart for everyone. Do you believe the earth is flat?
It's the same mentality that keeps people from wanting health care coverage. I ain't sick, so no one needs health care.
You are still an idiot. Educate yourself so that you can overcome that condition.
I think that Tim is referring to the first poster, who says that peanut allergies are a hoax? If so, peanut allergies are over dramatized. More children die from asthma attacks than die from peanut allergies (in the entire US, only a couple of dozen people died of all food allergies last year). It is the case that news agencies--and especially MSN--have a habit of over-dramatizing allergies.
There are a very few people with serious food allergies. On the rare occasion, they have an attack and are too far away from an epipen to treat it--and they die. It's sad. But, there are a lot more people who have an asthma attack, and are too far away from an inhaler, and die. This is also sad.
But, the point remains that peanut allergies are overstated--no one has ever, ever died from inhaling "peanut fumes." No one has died from kissing someone who just ate peanuts. More people have died from a reaction to something like perfume. Too many schools and other locations ban peanuts on the basis of a few people claiming that peanut contact will kill them--even though there are many more people who actually would die from being bitten by bees or wasps. I have yet to hear of a school which bans all children from going outside at recess because one child at school is deathly allergic to beestings--even though there are such children.
The whole deadly peanut allergy thing is a bit like the shark attack thing or the pit bull attack thing--it is more a meme then it is a real problem. Some people do die from shark attacks, and some people do die from pit bull attacks, and perhaps one person will die from peanut butter allergies this year--but, really, more people will die from asthma, more people will die in car accidents, and more people will die from poor practices in hospitals. While UDunnoBro has phrased his point badly, he really isn't entirely wrong--just overstating his case.
I'd rather hear that they've found a way to turn off gluten allergies and have cured Celiac disease--now THAT would be worth writing about and perhaps that is what this particular discovery would lead to. That would be fantastic!
Bean@home stated:
Bean@home also stated:
umm that's funny cuz this article says otherwise:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10243950/ns/health-allergies_and_asthma/t/teen-peanut-allergy-dies-after-kiss/#.TpXt8JvpxvY
It may be rarer than asthma and other ailments you described but for the people who suffer from it and the people who have children that suffer from it this article is on point and a welcme sign of possible relief. If you do not think a topic is of import then no need to read AND comment on it.
p.s. this post is by someone with no food allergies and none in the family. One loved one has asthma and that concerns me but I don't feel the need to minimalize the ailments of others.
If you will read all of what I wrote more carefully, you will see that I was discussing the posting by the first gentleman--who was in fact overstating the case that peanut allergies are "bogus," but who was not entirely wrong. The article you cite from MSN has long since been proved bogus--the young lady died from something else.
Here is a sensible quote from the BBC:
Try reading my whole post--it is sad that some people die, and it is good that this "cure" has been found--but the point is that people over-dramatize, the over-dramatizing is annoying, and this particular website is part of the overall media blitz.
And--try reading more widely--MSN did report on the young lady who supposedly "died from kissing" someone who had eaten a peanut. However, they didn't do much of a job (I don't recall if they reported on it at all) when this was found to be bogus by doctors (who jumped on that article because they knew it had to be wrong). MSN likes to overdramatize peanut allergies like they overdramatize a lot of things.
http://www.chow.com/food-news/46307/your-allergy-is-bogus/
Have a great day.
Ok then I retract that example. You are right MSNBC can be overly dramatic about somethings. You did not bother addressing the issue of inhaling peanut dust but ce la vie.
The fact still remains that anaphylaxis as caused by peanut or any food allergy is dramatic. Dramatic enough to cause death. Just because it can be relatively easy to treat does not mean it isn't dangerous or worthy of news coverage. I read your first post and your second and forgive me if I am misinterpreting it (again) but it still seems you are implying that 1 or 2 deaths is not enough to constitute a "dramatic" article. It's not as if they posted 10 articles on the discovery a la Casey Anthony dramatic coverage but a discovery of how to turn off an allergy is a big deal; at least in my opinion. If it leads to discovering how to turn off other allergies then it's an even bigger deal. If it's too dramatic for you then don't bother with it.
p.s. I had a great day. Hope you do too.
p.p.s. yes I used the word dramatic repeatedly for the added drama :D
Drama queen! :D
My crown just fell off my head laughing at your post ;)
We don't have enough drama in our dull, worthless, miserable lives. Jerry Springer fills our hearts and minds with true, heartfelt drama of human existence. Drama Queen crown -- I wonder what one of those looks like? I bet I could get one of those a Burger King, right?
Hon, it was only 2 words. I did make you a queen and not a princess, tho!!
@grump We definitely need more drama. Like that song in the skit on SNL with Christopher Walken as the producer who keeps saying "More cowbell!" Actually my Drama Queen Crown is sparkly kind of like my tinfoil hat.
@Kinko - You've cracked me up with 1 word so there :P and yes I was spectacularly pleased that you think of me as an old crone instead of a pretty little princess LMAO
Old crone?! Ummm... I'm no pedophile!! You are far from crone! heh heh
Someone below said: I'd rather hear that they've found a way to turn off gluten allergies and have cured Celiac disease..
Yeah, then we can all get fat together
Bware of the troll
Great. Now I have to teach my allergic 5 year old about food safety AND ignorant idiots. Thanks, moron.
Your ignorance is more dangerous than nuts are to my son. Honestly. Go back to your cave and leave us fire holders alone!
Anyone who would say that peanut allergies or any allergies are a hoax is an ignorant idiot. I only hope that someone you love doesn't end up with a life-threatening food allergy.
Educate yourself so that you don't endanger others, you idiot.
I shoud send you the bill from the emergency room that saved my life.
GMO is the problem with peanuts and soy beans ...as well as many other GMO foodstuff that has been genetically manipulated. They got it right ... It's poison ...to the human body ... to eat the GMO's ... And did you notice they did not mention that peanuts being GMO ?? ... Most peanuts grown in the United States are GMO! Same goes for Soy products folks. So there you have it ... Poison foodstuff can lead to death because of allergic reactions ... sometimes the allergic reactions resemble a condition like asthma or is considered asthma ...
You don't understand GMO, so therefore it must be the cause of all problems. Brilliant. Please try to learn some biology before making stupid comments.
Food allergies existed long before genetic engineering was even conceived of.
Besides, genetic engineering is nothing more than a high tech way of doing what man and nature have been doing for millions of years, swapping around genes to get new varieties.
You... would.. have.. to... be... an.. idiot... to... blame... a species old... problem.. on something... that said species... only just... started doing... so... ya... also.. stop using... the triple period thing... in place of... commas... and actual periods.. and where no.. punctuation.... is... needed..
Actually, genetic engineering is completely different from the selective breeding that man has done for centuries. It's really ignorant to equate genetically modified foods with selective breeding.
It's one thing to breed two different kinds of apples to get a new kind of apple with a certain desired trait, that's selective breeding and has been going on for a long time. It's entirely different to take a protein from the DNA of a fish and put it into a tomato- that's genetic engineering. Genetic engineering does not have the same limitations as old fashioned selective breeding. You can combine two things that aren't even from the same species. Most importantly, GMO foods are something that would NEVER occur in nature. It's no wonder there are side effects from this sort of extreme tinkering with nature.
amazing... and wonderful. Thank goodness for researchers who choose this career over higher paid physician jobs.
Apparently people are immune to sarcasm.
Lots of people on the Internet, when caught being an absolute moron, fall back on the "I was just kidding, how could you possibly think I was being serious?" excuse.
Just saying.
I wonder if the same research will turn off the body's response to the gluten protein as well. Here is me crossing my fingers!
My peanut allergy is off the chart - I'm talking severe respiratory problems within a minute, hives and many trips to the hospital. If they could do this, that would be awesome - but I doubt it.
This is good news. I am sick of peanut allergy people dictating what the rest of us can and cannot do. I am allergic to pollen, but I don't go around telling schools and businesses that they can't plant or decorate with flowers.
Cameron, did you get paid for posting yet? Go pick up your check. That is the only logical explanation for such a stupid post. Hay fever is NOT the same as peanut or shellfish or life-threatening allergies and you know it or you need to educate yourself.
No selfishness there at all. Grow up.
You know, Cameron, people like you are the problem. I have anaphylactic allergies (though not to peanuts). My father, nephew, and one of my sisters also have anaphylactic allergies. I also have hayfever and pollen allergies. They are in NO WAY the same thing. I can cough and have congestion and/or a runny nose and sneezing all day long and live with it. When I even touch corn or any corn products I immediately react. It takes an epipen or 2, an emergency room visit, and a course of steroids to make sure I don't die. And that is whether or not I even KNOW there was corn in whatever I touched, ate, breathed in, etc.
I deal with my allergies daily. I don't eat out. But at the office, no one brings in corn products or pops popcorn in the microwave. Why? #1 I work with incredibly kind people who do not want to see me suffer. #2 Allergies are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If my workplace allowed me to be harmed when they had been informed and asked to make reasonable accomodations, they know they'd be hit with a federal lawsuit. Therefore, it is in their best interest to keep me (and all of their other employees) safe.
Now get over yourself.
Cameron... I am happy you do not have a food allergy. Apparently your pollen allergy does not cause you to stop breathing or your throat to close. I doubt you would enjoy that feeling of helplessness/panic. Your intolerance to those that do is disturbing to say the least. My adult son carries an epipen, wears a bracelet etc. Allergy to peanuts is NO JOKE same as any other life-threatening allergy.
To Cameron Ford aka Idiot: Really go educate yourself and then come back to us. I don't think your pollen allergy causes you to stop breathing, maybe the world would be a better place if it did!
Boo Cameron! Poor taste, bad form and lack of education.
Hey idiot,
Peanut alergies are real. What hole did you just crawl out of?
If they would quit vaccinating people with food protein we wouldn't have the allergy problem to foods that now exists. Between the dairy-derived amino acids, the genetically modified yeasts they use to splice in the viral material to the corn, egg & soy based media and the food oil emulsions, why is there no surprise that the top 20 allergens (not just the top 10) are present in vaccine formulations that are injected into all of us beginning on the very day an infant is born.
If putting food protein with aluminum adjuvants creates food allergies in animals for research, why do they go through such length to hide that allergies are created through vaccines? Multi-billion dollar business from the products that cause the allergic reactions to the lifetime treatments once the illnesses are created.
Gramma, I'm sorry but you have nothing to back you up on that...
janellect, shouldn't you request the source of Gramma's information? I'd like to see some supporting information. They also tried to link vaccine's to autism and that has been debunked due to the "scientist" lying about the study and his findings.
I assume you never have had a child with a life threatening peanut allergy. It is not the same as pollen. Really. All I ever ask is common courtesy for my children. Is washing your hands after eating PB that big of a deal. Oh, and don't kiss them after either. One last request, don't offer a child food without asking the parent. You never know. Wow, did that really impose on you. Seriously, it's people like you that are making this world what it is. How would you like it if Pollen could kill you and I just come up and open a big bag next to you and after I'm done I grab your hand. All because I am tired of you imposing on me because I want my pollen. That's ludacris, Show some empathy. Teach some empathy. Sure hope you don't have kids so we don't have more of this breeding in the world. Sheeez...
Well, it sounds like you need to place you little darling in a bubble then. I know it sounds heartless but seriously, if your kid is THAT allergic to something nature's trying to tell you something...kids didn't survive with allergies like this in the past, that's why you never heard about it happening all too much 60-100 years ago. It's simply ridiculous, whatever happened to survival of the fittest, the best and strongest of a species survive to breed another generation? It isn't up to the rest of the world to make sure that they accommodate your child. Yes, it has a life threatening allergy but that doesn't mean that I have to go out of my way to make sure that everywhere is a peanut free zone. Expecting the world to "show some empathy" as you state only reinforces the idea to your child that it's **special** and everyone should have to accommodate it's needs. That's not the way the world works my dear. Toughen your kid up a little bit, if you want to build immunity to something, you just keep exposing your kid to that thing more and more. Start with a half a peanut....then feed him more and more peanuts every week.
@sweetdeeters who are you hitler look alike? I have this and if a nut touches my mouth I could die in 8 min. And to survive its 2 epipens and a trip to the ER. With epipens costing 40$ each and the cost of the ER. Im sure you would want to pay that every day. inless you have been almost strangled to death by a invisibul hand, then piss off
There is no doubt that food allergies are real. However, severe allergic reactions are rare. Of some 30 million hospitalizations each year, only about 2,000 are from food allergies. About 150 people in the US die from allergic reactions to food each year. In contrast about 2,000 children drown each year. Although the threat is real, the real risk of a serious food reaction is way overblown.
Really nutritious natural foods like nuts (in contrast to Wonder Bread) are subject to spoilage and contaminants. Many years ago, I had a bad reaction to some mixed nuts that I ate. I broke out in hives, had to leave work and take medication. I tentatively resumed eating nuts (different batch) and have not had a problem since. I suspect that the nuts that caused me a problem were contaminated with a mold.
There is a paranoia among parents who think their children have food allergies. In a few cases the paranoia is justified. If a cure for peanut and other allergies can be found, it would be really great because then more attention can be focused on other health issues.
Why would they solve this problem? There is NO money in the cure. The money is in the pharmaceuticals to treat the symptom FOREVER not cure anything. As long as the doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies are on this together we will continue to pay inflated health care charges. And Mr. Obama's STUPID healthcare plan does NOTHING to control these costs it just FORCES you to buy insurance whether you can afford it or not.
As a person with gluten intolerance and many allergies myself and a son with all 8 of the most common food allergens (peanuts being his most severe; a level VI anaphylaxis allergy); I am well aware of the dangers that these allergens create for those of us that are required to carry an epi-pen with us everywhere we go. For those of you that have never walked a day in our shoes; I can understand your reluctance to believe that such a thing exists as life threatening food allergies but until you have felt the swelling of your own throat and the fear of possibly losing your own life or of watching your defenseless child suffer because they don't understand what is happening to them; do not say things like it is "nature trying to tell us something" how would you like to have someone tell you that your child doesn't deserve to live because natural selection is weeding him/her out of existence. You are absolutely right; you are being heartless and it pains me to see another human being disregard a life; especially the life of a child the way you just did.
For information on food allergies that is backed by research please visit FAAN Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network at foodallergy.org
I for one am happy to learn that there is a possibility that my son may someday not have to carry an epi-pen and live the life that so many other kids are allowed to live...a life without fear. It amazes me that there are still so many people out there who are heartless and simply choose to remain clueless to the dangers he and many others deal with everyday of their lives and that their insensitivity could be the reason for their next reaction. I do not keep my son in a bubble, however I am aware of his surroundings and teach him to be aware of his surroundings and I choose to educate as many people that I can so that he can live his life to the fullest just like everyone else has the opportunity to do.
bean@home has no idea what he is talking about-he should research the serious nature of peanut allergies. many children and adults die each year from the ingestion of the peanut protein. even some brands of italian bread and pretzels are processed on equipment that also handles peanut products. get informed!
Bean@home states, "The whole deadly peanut allergy thing is a bit like the shark attack thing or the pit bull attack thing--it is more a meme then it is a real problem."
Really interesting that you consider peanut allergies comparable to the likes of "Epic Sax or Techno Viking"..However, I think you really should not be debating unless you actually have an allergy to peanuts or know someone who does. In essence, you are the troll of this conversation. First, I have allergies to peanuts and have had three occurances where my throat began to close. After being administered the Epi-Pen, I had repeats of my throat closing for 5 months after due to my histamine levels being 10x's the normal average for the protein. Also, I do not think you understand that there are mental repercussions of the allergies besides from the outward appearance. It must be nice to go into a restaurant and order whatever you want. Why dont you walk into a restaurant, like myself, and have to ask the chef what he used to make a particular dish. Or why dont u carry around an Epi-Pen or prednisone everywhere. This article casts insight into the hope that my immune system can be tamed, so go troll another forum.
However we got to this place of all the horrible food allergies I don't know but what I do know is that my friend has a sweet baby boy (a little over a year I think) that has severe food allergies to almost everything. Wheat,corn,eggs,soy,all nuts,some vegetables and many fruits. She has to worry everytime that child is crawling on the floor that someone dropped a crumb of something on the floor that he could stick in his mouth. He mostly eats potatoes right now until they completely figure out what he can eat, which isn't much at all. I am sure she would beyond elated to know that they are working on something to help with food allergies. For those that don't think this kind of research is important, shame on you.
all these break threws happen for mice . what about people like me that get sick on peanuts . i dont care about the mice .. if mice were realy alergic to peanuts why are so many caught in traps using peanut butter and of course the alergic reaction would stop for them when the trap springs down on their little micy heads.
It's really scary having kids with allergies at school. We know who has them (if their parents tell us) and try to do exactly the right thing for those kids, but it only takes an incautious moment for something bad to happen. My granddaughter is allergic to strawberries. People who are allergic to a food are often allergic to other foods in the same family. Who knows what she'll be exposed to when she starts school next year. Last year a mom brought in lovely fruit cups of cool whip, strawberries, blackberries, and blue berries. Blackberries are in the same botanical food family as strawberries. That fruit cup would have been a double whammy. Who wants to take a chance that maybe the reaction won't be so serious this time? Maybe her doctor will test her again when she gets older.
Holy cow. I just bought a package of strawberry newtons (like fig newtons). I'd better eat those up fast myself.
Yikes - anaphylactic shock - just don't mix up "eschewing the offending edible" with "chewing the offending edible" !!!