Updated on Sunday, July 19, 2009, 16:27 IST Tags:

London: Kids suffering from potentially lethal nut allergies have been offered a new hope following the success of an experimental new treatment.

A groundbreaking therapy which effectively "retrains" the immune systems of patients who have food allergies so that they become desensitised to the food has been developed by doctors at Addenbrooke''s Hospital in Cambridge.

The technique’s trials have so far helped 20 children with severe peanut allergies overcome their life-threatening condition, reports The Telegraph.

Dr Pamela Ewan, a senior consultant at the department of allergy and medicine at Addenbrooke''s Hospital who led the research, said: "So far we have treated 20 patients successfully who can now safely eat up to 12 peanuts a day.

"Nuts are the most common food to cause severe, fatal or near fatal reactions.

“The patients have told us it has been a massive life changing experience. The mothers and the children say it has taken away a huge fear that had been looming over them."

ANI