More than 800,000 of these adults (more than 17%) developed their allergy after turning 18, according to a study published Tuesday in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Peanut allergy has generally been considered a pediatric problem, but there are more allergies than children than allergy, said the study’s author, Dr. Ruchi Gupta, director of the Center for Food Allergies and Asthma Research at Northwestern University, Illinois. But only between 15% and 20% of children with a peanut allergy will overcome their allergy in adulthood, according to the study.
Adults who reported developing a peanut allergy in adulthood were significantly less likely to be diagnosed by a physician compared to adults who reported developing an allergy when they were children, according to the survey of more than 40,000 US adults
Gupta said he has noticed that adults who have a negative reaction to a certain food tend to avoid eating it instead of doing an allergy test. When he is diagnosed with a peanut allergy, he receives confirmation that he is allergic, which affects the way he lives his life, he said.
According to the study, of the 2.9% of American adults who reported a peanut allergy, only 1.8%, or 4.6 million people, had one. · Convincing peanut allergy.
Convincing symptoms include vomiting, hives and trouble breathing, among others, said study author Christopher Warren, a research consultant at the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research. . Some examples of symptoms that were not convincing included bloating and diarrhea, he said.
Adults who self-diagnose also carry an unnecessary burden of avoiding peanuts when they don’t need them, Warren added.
“They could be living their lives as if their next bite could lead to a very bad outcome when it would be something that would be so easy to avoid” through routine allergy testing, Warren said.
Another reason why it is important to get the diagnosis is that doctors may prescribe epinephrine, Gupta said, which is an emergency treatment for anaphylaxis, a serious reaction to the allergen.
According to the study, only 44% of adults with adult-onset peanut allergy reported prescribing epinephrine compared with 56% of adults with peanut-onset allergies.
No reason is known why peanut allergies develop in adults, but a person’s environment or hormones could play a role, Gupta said. He said research is being done to see if a change in a person’s lifestyle or a fluctuation in women’s hormones when they enter puberty or menopause can cause allergies.
What to do if you suspect an allergy
This study revealed that peanut allergies in adults are much more common than expected, said Steve Danon, senior vice president and head of public affairs and communications for Food Allergy Research & Education, who did not participate in the study.
If you suspect you may have a peanut allergy, Danon recommended that you consult your primary care physician for testing.
In addition to peanuts, he says you should do tests to detect other common allergens such as nuts. According to the study, adults with adult-onset allergy were more likely to report multiple allergies compared to adults with childhood-onset allergy.
The Food and Drug Administration has not approved any therapy for peanut allergy for adults, Warren said, but there is therapy for children ages 4-17. Therapy slowly desensitizes children to peanuts, allowing them to ingest peanut protein and have a milder or nonexistent reaction, according to the study.
Another benefit of being diagnosed as an adult is that you can participate in peanut allergy therapy trials, Warren said. Clinical trials are an important part of the process for obtaining adult peanut allergy therapies, he said.