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First Peanut Allergy Treatment Gains Backing From FDA Advisory Panel

posted by Fnord666 on Monday September 16 2019, @12:09AM   Printer-friendly
from the nutty-idea dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/09/dangers-peanut-allergy-drug/597997/

For kids who've already developed a peanut allergy, though, a similar but more controversial treatment is up for approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The agency is holding a hearing today with the pharmaceutical company and its advocates, expected to inform a final ruling in coming months.

There is currently no "treatment" for a peanut allergy. As it is, patients are told to avoid peanuts. They are prescribed a syringe full of epinephrine (trade name: EpiPen) and taught to inject themselves if needed. Despite much advancement in medical science and technology over the decades, nothing has given families peace of mind that the allergy itself could be treated, or at least tempered. Until now. The new approach involves trying to reprogram the immune system by giving a person ... peanuts.

This might sound dangerous, because it is.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/health/peanut-allergy-children.html
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/09/first-peanut-allergy-treatment-gains-backing-fda-advisory-panel

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by sjames on Monday September 16 2019, @04:24AM (1 child)

    by sjames (2882) on Monday September 16 2019, @04:24AM (#894527) Journal

    Wasn't careful desensitization with tiny exposures the standard for allergies in the '60s and '70s?

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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 16 2019, @04:51AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 16 2019, @04:51AM (#894532)

    What's new here is that parents have coddled their kids to the point that peanut consumption is now banned in certain places, and somebody is about to make a lot of money off of selling $0.01 of FDA-approved peanut dust in gel caps.