Is There a Cure for Peanut Allergies?

March 16, 2009 — -- Today, Sam Duty can eat peanut butter sandwiches and candies easily, but at one time in the 9-year-old's life, ingesting peanuts was dangerous and possibly lethal because he was highly allergic to peanuts.

His mother, Angela Duty, worried about even the smallest interactions with peanuts.

"The first small bite of peanut butter — his lips started to swell," Duty said. "It's horrible. You know, you want the best for your children, and you're fighting something you can't see."

Nearly half of the 150 deaths attributed to food allergies each year in the United States are caused by peanut allergies, according to Duke University.

Once, Sam had to be hospitalized after ingesting peanuts. He was like so many other children, who have life-threatening reactions that can occur from even trace amounts of peanuts.

Sam's life-altering allergy had his parents closely monitoring and controlling every morsel that went into his mouth.

"I'm the mom that calls ahead of time and asks what they're going to eat, where they're going to eat, how they're going to eat," Duty said.

So when Sam was asked to be a part of a groundbreaking study that would require him to be given peanuts on purpose, surprisingly his parents jumped at the chance.

In the study, Duke University Medical Center and colleagues at Arkansas Children's Hospital found a way to desensitize children to peanuts by using the very thing to which the children are allergic — peanuts.

"They appear to be no longer allergic to peanuts," said Dr. Wesley Burks of Duke University Medical Center. "What we're doing is trying to help Sam's immune system change and recognize peanuts differently."

Children in the study were given tiny, precise amounts of peanut flour daily and every few weeks the dosage was increased. Medical staff was nearby to deal with any minor allergic reactions.

Even with the precautions, the first time Sam ate the powder, his family was terrified.

"We'd told Sam not to eat peanuts, or nuts, all of his life. And then all of a sudden, this study wants Sam to take peanuts every single day," Duty said.