Having a peanut allergy is nothing to sneeze at. If you are a parent with a child who has a peanut allergy, you need to be constantly vigilant. Now, a medication originally developed to treat severe atopic dermatitis may hold the secret to relief, according to Business Insider.
It isn’t unusual for a medication that is researched and released to treat one specific medical condition (such as atopic dermatitis), ends up having an impact on other medical conditions. It’s a practice called “repurposing.” One good example, according to an article in Science News, is gabapentin. Gabapentin was originally developed to treat epilepsy. Today it is commonly prescribed as a high-level painkiller.
So it goes with a drug called dupilumab (brand name: Dupixent). In March 2017, the drug was the most recent new treatment in years for atopic dermatitis, a debilitating type of eczema. Now the pharmaceutical company that developed the drug is working with others to test how it performs in providing protection against peanut proteins.
There are no approved treatments for help manage peanut allergies. Allergies to peanuts are considered a lifelong allergy and the allergy is on the increase in the United States.
The upcoming test will pit Dupixent against a placebo to test the medical results of different peanut weights when consumed by two groups of patients. In particular, the test will be focusing on how the esophagus is impacted when presented with a food linked to possible food allergies–like peanuts.
