Why it’s important: For kids who have a peanut allergy, a birthday party or a chance encounter with the wrong cookie can mean a scary trip to the emergency room. The treatment studied is the first of its kind aimed at preventing anaphylactic attacks. “It doesn’t mean that children with a peanut allergy will be able to sit down and eat a jar of peanut butter, but it could mean that they won’t have a life-threatening reaction if they reach into a bag that has Reese’s Pieces candies in it,” says Angela Castellanos, M.D., a pediatrician and editorial fellow at the New England Journal of Medicine. There are still concerns and questions: Some of the kids in the treatment group had significant allergic reactions requiring medical intervention and close medical supervision. And doctors don’t know if kids will need to continue treatment with the peanut protein for the rest of their life in order to retain the tolerance. The manufacturer is awaiting FDA approval to market the peanut powder in prescription form, which would be given to kids in a special protocol supervised by their doctor.