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News of a Possible Medical Breakthrough for Those Allergic to Peanuts
Aired March 11, 2003 - 15:44 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Want to let you know, there is news of a possible major medical breakthrough. The first drug designed to treat people who are severely allergic to peanuts.
It is showing amazing promise. And the 1.5 million Americans who suffer from peanut allergies aren't the only ones who may benefit. CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now.
This is big news. I mean we don't think about it very often, but this is such a serious allergy, it's important.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. This is huge news, or potentially huge news, if other studies bear it out. When people are severely allergic to peanuts, even just a smidgen of it could be deadly. So of course these people know to avoid peanut butter sandwiches and foods like that.
However, peanuts show up in very strange places like chili or in egg rolls. And in that case, someone doesn't even know that they should avoid it. This is a drug that is being developed. It is a shot that people get once a month.
What happens is it raises the threshold of someone's ability to tolerate peanuts. So in the study what they found is that, before the drug, if people could only tolerate half a peanut before they became very sensitive to it, and after the drug, they could tolerate nine peanuts. And we have some peanuts here to show you what that would look like.
Here is half a peanut in one of these little trays. And in the other tray we have nine peanuts. So for some people, just this little tiny half a peanut could actually potentially kill them if they ate that. And then when they got the shot they could eat nine peanuts and not have a terrible reaction.
And the reason why this is important is that it gives people a window of opportunity. In other words, if you eat half a peanut and could die from it, it doesn't give you that much time to get to the doctor to get your (UNINTELLIGIBLE). But if you eat a couple of peanuts and start to feel it, it gives you more time to get to the hospital or to get your (UNINTELLIGIBLE). So that's why this study is so important.
COLLINS: But rarely are you going to find something that only has a half a peanut in it. So maybe if you just had it by mistake this is great.
COHEN: Exactly. But...
COLLINS: We want to be very careful not to suggest that people don't really have to worry anymore about peanuts if they get this drug, right?
COHEN: Exactly. This drug is not going to allow a peanut allergy sufferer to go out and start eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That's not what it's for. What it's for is just to prevent people from getting really sick from that accidental expose to peanuts.
It will not allow them to go out and start gorging on peanuts. And this drug may be useful for people with other types of allergies. For example, people who allergic to other types of tree nuts may also be able to benefit from this. And it should be out in a couple of years maybe.
COLLINS: All right, very good. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much.
COHEN: OK, 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
to Peanuts>
Aired March 11, 2003 - 15:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Want to let you know, there is news of a possible major medical breakthrough. The first drug designed to treat people who are severely allergic to peanuts.
It is showing amazing promise. And the 1.5 million Americans who suffer from peanut allergies aren't the only ones who may benefit. CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now.
This is big news. I mean we don't think about it very often, but this is such a serious allergy, it's important.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. This is huge news, or potentially huge news, if other studies bear it out. When people are severely allergic to peanuts, even just a smidgen of it could be deadly. So of course these people know to avoid peanut butter sandwiches and foods like that.
However, peanuts show up in very strange places like chili or in egg rolls. And in that case, someone doesn't even know that they should avoid it. This is a drug that is being developed. It is a shot that people get once a month.
What happens is it raises the threshold of someone's ability to tolerate peanuts. So in the study what they found is that, before the drug, if people could only tolerate half a peanut before they became very sensitive to it, and after the drug, they could tolerate nine peanuts. And we have some peanuts here to show you what that would look like.
Here is half a peanut in one of these little trays. And in the other tray we have nine peanuts. So for some people, just this little tiny half a peanut could actually potentially kill them if they ate that. And then when they got the shot they could eat nine peanuts and not have a terrible reaction.
And the reason why this is important is that it gives people a window of opportunity. In other words, if you eat half a peanut and could die from it, it doesn't give you that much time to get to the doctor to get your (UNINTELLIGIBLE). But if you eat a couple of peanuts and start to feel it, it gives you more time to get to the hospital or to get your (UNINTELLIGIBLE). So that's why this study is so important.
COLLINS: But rarely are you going to find something that only has a half a peanut in it. So maybe if you just had it by mistake this is great.
COHEN: Exactly. But...
COLLINS: We want to be very careful not to suggest that people don't really have to worry anymore about peanuts if they get this drug, right?
COHEN: Exactly. This drug is not going to allow a peanut allergy sufferer to go out and start eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That's not what it's for. What it's for is just to prevent people from getting really sick from that accidental expose to peanuts.
It will not allow them to go out and start gorging on peanuts. And this drug may be useful for people with other types of allergies. For example, people who allergic to other types of tree nuts may also be able to benefit from this. And it should be out in a couple of years maybe.
COLLINS: All right, very good. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much.
COHEN: OK, 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
to Peanuts>
