   Feb. 23, 2015 -- Life-threatening peanut allergies have mysteriously been
   on the rise in the past decade, with little hope for a cure.

   But a groundbreaking new study may offer a way to stem that rise, while
   another may offer some hope for those who are already allergic.

   Parents have been told for years to avoid giving foods containing peanuts
   to babies for fear of triggering an allergy. Now research shows the
   opposite is true: Feeding babies snacks made with peanuts before their
   first birthday appears to prevent that from happening.

   The study is published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and it was
   presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma
   and Immunology in Houston. It found that among children at high risk for
   getting peanut allergies, eating peanut snacks by 11 months of age and
   continuing to eat them at least three times a week until age 5 cut their
   chances of becoming allergic by more than 80% compared to kids who avoided
   peanuts. Those at high risk were already allergic to egg, they had the
   skin condition eczema, or both.

   Overall, about 3% of kids who ate peanut butter or peanut snacks before
   their first birthday got an allergy, compared to about 17% of kids who
   didn’t eat them.

   “I think this study is an astounding and groundbreaking study, really,”
   says Katie Allen, MD, PhD. She's the director of the Center for Food and
   Allergy Research at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in
   Melbourne, Australia. Allen was not involved in the research.

   Experts say the research should shift thinking about how kids develop food
   allergies, and it should change the guidance doctors give to parents.

   Meanwhile, for children and adults who are already allergic to peanuts,
   another study presented at the same meeting held out hope of a treatment.

   A new skin patch called Viaskin allowed people with peanut allergies to
   eat tiny amounts of peanuts after they wore it for a year.

  A Change in Guidelines?

   Allergies to peanuts and other foods are on the rise. In the U.S., more
   than 2% of people react to peanuts, a 400% increase since 1997. And
   reactions to peanuts and other tree nuts can be especially severe. Nuts
   are the main reason people get a life-threatening problem called
   anaphylaxis.
