Latest news with #RichardLassiter
New York Post
24-04-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Our peanut allergies were deadly — now we eat them every day thanks to a ‘well-worn' routine
It's a nut-so miracle! For two British men, peanuts used to be a death sentence. Now? They're a morning snack. Both suffered from lifelong peanut allergies that had previously sent them to the hospital before joining a nine-month study in the UK — where two-thirds of participants came out able to safely eat peanuts. Advertisement 3 Chris Brookes-Smith and Richard Lassiter have been liberated from a life-threatening peanut allergy thanks to a groundbreaking UK clinical trial. Goffkein – Chris Brookes-Smith, 28, was terrified of peanuts after some Indian takeout sent him to the hospital with hives that he likened to boiling water being poured over his body. 'I thought I was going to die,' he told the BBC. This life-threatening allergy made activities that should have been enjoyable — like eating out with friends or traveling — fraught with peril. He even avoided visiting regions of the world where peanuts were likely to be in his food, like Southeast Asia. Advertisement That was until a groundbreaking clinical trial conducted by King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust changed his life. 'It's a wonderful feeling,' he said. 'I'm no longer afraid of dying.' The trial utilized a method called oral immunotherapy, in which the body becomes desensitized over time with microscopic doses of the allergen. They started patients off with trace amounts of peanut and gradually increased the amount. Advertisement By the end of the nine-month study, 14 of the 21 patients could eat up to five peanuts a day without having a reaction. Professor Stephen Till, who led the study, told the BBC that the treatment 'has potential to have a real impact on patients' lives. They've taken control, if you like, of their peanut allergy now.' 3 'They've taken control, if you like, of their peanut allergy now,' Till said. New Africa – That certainly seems to be how Richard Lassiter, 44, feels. Advertisement 'There was definitely a sense of nerves at first. You know, you have to get your mind around the idea of eating something you've tried to avoid your whole life,' Lassiter told Sky News. 'I obviously had a couple of [dangerous] incidents reasonably fresh in my mind.' Now, eating four peanuts — under medical supervision — is just a normal part of his morning. 3 'I know that that accidental exposure to peanuts isn't going to cause a serious reaction like it has done in the past,' Lassiter said. DenisMArt – 'The idea that I take four peanuts a day now after my breakfast is well-worn routine,' he said. 'I'm certainly much more confident and calm when I go out to dinner with my wife, or when we go traveling. I know that that accidental exposure to peanuts isn't going to cause a serious reaction like it has done in the past.' Brookes-Smith is relieved, too, that peanuts will no longer send his body into 'nuclear meltdown' — though he admitted that he actually hates the taste of them, despite now having to eat them every day to maintain his desensitization. Advertisement Till cautioned that while this is certainly 'not something to do at home,' the treatment has the potential to benefit people with other types of allergies — though larger trials would need to be conducted first. 'The principle should be applicable to other food options, but what I would say is that different foods can behave differently in terms of the amounts that are required to cause reactions and how severe the reactions are,' he told Sky News. 'So to do it in other foods, you really do need to do trials for those specific foods individually.' Advertisement Oral immunotherapy has only been used to treat food allergies for the last two decades, though it's predominantly been conducted on children, as adult allergies tend to be more stubborn. In other words, this peanut breakthrough is nuts.
STV News
24-04-2025
- Health
- STV News
Daily peanuts help adults keep allergy at bay, new study finds
Testing finds small doses of peanuts can help adults build immunity. Good Morning Britain has the story. A man with a life-threatening peanut allergy is now living a near-normal life after taking part in a 'life-changing' study that involved him eating four nuts every morning. Richard Lassiter's allergy was so severe that he was hospitalised several times after accidentally eating peanuts. On one occasion, he spent the night in a high dependency unit needing adrenaline and oxygen. 'I can't keep dealing with this, it's just so terrifying,' he told his wife. But now the 44-year-old executive coach from Beckenham, Greater London, eats peanuts every morning, which he describes as 'taking his medicine'. The new study, known as peanut desensitisation or oral immunotherapy, works by introducing tiny amounts of peanut and gradually increasing the dose to build up tolerance. Health officials said the trial offers 'hope' to thousands of people with peanut allergies. Experts pointed out that most previous desensitisation research has focused on children, meaning adults are rarely offered this type of treatment. But the new findings suggest it could become a future option for adults as well Speaking about the trial, Mr Lassiter said: 'I got to the point where I was having a total of four peanuts a day, which I still take to this day. 'This morning I had my four peanuts after I ate my breakfast, as if it was some sort of a teaspoon of medicine.' He added: '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.' Researchers from King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust published the new study in the journal Allergy, which involved 18 adults with typical peanut allergies who were gradually desensitised to peanuts. After confirming their allergies in the hospital, participants were given tiny amounts of peanut flour to eat at home, starting with less than 1% of a whole peanut. The dose was slowly increased, and once they could tolerate 50–100mg of peanut protein, they moved on to eating whole peanuts or peanut products. By the end of the study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, 67% of participants could eat the equivalent of five peanuts without any reaction. Chief investigator Stephen Till, professor of allergy at King's College London and consultant allergist at Guy's and St Thomas' said: '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 been obtained from studies in young children. 'Our phase two study suggests that this treatment is potentially effective in adults.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Man with life-threatening peanut allergy now eats them every day thanks to study
A man with a life-threatening peanut allergy is able to eat several per day thanks to a "ground-breaking" study. Richard Lassiter, 44, says he has been admitted to hospital twice due to his severe nut allergy, but now eats four peanuts every morning as part of a trial which has seen him gradually increase his exposure to them. One of his reactions came during a holiday in Chile with his wife in 2018, when he had a reaction so bad he had to stay in a high dependency unit overnight and have adrenaline and oxygen. He is one of 21 people between the ages of 18 and 40 who took part in the research conducted by King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. The study was the first entirely on adults with severe allergies to test whether daily doses of peanuts taken under strict supervision can be safely tolerated. Other "desensitisation" studies are focused on children, the experts say, meaning adults don't get the opportunity to counter their allergies. The study, called The Grown Up Peanut Immunotherapy trial, saw participants with allergies slowly increase their daily dosage from 0.8mg peanut flour mixed in with food. Once they could tolerate 50-100mg of peanut protein, they were switched to eating whole peanuts, peanut butter or other peanut products. By the end of the study, which was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, two thirds were able to eat the equivalent of five peanuts without reacting. Speaking to Sky's Wilfred Frost, Mr Lassiter said: "There was definitely a sense of nerves at first. You know, you have to get your mind around the idea of eating something you've tried to avoid your whole life. "But I think at the point that I found out about the trial, it was something I was really keen to do. I obviously had a couple of [dangerous] incidents reasonably fresh in my mind." He said the trial had changed his life, adding that he took the nuts like "medicine". "The idea that I take four peanuts a day now after my breakfast is well-worn routine," he said. "I know it's something I'll do for the rest of the rest of my life. "I'm certainly much more confident and calm when I go out to dinner with my wife, or when we go travelling. I know that that accidental exposure to peanuts isn't going to cause a serious reaction like it has done in the past." Read more: He added that he knew it still wasn't safe to order a meal with a strong presence of nuts. Chief investigator Stephen Till, professor of allergy at King's College London and consultant allergist at Guy's and St Thomas', told Sky News the trial provided hope for those with nut allergies, but was definitely "not something to do at home". He said the next step would be to conduct larger trials and identify "the group of adult patients who would most likely benefit from oral immunotherapy, and see whether it can lead to long-term tolerance in this age group". Asked if such trials could potentially benefit people with other types of allergies, Prof Till said: "Potentially, yes. The principle should be applicable to other food options, but what I would say is that different foods can behave differently in terms of the amounts that are required to cause reactions and how severe the reactions are. So to do it in other foods, you really do need to do trials for those specific foods individually." 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. "I'm proud the UK is leading this vital work through NIHR funding. These results show how we're transforming lives through science, potentially changing care standards for adults with peanut allergies worldwide."
Sky News
24-04-2025
- Health
- Sky News
Man with life-threatening peanut allergy now eats them every day thanks to study
A man with a life-threatening peanut allergy is able to eat several per day thanks to a "ground-breaking" study. Richard Lassiter, 44, says he has been admitted to hospital twice due to his severe nut allergy, but now eats four peanuts every morning as part of a trial which has seen him gradually increase his exposure to them. One of his reactions came during a holiday in Chile with his wife in 2018, when he had a reaction so bad he had to stay in a high dependency unit overnight and have adrenaline and oxygen. He is one of 21 people between the ages of 18 and 40 who took part in the research conducted by King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. The study was the first entirely on adults with severe allergies to test whether daily doses of peanuts taken under strict supervision can be safely tolerated. Other "desensitisation" studies are focused on children, the experts say, meaning adults don't get the opportunity to counter their allergies. The study, called The Grown Up Peanut Immunotherapy trial, saw participants with allergies slowly increase their daily dosage from 0.8mg peanut flour mixed in with food. Once they could tolerate 50-100mg of peanut protein, they were switched to eating whole peanuts, peanut butter or other peanut products. By the end of the study, which was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, two thirds were able to eat the equivalent of five peanuts without reacting. Speaking to Sky's Wilfred Frost, Mr Lassiter said: "There was definitely a sense of nerves at first. You know, you have to get your mind around the idea of eating something you've tried to avoid your whole life. "But I think at the point that I found out about the trial, it was something I was really keen to do. I obviously had a couple of [dangerous] incidents reasonably fresh in my mind." He said the trial had changed his life, adding that he took the nuts like "medicine". "The idea that I take four peanuts a day now after my breakfast is well-worn routine," he said. "I know it's something I'll do for the rest of the rest of my life. "I'm certainly much more confident and calm when I go out to dinner with my wife, or when we go travelling. I know that that accidental exposure to peanuts isn't going to cause a serious reaction like it has done in the past." He added that he knew it still wasn't safe to order a meal with a strong presence of nuts. Chief investigator Stephen Till, professor of allergy at King's College London and consultant allergist at Guy's and St Thomas', told Sky News the trial provided hope for those with nut allergies, but was definitely "not something to do at home". He said the next step would be to conduct larger trials and identify "the group of adult patients who would most likely benefit from oral immunotherapy, and see whether it can lead to long-term tolerance in this age group". Asked if such trials could potentially benefit people with other types of allergies, Prof Till said: "Potentially, yes. The principle should be applicable to other food options, but what I would say is that different foods can behave differently in terms of the amounts that are required to cause reactions and how severe the reactions are. So to do it in other foods, you really do need to do trials for those specific foods individually." 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. "I'm proud the UK is leading this vital work through NIHR funding. These results show how we're transforming lives through science, potentially changing care standards for adults with peanut allergies worldwide."
