In 2005 a story made international headlines. The story was about a 15 year old Canadian girl who died because of kissing her boyfriend 9 hours after he had consumed peanut butter (BBC Article here and CBS Article Here). This story brought a lot of much needed attention to peanut allergies and those affected by them. Unfortunately those involved allowed speculation to circulate before the medical profession confirmed the cause of death.

The original story brought a sense of terror to those suffering from an allergy as well as a much needed focus on communicating with those in your life. The safest thing one with a peanut allergy can do is simply tell those around them about it and make sure they know the severity of the allergy. I explore this concept of communication in another posting you can find here.

Back to the kissing issue. As it turns out peanuts were not to blame for this tragic death. Asthma was to blame for the girls death as reported by CBC News. It turns out she had spent the night at a house with numerous pets and heavy smoking which set off a severe attack. You can read more about this here.

The most important moral of this story is to enjoy life to the fullest yet always be conscious of your environment and those around you. While it turns out kissing (or for that matter sharing a drink) isn’t quite as dangerous as believed the danger is there and must not be ignored. Many of us with a peanut allergy also suffer from other allergies or asthma. It is important to be aware of our environment and our body and never delay treatment. Perhaps a reaction to a friend’s cat could cover up the symptoms of a pending serve re reaction to peanuts and delay treatment. Always carry and use your medicine and don’t delay treatment!

Living Peanut Free,

Dan.