A trial held at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge involved four children being fed daily doses of peanut flour. Starting with a 5 milligram serving, the amount was slowly increased over six months to 800 milligrams - the equivalent of five whole peanuts.
Previous desensitisation programmes via injections in the 1990s proved unsuccessful. It is thought this trial worked because of the gentle oral doses.
The results were published in the journal Allergy last week.
Dr Andy Clark, leader of the research, said, 'Every time people with a peanut allergy eat something, they're frightened that it might kill them. Our motivation was to find a treatment that would change that and give them the confidence to eat what they like. It's all about quality of life.
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