Probiotics With Immunotherapy Might Cure Deadly Peanut Allergies

Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts considered good for your health, especially for your digestive system, and may also be the main ingredient in curing all kinds of food allergies in the near future.

In a recent study published in the journal Lancet Child and Adolescent Health on Aug.15, scientists said they have taken a major step forward in the course for finding a cure for deadly peanut allergies.

It said a combination of probiotics and an oral immunotherapy treatment using peanut protein among kids already allergic to the nut, increased their tolerance significantly and made them immune to the allergies for as long as four years.

The research further found that probiotics combined with oral immunotherapy was much more successful than the oral therapy alone.

"We found that most of the children who had gained initial tolerance following the treatment were still eating peanuts four years later," study author Mimi Tang told CBS News. "This is a major step forward in the way we might treat food allergy, as our findings suggest that tolerance is a realistic target to aim for when developing treatments for food allergy."

Probiotics are also often termed good or helpful bacteria because they help keep your gut healthy, although we usually think that bacteria is something that can only cause diseases. Good bacteria are found in our body naturally and probiotics are also present in some food and supplements. Probiotics are now found in many food items, from chocolate to yogurt, and doctors nowadays prescribe them often to help with digestive problems, according to Webmd.

The recent study consisted of a group of 56 children with peanut allergies, who were then dividen into two groups. While one group was given the probiotic “Lactobacillus rhamnosus” in addition to a small, carefully controlled dose of peanut protein every day for 18 months, the other received a placebo. After 18 months of treatment and then the subsequent one month off, the probiotic group of children ate some peanuts in order to see if an allergic reaction took place.

According to the study, 82 percent of the children who received the probiotic treatment had no reaction at all, while only 4 percent children in the placebo group gained tolerance to peanuts.

Four years later, researchers followed up with those same children and made them stop eating peanuts for eight weeks before returning for a checkup. Among 12 children chosen for the original study, seven remained allergy-free.

"We had children who came into the study allergic to peanuts, having to avoid peanut in their diet, being very vigilant around that, carrying a lot of anxiety with that," Tang said. "And at the end of treatment and even four years later, many of these children who had benefited from our probiotic peanut therapy could now live like a child who didn't have peanut allergy."

Apart from the digestive system, probiotics also help in mitigating problems in other body parts. Research has shown it helps with oral, urinary and vaginal health, preventing allergies and colds and skin conditions, like eczema, according to Webmd.