Chinese medicine formulation also offers hope of a peanut 'cure'

A new study by Dr Xiu-Min Li, Director of the Center for Chinese Herbal Therapy for Allergy and Asthma at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, builds on work previously done on mice with Food Allergy Formula FAHF-2 in which the formula was shown to prevent anaphylactic reactions in mice for up to four weeks following the treatment. In their most recent study the FAHF-2 treatment protected peanut allergic mice from anaphylaxis for more than 36 weeks after treatment was discontinued. This is one-quarter of the mouse lifespan.

FAHF-2 has received investigational new drug approval from the Food and Drug Administration and human clinical trials are currently being conducted at Mount Sinai to evaluate the safety and early efficacy of FAHF-2 on multiple food allergies including peanut, tree nut, fish and shellfish.

Said Dr Hugh Sampson, Professor of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute:
‘This study reinforces previous studies showing that this botanical drug has the potential to be developed into the first available and effective treatment for patients with peanut allergies and other food allergies.’

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First published in April 2009

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