Peanut allergy: Did anyone know...

[RuthChan]

that the official advice to avoid peanuts during pregnancy and bfing is apparently completely wrong?!!

Apparently this is more likely to make children allergic, not less.

There's a link here

I wish I'd known that 2 years ago.
(she says as she comes to the end of pregnancy and BFing while studiously avoiding peanuts to protect her DD)

However, maybe you all knew that already and it's just me that's completely out of touch.

Apparently so!! And yes, I wanted to put my finger in my throat during pregnancy when I by accident gulped down a Snickers bar!! Fortunately I did not - maybe this one peanut chocolate bar helped dd to build up an immune system ;-)

That is the thing with research and opinions ....

by accident I mean I just felt like a Snickers bar one day and after I chomped it down I realised that it was made from peanuts!!!!!

I didn't know that but it kind of makes sense. Like a vacine has a tiny bit of the virus it is supposed to be immunising you against so eating peanuts stops you from being allergic to peanuts by building up a similar resistance.

But who knows.

The problem with stories like these is that you are then distrustful of similar advice on what you can and can't eat based on on-going research.

I know this but my DP still wont let me eat peanuts just because "the doctor said so" at my initial GP's appointment all those months ago.

It was just me being behind the times then.
Maybe I should start eating a few peanuts while I'm still in the final stages of breastfeeding.
It might be good to introduce a few to DD while she still has the advatages of getting through me along with some passive immunity.

It seem impossible to keep up with all the 'latest research' on what we should and shouldn't eat, doesn't it.

Ruth - i only knew from being on MN so i wouldn't worry about it! Get those KPs out and dont worry!

look at this looks like it is possible to build up tolerance in allergic people. My ds had a reaction a few weeks ago. I was fanatical about avoiding nuts when I was pregnant.

I didn't eat them either and then didn't give them to ds's. Was told not to by health visitor.

Yet a friend of mine (15 years ago) did not avoid peanuts whilst pg and then during the first 2 years of her dd's life she eat peanuts - now this girl is allergic to nuts and carries an epi pen, even being touched by someone who has handled nuts has dire results.

I heard a thing on the radio about a scientist who worked daily with rats who developed an allergy to them. He thought he had developed the allergy from exposure to them and he said that the same could be true of peanuts. Just his theory though.

Is it because of the rat man that we have been told to avoid peanuts or is there more to it?

The bit I don't understand is that peanuts aren't even nuts - how does that work then that you have a nut allergy if allergic to peanuts?

ivykaty - in my experience, people tend to be allergic to peanuts or nuts (tree nuts - almonds, hazelnuts, cashews etc). I'm allergic to all nuts (not peanuts). They are allergies to different proteins, I think.

I believe one theory for the rise in peanut allergy in the UK is that peanuts have only been fairly recently introduced into diets here, especially for children. But it's just one theory amongst many! The main one seems to be that babies that are prone to allergy because of family history could be sensitised in the womb to certain proteins. My mum worries that her craving for brazil nuts when pregnant led to my allergy. But who knows?

So Ruthchan - don't worry too much. The advice to not eat peanuts is more important for those with a history of atopic allergy. So even if I wasn't allergic to nuts, I'd have avoided peanuts in pregnancy because I have asthma, eczema and hayfever (as does DH).

Whew - sorry, bit of an essay.

I knew that people have said the advice is wrong - but with no more evidence than the initial advice was based on. There is a major study underway that will give evidence eventually.

There are some studies pointing one way and lower evidence of allergy in other countries pointing a different way. None of it is very good evidence. Other countries tend to treat peanuts differently and they are less allergenic than the roasted peanuts commonly eaten here.

Eating nuts when pregnant and breastfeeding doesn't seem to be a general risk www.med.umich.edu/pediatrics/ebm/cats/peanuts.htm although for atopic families it may be dfferent.

The association with soy milk and exposure to products with nut oil is worrying. Peanuts are legumes (like soy, hence concern about that) but the proteins that cause allergy are similar to those in other nuts (which is why a lot of those with peanut allergy develop tree nut allergies).

There's a good (if out of date) report on what is known at the end of this web page
www.food.gov.uk/science/ouradvisors/toxicity/cotreports/cotwgreports/cotpeanutallergy

Attempts to desensitise people to nut allergy have resulted in deaths, even though they were in hospital. It is extremely dangerous - don't try this at home.

The best advice for reducing the risk of allergy is to have probiotics when pregnant and breastfeeding. There is some evidence that helps. Anything that improves the health of the gut may be beneficial.

If you feed peanuts to young children don't do it when they have any gasrointestinal problem.

That's really interesting, tatt. Do you know when the major study's results will be published? What does it involve?

I read somewhere that the rise in peanut allergy in the west is partly due tocommercialisation of the crop (anyone else heard this?). Apparently the pesticides used enhance the toxicity of the peanut whihc is why allergy is comparatively rare in poorer countries whare they use their locally grown (probably organic)peanuts as a weaning food.

more information about it (not a technical report) here news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6618865.stm

So there may not be a report for 7 years. However with studies like this if anything goes wrong they cancel the study and produce an early report. So if they start to find that early exposure is very dangerous it will get publicity sooner. Equally if the early reports showed a massive drop in allergy they would have to go public sooner.

If you read the food standards study changing diet in pregnant women had short term benefits but in the long term allergy rates were the same, they just developed their allergies later.

What I'm interested in (for my nut allergic child) is the role of worms in dampening allergic responses and the suggestion that better hydration reduces the severity of allergic responses. Also a reported treatment for peanuts that could make them less allergenic.

that's really interesting - thanks tatt - i'll keep my eyes/ears open for more info

Like a few other people here, I ate peanuts while pregnant with both of my boys (had a thing for snickers, lol!). Breastfed both, but ds1 only for 16 weeks, ds2 for 3 years. Ds1 has no allergies, ds 2 does, including peanuts, brazil nuts, almonds, hazlenuts and coconut mixture (strangely, not walnut mixture, pecan, pistachio or cashew). This is on top of his dairy, egg and wheat allergies.

But like Tatt said in another thread, ds2's nut allergies could be a false positive as we have never seen him react. I suppose the only way to tell is through a challenge which he is due to have in March. I am also interested to hear about the hydration aspect, as ds2 drinks ALOT, way more than my 6 yo ds1. His allergies have always been hives, or in the case of wheat, gastric. I suppose I should be greatful he naturally drinks alot.

I would have thought it was a bit early to assume that the advice on non eating nuts during pregnancy should be discarded, after all the trial on the oposite theory is still in its early days.

I wonder about the genetic factor, diet and other local factors, etc. In my country women are never asked to eat nuts and peanuts during pregnancy (neither encouraged to) and severe allergies to them are rare. So I ate a couple of Snickers bars and plenty of granola bars during pregnancy thinking that it wouldn't be a problem for me... DS is allergic to peanuts and any nuts he has been tested for. I have not a clue what may have caused the allergy, and probably will never known.

About the trials in hospital where a child died, there is some info here. This is an old article where, as far as I'm aware the first trial shown that a few children developed a bit more tolerance to peanuts but one died there and then so the trial was stopped, so I would not be happy of joining the crowd on any theory until more info has been brought to light about this, I know that in all new things there is always a point when scientists can say "ooops... we were wrong on that!"

Sorry, that would have said that women are never asked to STOP eating nuts during pregnacy

When I was preggers a 8-9 years back and 6-7 years back, I hadn't actually heard this advice to avoid allergenic foods, and so ate peanut butter or almond butter most days. My kids don't have any allergies. I don't know how I would have lived without it...

Tatt, the worm thing, do you mean about the reports where it has been noticed that forinstance since worming children is more common in 3.world countries the allergy rate has gone up, and also about the scientist that basically infested himself with a certain type of worm and found it helped him with hayfever?
There was an interesting programme about this many years ago...creepy in some parts but really interesting!

yes - the worms can get to the brain so I'm not going to deliberately infect my child yet , although if there were also asthmatic I might consider it. More details here for anyone who hasn't seen reports already

observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1702692,00.html

I'm waiting for extract of worm!