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By Melissa Tennen, healthAtoZ writer
Media reports from a recent food allergy study has experts worried that parents may be getting dangerous advice for children with severe peanut allergies. A Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology study looked at activated charcoal as a treatment option in slowing or preventing life-threatening reactions to peanuts. Here's what Anne Muñoz-Furlong, founder of the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, says.
What is activated charcoal?
Anne Muñoz-Furlong: It is not the same kind of charcoal that you use in your grill. Activated charcoal binds with substances in the stomach keeping them from entering the body. Activated charcoal can be purchased in drug stories or any place that sells medicine. It is sold over-the-counter for use in treating poisonings and is available as a liquid or a tablet.
Why are you concerned about this study?
Muñoz-Furlong: The study was not done in humans. It was done in test tubes in a laboratory. In the study, the activated charcoal did bind the peanut proteins, but we do not know how well it would work in people in a home setting.
What would happen if you used charcoal in an emergency?
Muñoz-Furlong: Severe food allergy reactions are unexpected. Sometimes all you have are minutes before the reaction gets completely out of hand. We may lose valuable time while the patient or the parent gets the activated charcoal and then tries to coax a child to swallow it. This can add another step to the medication plan and delay the administration of epinephrine.
Epinephrine is a lifesaver. Charcoal is not. It binds everything in the stomach: the good and the bad. Charcoal will deactivate that antihistamine, and then there is no medicine in the body. Activated charcoal will not reduce swelling, which may be going on in other parts of the body.
It puts you in a very risky situation. It will not stop a reaction.
What are other problems with charcoal?
Muñoz-Furlong: You have to consume about 4 to 5 ounces of it, which is a lot. It doesn't taste very good. In a life-threatening situation, the child is very upset, there's chaos in the family and now you have to try to get the child to swallow this. If they are throwing up, they may aspirate the activated charcoal. It's not an easy fix-it treatment.
Is charcoal ever used?
Muñoz-Furlong: In hospitals activated charcoal is very effective. But that is a controlled setting, which is very planned and orderly.
In light of this study, what should people do?
Muñoz-Furlong: Follow the doctor's plan. Don't keep charcoal in the house for this sort of emergency. Remember that charcoal is not a substitute for epinephrine. When you are in a severe emergency, you need to react quickly and this won't help.
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This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.
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