BALTIMORE, July 11 (UPI) -- A new study reveals that children's peanut allergies might not last forever, a finding that contrasts with what researchers previously thought.
In addition, occasionally eating peanuts could help children keep up a tolerance for the nut, said Dr. Robert Wood, pediatric allergy specialist at Johns Hopkins Children's Center, who conducted the study.
He also recommended that children allergic to peanuts be tested every couple of years to see how they react.
In the study, Wood tested 80 children who had previously been diagnosed with a peanut allergy. More than half had no reaction when they ate a peanut product. Among this group were some children who had once had life-threatening reactions to peanuts.
David Reading, head of the U.K.'s Anaphylaxis Campaign, told the BBC parents of children should be aware of the new findings. But he warned emergency medication should be accessible until the child has been tolerant for one to two years.
