(May 1, 2008 - Insidermedicine) While increasing rates of severe, life-threatening peanut allergies continue to mystify experts, treatments aimed at modifying the immune system's reaction to peanuts will probably be available within five years, according to a paper published in The Lancet.

Here are some facts about peanut allergy:

•    It has become a major health concern worldwide, as reactions can be serious enough to threaten life. In the developed world, as many as 1% of children under the age of five suffer from this allergy.

•    It occurs when the body's immune system mistakes one or more proteins found in peanuts for an invader and attacks it, causing a cascade of chemical reactions in the body leading to symptoms that may include hives, rash, swelling, breathing difficulties, gastrointestinal distress, fainting, and collapse.

•    Rates of peanut allergy have been increasing in the past decades, especially in the developed world. One theory for this increase is that as our environment becomes more and more hygienic and we are exposed to fewer germs, our immune systems become primed to attack harmless intruders, such as food proteins.

Dr. Wesley Burks of Duke University Medical Center in Durham outlined the problem of peanut allergy and how to manage the condition. One study based in the United States estimated that the prevalence of peanut allergy among children doubled, from 0.4% to 0.8%, between 1997 and 2002. Some researchers believe that eating peanut-containing products while pregnant increases the baby's risk of developing peanut allergy, but this theory remains unproven.

Most peanut allergy symptoms begin the first time a child eats a peanut-containing product. It is crucial that children with peanut allergy and their caregivers learn to avoid peanut products, recognize the early signs of peanut allergy, and know how to provide emergency treatment with epinephrine given by injection and antihistamines given by mouth. Experimental treatments for peanut allergy that are showing promise include "training" the immune system not to react to peanuts by using specially engineered peanut proteins or by having patients eat slowly increasing amounts of peanuts over time.

Today's research highlights the increasing incidence of potentially deadly peanut allergy and details the efforts being made to treat this condition.

For Insidermedicine in Depth, I'm Dr. Susan Sharma.