First do no harm

摘要

The RCGP’s week-by-week guide to pregnancy (Emma’s Diary) advises that ‘a family with a history of nut allergy should avoid giving foods containing nuts until their baby is at least 3 years old’, but current thinking is exactly the opposite. Instead of restricting exposure to peanut protein during weaning, there is evidence that, rather than causing sensitisation, early exposure to peanuts may actually induce tolerance and prevent the abnormal immune response that causes an allergic reaction.