Peanut allergy is a type of food allergy distinct from nut allergies. It is a type 1 hypersensitivity reaction to dietary substances from peanuts that causes an overreaction of the immune system which in a small percentage of people may lead to severe physical symptoms. It is estimated to affect 0.4-0.6% of the population. In England, an estimated 4,000 people are newly diagnosed with peanut allergy per year (11 per day); 25,700 having been diagnosed with peanut allergy by a clinician at some point in their lives.
The most severe allergies in general can result in anaphylaxis, an emergency situation requiring immediate attention and treatment with epinephrine.
Peanut allergies are usually treated with an exclusion diet and vigilant avoidance of foods that may contain whole peanuts or peanut particles and/or oils.
Read more about Peanut Allergy: Symptoms, Causes, Prevalence, Routes of Exposure, Treatments, Allergen-free Peanuts, Peanut Butter Alternatives
Famous quotes containing the word peanut:
“It has been an unchallengeable American doctrine that cranberry sauce, a pink goo with overtones of sugared tomatoes, is a delectable necessity of the Thanksgiving board and that turkey is uneatable without it.... There are some things in every country that you must be born to endure; and another hundred years of general satisfaction with Americans and America could not reconcile this expatriate to cranberry sauce, peanut butter, and drum majorettes.”
—Alistair Cooke (b. 1908)