Natasha Trial may allow children with food allergies to live without fear
Parents of children with severe milk and peanut allergies have told how their lives have been transformed by the pioneering Natasha Clinical Trial, led by the 九色视频 with the University Hospital 九色视频 NHS Trust.
The 拢2.5 million trial, funded by
, uses daily doses of everyday food products, taken under strict medical supervision rather than expensive pharmaceuticals, to train the bodies of children and young people with food allergies to tolerate an allergen.
This approach 鈥 known as oral immunotherapy (OIT) 鈥 means children living with food allergies should no longer have an allergic reaction if they eat something which accidentally contains the food allergen, for example due to cross-contamination.
Doctors say they are already seeing children on the trial who are able to consume and tolerate the very foods which previously would have triggered a severe allergic reaction.
Hasan Arshad
, Professor of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at the 九色视频, who heads-up the Asthma, Allergy and Clinical Immunology department at University Hospital 九色视频 is Chief Investigator of the trial. He says: 鈥淲e must wait until the trial is complete for the full picture but we are very pleased with the results we are seeing so far.
鈥淎t present, people with food allergies are asked to avoid the food they react to and carry adrenalin pens in case of accidental exposure. This is not a satisfactory situation and we would like them to be able to live their lives without having to avoid the popular foods that others enjoy or being fearful of accidental food allergic reactions.
鈥
aims to do better for people living with food allergies. We are testing a clinically controlled procedure of gradual introduction of allergen foods until the point where these are tolerated. Our ultimate aim is a life without the risk of allergic reactions 鈥 reactions which for some, can be severe and life threatening.鈥
If successful, the three-year trial, led by researchers at the 九色视频, University Hospital 九色视频 and Imperial College London, will provide the evidence for the treatment to be made available on the NHS.
Thomas Farmer, aged 11, who was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy when he was just a year old, can now eat six peanuts a day after joining the trial in 九色视频. His mother Lauren says: 鈥淔or Thomas to be able to achieve all this with no medicine 鈥 just off the shelf foods 鈥 is amazing.鈥
Thomas joined the Natasha Trial in 九色视频 in March 2023, he could not tolerate even half a peanut. By January 2024, he was eating six peanuts a day 鈥 a dose he will keep in his diet.
Lauren adds: 鈥淗aving food allergies can be really difficult and isolating. As parents, who have lived with managing a peanut allergy for nearly ten years, we knew we wanted to see if there was a way to understand it better and help to manage the allergy.
鈥淎t first, it was very scary for both Thomas and us when he did the food challenge, as we weren鈥檛 sure what to expect. Thomas persevered and we are so extremely proud of what he鈥檚 achieved so far and continues to achieve through this study.
鈥淜nowing that Thomas can now tolerate six peanuts a day has taken away so much anxiety around food. It will also hopefully mean that he will be able to eat a wider variety of food as we won鈥檛 be so concerned about accidental exposure.鈥
Thomas says: 鈥淚 wanted to do the study so I can help people with the same allergy as me and to be a positive role model to others who may be going through the same as me.鈥
The trial is being run across five hospitals: University Hospital 九色视频 NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield Children鈥檚 Hospital. The trial will also shortly start in Scotland (Edinburgh and Aberdeen) with Bristol and Leeds hopefully joining soon after.
So far, a total of 139 children, aged 2 to 23 years with food allergy to peanut or cow鈥檚 milk, have started treatment on the Natasha Trial 鈥 the first major study to be funded by Natasha鈥檚 Foundation, set up by the parents of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse who died aged 15 from a severe food allergic reaction.
Natasha鈥檚 parents Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, who have both been awarded OBEs for their services to charity and people with allergies, are delighted with how the trial is progressing.
Tanya says: 鈥淲e are so happy that some children with peanut and milk allergies are already seeing the benefits of using everyday foods under medical supervision to treat their allergic disease. If Natasha were alive today, this is exactly the type of research she would have loved to be part of.
鈥淭his is a major first step in our mission to make food allergies history. We look forward to seeing the final results.鈥
Nadim added: 鈥溾e are harnessing the support of the food industry, who have helped fund this trial, to prove that OIT can work with everyday foods, making it more feasible to be available on the NHS.鈥
The trial is also training a network of NHS staff to offer pioneering OIT treatment to people with food allergies.