'I have a severe nut allergy but still eat four peanuts a day'

A new study offers "hope" to thousands of people living with severe allergies

A man with a "severe" peanut allergy says he now eats peanuts daily as "medicine" following a "life-changing" study.

Richard Lassiter says his peanut allergy is so severe that he has been admitted to hospital on multiple occasions after accidentally eating peanuts.

The 44-year-old recalled a "terrifying" episode where he feared for his life, asking the nurse if he was "going to make it".

However, Richard, from Beckenham in Greater London, now eats four peanuts a day thanks to a study into oral immunotherapy, also known as peanut desensitisation.

Desensitisation studies that gradually expose allergy sufferers to their allergens are typically only offered to children, so the new study offers "hope" to thousands of people living with life-altering allergies.

The study, which looked at 18 adults with a typical peanut allergy, gradually desensitised participants to peanuts by slowly increasing their exposure to peanut flower, then whole peanuts or peanut butter.

By the end of the study, two thirds (67 per cent) of participants were able to eat the equivalent of five peanuts without reacting.

Chief investigator Stephen Till, professor of allergy at King’s College London and consultant allergist at Guy’s and St Thomas’, told PA: "The problem is that once I see [adult] patients in my clinic, there’s been nothing that we’ve been able to do to them – we can’t offer them desensitisation because the data is all from young children – in medicine you can’t give treatment to children or to adults based on a clinical trial that’s been performed in the other group.

"So we have got this sort of, and continue to have this sort of big unmet need of adults with peanut allergy."

He added: "We were really pleased because we got the evidence that we hoped we would get – we saw results that were broadly in line with what had been obtained from studies in young children. Our phase two study suggests that this treatment is potentially effective in adults."

The researchers from King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust stressed that this type of treatment should only be initiated under very close supervision.

Prior to the study, Richard said he always felt nervous eating out. "I had a really severe episode on our once-in-a-lifetime holiday to Chile with my wife in 2018 that changed everything," he recalled.

After being given food with peanuts in, Richard said he took his auto-injector pen, and his inhaler to ease his breathing, and was taken to hospital by ambulance where he needed adrenaline and oxygen and stayed on a high dependency unit overnight.

"It was a real shock, because obviously we’re a long way away from home," he said. ~"I recall saying to my wife: 'I can’t keep dealing with this, it’s just so terrifying'."

On a second occasion, Richard was served ice cream with hidden peanuts during a meal out in Soho before he was rushed to hospital.

"Within a few seconds, I knew I was in trouble. By the time I was in St Thomas’s it was pretty bad – I remember I’d swollen up to a huge size relative to my normal size and asking the nurse if I was going to make it," he explained.

However, after participating in the study, Richard now takes a total of four peanuts a day.

He said: "This morning I had my four peanuts after I ate my breakfast, as if it was some sort of a teaspoon of medicine.

"It’s been life-changing for me – it’s increased my confidence immeasurably.

"It’s had a huge effect on my life. I feel much calmer, much happier and really excited about the ability to do all of these things in the future."

Commenting on the study, public health minister Ashley Dalton said: "This ground-breaking research offers hope to thousands living with peanut allergies.

"For too long, people have navigated daily life in fear of accidental exposure that could be life-threatening."

Larger studies are needed to fully understand the benefits of oral immunotherapy in adults with peanut allergies, but Adam Fox, chair of the National Allergy Study Group, said the findings are an "important proof of principle that this may well be a treatment for adults too."