A potential breakthrough when it comes to food allergies.

“The good news is that people are doing a lot now to treat food allergies,” says Dr. Gaston Turnier, an allergy and immunology specialist with Lee Memorial Health System.

Diagnosing food allergies is becoming easier thanks to new technology. “Usually the skin test is considered the standard testing because the sensitivity is higher. But the blood test is getting better day by day,” explains Dr. Turnier.

With better testing comes an interesting new study out of Duke University. Researchers re-introduced a small dose of peanuts to a group of adults who had been diagnosed with peanut allergies as young children. “When I say small dose, I say about 10,000 times less than will give them a reaction. So, don’t try to do that at home. It has to be in a controlled situation.” The adults only had a few peanuts each day and he says the results were fascinating. “Most of them had outgrown their peanut allergy by the end of the study. I believe about 8 of them could be eat as much as 15 peanuts without a reaction. This is a great advance in food allergy treatment,” says Dr. Turnier.

An advancement that he believes could lead to even more discoveries when it comes to getting rid of food allergies for good.