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CNN Live At Daybreak

Peanut Allergies: Eating Food Fears

Aired July 11, 2003 - 06:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well more than a million Americans live in fear of the peanut. In fact, peanut allergies are the most common food allergies in the U.S. Now several new medical studies reveal new ways to treat and prevent peanut allergies.
Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is here with more on this, and hopefully it's good news.

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well it is good news, but let's start off with some peanut trivia.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

FRYHOFER: Did you know that peanuts are not really nuts?

WHITFIELD: Maybe not. Seeds?

FRYHOFER: They're legumes. Legumes.

WHITFIELD: Really?

FRYHOFER: But, nonetheless, even small amounts of peanuts can cause deadly reactions. And peanuts seem to be finding their way into more and more food products, which is a serious concern for moms who have children with peanut allergies.

Now one of these new studies can help calm fears about peanut butter. It found that casual exposure to peanut butter, getting it on your skin, inhaling it is unlikely to cause a severe reaction. On the other hand, roasting peanuts actually makes them more allergenic, more likely to cause a reaction. And there are actually reports of people having allergic reactions to peanuts on airplanes when you open up those little packets of roasted peanuts which releases peanut dust in the air.

WHITFIELD: Wow, so how do you treat these allergies if you find out that you've got a reaction?

FRYHOFER: Well what you want to do in the first place is try to avoid them. Stay away from peanuts. You have to read labels carefully, ask questions at restaurants and carry an Epipen with you so if you're accidentally exposed, you can sell administer a rescue dose of epinephrine. And I've got one of these right here I can show you.

Also researchers found that activated charcoal, in addition to epinephrine, can help reduce the severity of the allergic reaction. It works in seconds, but cannot be used instead of this epinephrine pin that I've got right here.

One of these new studies actually found a peanut vaccine that worked in mice. It hasn't been tried in people yet, but at least -- at least it's a step in the right direction and researchers are hopeful that human trials may begin as early as next year.

WHITFIELD: And without it being the hard way, how does a parent find out whether their kids have peanut allergies?

FRYHOFER: Well there's actually a new -- a new study that helps with this. In the past, allergists would have to do what's called an oral food challenge. You actually would have the child eat the food in the doctor's office and see if there is a reaction. This can be risky. So now there's a new test that measures levels of peanut antibodies in the blood and this can be used to diagnose peanut allergies and it's much safer.

WHITFIELD: Can you outgrow such an allergy?

FRYHOFER: Yes and no. It used to be that we thought that peanut allergies were considered to be life long. Recent studies have suggested that maybe about one in five children with peanut allergies might outgrow them by age five. But there is good news, in one of these new studies it showed that about 50 percent of people were actually able to outgrow their allergies.

WHITFIELD: And so when can a parent really determine when it just might be safe to find out whether their kids can actually eat peanuts?

FRYHOFER: Well that's a great question. And for children that are considered high risk, and that would mean that a child has a family -- that the parent or siblings have a history of peanut allergies, these high-risk children, their mothers when they are pregnant should not eat peanuts during the third trimester. Also, they shouldn't eat while they're nursing the child and the children themselves should not be given the peanuts until they're at least 3 years old.

WHITFIELD: Wow!

FRYHOFER: So lots of nutty stuff today.

WHITFIELD: No, that's a lot of nutty stuff. We appreciate that nutty stuff.

FRYHOFER: OK.

WHITFIELD: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired July 11, 2003 - 06:49   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well more than a million Americans live in fear of the peanut. In fact, peanut allergies are the most common food allergies in the U.S. Now several new medical studies reveal new ways to treat and prevent peanut allergies.
Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is here with more on this, and hopefully it's good news.

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well it is good news, but let's start off with some peanut trivia.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

FRYHOFER: Did you know that peanuts are not really nuts?

WHITFIELD: Maybe not. Seeds?

FRYHOFER: They're legumes. Legumes.

WHITFIELD: Really?

FRYHOFER: But, nonetheless, even small amounts of peanuts can cause deadly reactions. And peanuts seem to be finding their way into more and more food products, which is a serious concern for moms who have children with peanut allergies.

Now one of these new studies can help calm fears about peanut butter. It found that casual exposure to peanut butter, getting it on your skin, inhaling it is unlikely to cause a severe reaction. On the other hand, roasting peanuts actually makes them more allergenic, more likely to cause a reaction. And there are actually reports of people having allergic reactions to peanuts on airplanes when you open up those little packets of roasted peanuts which releases peanut dust in the air.

WHITFIELD: Wow, so how do you treat these allergies if you find out that you've got a reaction?

FRYHOFER: Well what you want to do in the first place is try to avoid them. Stay away from peanuts. You have to read labels carefully, ask questions at restaurants and carry an Epipen with you so if you're accidentally exposed, you can sell administer a rescue dose of epinephrine. And I've got one of these right here I can show you.

Also researchers found that activated charcoal, in addition to epinephrine, can help reduce the severity of the allergic reaction. It works in seconds, but cannot be used instead of this epinephrine pin that I've got right here.

One of these new studies actually found a peanut vaccine that worked in mice. It hasn't been tried in people yet, but at least -- at least it's a step in the right direction and researchers are hopeful that human trials may begin as early as next year.

WHITFIELD: And without it being the hard way, how does a parent find out whether their kids have peanut allergies?

FRYHOFER: Well there's actually a new -- a new study that helps with this. In the past, allergists would have to do what's called an oral food challenge. You actually would have the child eat the food in the doctor's office and see if there is a reaction. This can be risky. So now there's a new test that measures levels of peanut antibodies in the blood and this can be used to diagnose peanut allergies and it's much safer.

WHITFIELD: Can you outgrow such an allergy?

FRYHOFER: Yes and no. It used to be that we thought that peanut allergies were considered to be life long. Recent studies have suggested that maybe about one in five children with peanut allergies might outgrow them by age five. But there is good news, in one of these new studies it showed that about 50 percent of people were actually able to outgrow their allergies.

WHITFIELD: And so when can a parent really determine when it just might be safe to find out whether their kids can actually eat peanuts?

FRYHOFER: Well that's a great question. And for children that are considered high risk, and that would mean that a child has a family -- that the parent or siblings have a history of peanut allergies, these high-risk children, their mothers when they are pregnant should not eat peanuts during the third trimester. Also, they shouldn't eat while they're nursing the child and the children themselves should not be given the peanuts until they're at least 3 years old.

WHITFIELD: Wow!

FRYHOFER: So lots of nutty stuff today.

WHITFIELD: No, that's a lot of nutty stuff. We appreciate that nutty stuff.

FRYHOFER: OK.

WHITFIELD: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com