Children With Asthma Should Undergo Peanut Sensitivity Tests, Says Lead Author of Study

It may be unknown to many, but peanuts are possible culprits of childhood asthma. According to Medical News Today, lead researcher Dr. Robert Cohn observed that respiratory conditions of asthmatic attacks and peanut allergies exhibit close similarity. Cohn found that these symptoms include coughing, wheezing and breathlessness.

The study used 1,517 medical records from Toledo, Ohio's Mercy Children's Hospital pediatric unit as samples. Among these, 11 percent of the records of kids indicated an allergy to peanuts in the past. Meanwhile, 44 percent of the kids from the sample took IgE peanut allergy tests. Among the kids sampled, 22 percent tested positive for peanut allergies.

Researchers discovered that the symptoms of peanut allergies bear similarities in people belonging in the same age group. Thus, Dr. Cohn encourages parents of asthmatic kids to get their children tested for peanut sensitivity.

"This study demonstrates children with asthma might benefit from a test for peanut sensitivity, especially when control of wheezing and coughing is difficult to achieve. If a physician is having this problem, or if a parent notices it in his or her asthmatic child, they should consider testing, even if they believe their child is not sensitive to peanuts," the medical specialist stated.

Dr. Cohn advocates for the discovery of ways peanut allergies aggravate childhood asthmatic symptoms. On February, it was found kids who've had intake of substantial peanut food amounts before 11 months lower their future risk for developing peanut allergies.

Below 1 percent of the kids who've eaten peanut food products three or more times a week acquired peanut allergies at 5 years old.

"Coexistence of peanut allergy with asthma could be a risk factor for increased morbidity and mortality," Cohn and his team of researchers wrote in their study's abstract, according Medical Daily.

They added, "Also some asthma medications should be avoided in children with peanut allergy." As their work is only preliminary, there are still some questions. There's no telling how many of the untested children might have obtained a positive result for an allergy, or if the rates of allergy they found would be replicated among children with milder asthma or among adult asthmatics. However, the authors noted that the rates of known allergy were similar across all the age groups they studied.

Tech Times revealed that peanut allergies and asthmatic symptoms are similar in a lot of ways. Hence, these symptoms are usually difficult to differentiate and diagnose.