Those suffering from a peanut allergy may find relief in a treatment researched by scientists at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
The study researchers attempted to create peanut tolerance in otherwise allergic mice by attaching peanut proteins, the source of the allergy. onto the blood cells of mice, ABC News reports.
Normally the allergic person's body would recognize these proteins as invading pathogens and trigger a potentially deadly immune response called anaphylaxis, in which the throat can swell and close up, according to ABC News.
But when the peanut protein was introduced into the body attached to one of the body’s own cells, the immune system learned to not attack these cells and the mice became temporarily “cured” of their peanut allergy, ABC News reports.
While the research is promising, an actual cure for food allergies in humans is not close at hand, Dr. Clifford Basset, medical director at Allergy and Asthma Care of New York, told ABC News.
“Bottom line: There is no cure for food allergies, at least in 2011, and in the foreseeable future. Its all about education, prevention and preparedness,” says Basset, as reported by ABC News.
