Published by Innovation Press (2010), The History of the Peanut Allergy Epidemic pinpoints the precise moment of the allergy’s appearance and describes the perfect storm of social, medical, political and economic factors from which it has grown.

To learn more about the book:

• come to the OASG's May meeting (more details on the Meetings page)

• read Heather Fraser's Q&A sheet

• contact Heather directly by email

• visit The History of the Peanut Allergy Epidemic web site for a timeline, free download of the first chapter, and to purchase the book itself

In the recent past, there have been a number of studies carried out to see if children at risk of anaphylaxis can be helped to outgrow their food allergies, or at least be helped to tolerate trace amounts of their allergen.

Here is some info about the research:

• Dairy allergy desensitization (Reuters)

• Egg allergy desensitization (DukeHealth.org)

• Peanut allergy desensitization (MedicineNet.com)

• Peanut allergy desensitization (Allergic Living magazine)

So... would you allow your child to participate in such a study?

Liam is part of a potentially groundbreaking study at Duke Medical Center aimed at finding out whether children with peanut allergies can be desensitized to peanuts and eventually cured of their ailment altogether.

"Our goals in treatment are the desensitization, to make them less sensitive and also to make their peanut allergy go away," said Dr. Wesley Burks, chief of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at Duke Medical Center.

• View the full story
• Watch the video

Here's the new wisdom: Early exposure to pets, peanuts and intestinal worms might actually be good for you, because they program the developing immune system to know the difference between real threats, such as germs, and Aunt Millie's cat.

San Francisco Business Times - Monday Jan. 16, 2006