The end for fatal peanut allergies? Doctors have developed a way of building tolerance which could save lives

  • 500 children, aged four to 17, received either a peanut protein or placebo in trial
  • By the end of the trial 67 per cent of those on protein could eat two whole nuts
  • Tests done by Evelina London Children’s Hospital and King’s College London

People with potentially fatal peanut allergies could be protected for the first time from eating them unwittingly after doctors developed a way of building tolerance.

Evelina London Children’s Hospital and King’s College London tested 500 children aged four to 17 who received peanut protein or a placebo.

Doctors at Evelina London Children’s Hospital and King’s College London tested 500 children aged four to 17 and developed a way of building their tolerance to nuts

Doctors at Evelina London Children’s Hospital and King’s College London tested 500 children aged four to 17 and developed a way of building their tolerance to nuts

Doses were increased gradually over the 12-month trial. 

After being unable to eat a tenth of a peanut at the start, by the end 67 per cent of those on the protein could eat two whole nuts, compared with just 4 per cent given the placebo, the study in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed.

By the end of the trial 67 per cent of those on the protein could eat two whole nuts. (Stock image)

By the end of the trial 67 per cent of those on the protein could eat two whole nuts. (Stock image)