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New treatment may offer hope for peanut allergy
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DO NOT ACTUALLY TEST THIS YOURSELF! When you live
in fear of you or your child accidentally
ingesting peanut crumbs, any hope of undoing
severe food allergy is welcome. A large clinical
trial published this week in the Lancet confirms
that Oral immunotherapy -- swallowing tiny,
increasing amounts of peanut over time -- has the
ability to desensitize allergic individuals to
peanuts. Peanuts are one of the leading causes of
food allergy reaction, and 400,000 school-aged
children in the United States have this allergy.
Symptoms may occur from any contact with the
peanut protein, which is why cross-contamination
of foods can be very dangerous. The new results
in the Lancet are a "very positive finding"
because peanut-allergic people who become able to
tolerate peanuts don't have to worry about any
accidental exposure or trace amounts of
contamination. Still, this is not a cure. Further
research is needed to confirm the new results in
more patients, and to see just how long the
peanut allergy protection lasts.
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In Other News

• Phillip Seymour Hoffman was found dead Sunday
  morning with a syringe in his arm. Throughout the
  previous day, the actor was seen at a number of
  his regular haunts some people say he seemed
  normal others say he appeared to be high or "out
  of it.
• Rooting for the Seahawks or rooting for the
  Broncos in the Super Bowl? Heck, we were rooting
  for Bruno Mars. The Grammy-winning artist had a
  tough act to follow this year with his halftime
  show, given that last year's star performer was
  Beyonce. And let's be honest -- no one wants to
  have to follow Beyonce. But we have to admit,
  Mars rocked the house (or rather stadium) and his
  obvious joy at performing for what was basically
  almost the entire world was pretty infectious.
  For those not familiar with Mars, he's pretty
  awesome.