Hope over peanut allergy 'cure'

A group of children with peanut allergies have had their condition effectively cured, doctors believe. A team from Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital exposed four children to peanuts over a six-month period, gradually building up their tolerance. By the end the children were eating the equivalent of five peanuts a day. It is the first time a food allergy has been desensitized in such a way, although a longer-term follow up is now needed to confirm the findings.

John Collard Allergy UK The Cambridge team started the children on tiny 5mg daily doses of peanut flour before they trained their bodies up to cope regularly with 800mg - the equivalent to five whole peanuts. Kate Frost, the mother of a nine-year-old who was one of the four participants, said: "It's very hard to describe how much of a difference it's made - not just in Michael's life, but for all of us.

The concept of desensitizing people to allergies has been successfully done with bee and wasp stings and pollen allergies, but this is the first time it has been achieved with a food-related allergy. The team have now expanded the study to include another 18 children and say there is no reason why the technique would not work for adults. John Collard, the clinical director of Allergy UK, said it was "an important step forward". "This could make a real difference, but at this stage it is too early to tell whether it will work for everyone. We need to see it used on more people and over a long period of time."

Bonnie - we have been tracking this method and the results so far seem encouraging. However, much larger trials need to be performed before this can be accepted as standard treatment.