Ellen Campbell -Grizzle - PHARMACY TODAY IN JAMAICA, peanuts are sold at traffic lights, in bars, at school gates and every imaginable venue. This popular legume is delicious and widely accepted as a natural food with properties to revive vim, vigour and vitality.
It is well known that peanuts are a rich source of valuable nutrients and so, in this context, Jamaican pharmacists have some difficulty in explaining the lethal potential of peanut allergies.
However, there are persons who have abnormal reactions to the proteins contained in peanuts. Since peanut oil (arachis or groundnut oil) is used in some medicines, pharmacists are trained to be cautious in recommending treatment to persons with peanut allergies.
In the United States, 50 to 100 deaths are linked each year to peanut allergies, with the trend increasing over the last decade. Recent research suggests that infants exposed to creams, containing peanut oil, had a higher risk of developing life-threatening peanut allergies in later life. The study also found that infants who were frequent drinkers of soy milk and soy products were more likely to develop peanut allergies. Since soybeans and peanuts are legumes, 'cross reactivity' is a possibility.
We know that peanut proteins are likely to be found in several foods including peanut flour, peanut butter, mixed nuts, some cereals, sweets, ice cream, yogurts and peanut oil from which the protein has not been removed. It now appears that the small amounts of peanut oil used in creams and lotions, when absorbed through broken skin, can begin a process of allergy development that explodes in later life.
Pharmacists are now applying greater scrutiny to the creams and lotions recommended to soothe scaly, irritated skin of infants or to treat cradle cap. Also, nursing mothers must be cautious when they select breast creams; other caregivers need to be careful with the creams and lotions that they apply before touching infants and children with family histories of allergies to peanuts and other substances may be at a higher risk after exposure to skin products with peanut oils.
Constant vigilance, education, awareness and preparation for emergencies are the key to preventing death from this allergy. Affected consumers must read carefully all food and cosmetic labels and avoid products that contain peanut derivatives.
The following tips are useful in protecting affected children:
Educate children to ask simple questions about foods that they may be offered and tell them to say "No, thank you," when they are unsure
Parents must advise persons who care for their children from time to time
Reuse frying oil with care as this can contain residues of proteins from previously-cooked foods
Check with your doctor whether your child may safely eat tree nuts such as walnuts and almonds or not.
Peanut allergies can be fatal for some people. At first, these persons experience a mild allergic reaction such as itching after eating one peanut. A more severe reaction may occur much later in life including blue lips, fainting, skin and breathing changes. This is a medical emergency.
A new drug in the pipeline is showing promise in reducing the severity of the reaction to peanuts. However, at this time, we can stem the development of peanut allergies by carefully screening the products that we apply to our children's bodies. If you want to know more about peanut allergies, ask your pharmacist, you have the right to know!
Ellen Campbell Grizzle, President of the Caribbean Association of Pharmacists (CAP) and Director of Information and Research, National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), Kingston, Jamaica.
