Stemming the tide of allergies

Duration: 43:18 | 29 November 2016
Prof Gideon Lack

On Tuesday 29 November, SCI’s public evening lecture looked at the world of food allergies. The lecture was delivered by Prof Gideon Lack, Professor of Paediatric Allergy at King’s College London. Prof Lack shared information from his most recent research into child allergies before taking a broader look at all allergies.

Consumption as a possible prevention strategy?
The LEAP (Learning Early About Peanut Allergy) study led by Prof Gideon Lack, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the first study to show that consumption is an effective strategy to prevent food allergy, contradicting previous recommendations.  

The LEAP study was a randomized controlled trial, enrolled 640 children aged 4-11 months who were considered at high-risk of developing peanut allergy due to pre-existing severe eczema and/or egg allergy. The study found that less than 1% of children who consumed peanuts and completed the study developed peanut allergy by 5 years of age, compared to 17.3% of those who avoided peanut consumption.

About the Speaker
Gideon Lack is Professor of Paediatric Allergy at King’s College London and Head of the Clinical Academic Paediatric Allergy Service at Guy’s & St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. He a member of the MRC-Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma. 

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