Let’s Cope Up With Food Allergy

Food allergy is a medical condition wherein a certain kind of food causes inflammation of the tissues due to reaction of the immune system to such food. Sometimes, this can even endanger your life. Generally, many people avoid certain food items because they are of the opinion that these items are allergic. This is actually not the case.

Food allergy is a rare condition to happen and is more likely to be in families. According to a research, hardly 3 in 100 toddlers and 1 in 100 adults actually suffer from this allergy.

Food Allergy versus Food Intolerance

Food allergy and food intolerance are completely different from each other. In both the conditions, you notice symptoms even when you intake even little quantity of specific allergic food. However, the symptoms of food intolerance are related to the digestive system such as vomiting or diarrhea. This means that immune system is not involved in food intolerance and that it is not a threat to life.

How Food Allergy Happens

A particular kind of food becomes allergic for you when your immune system respond excessively (react) to unknown proteins and generates antibodies. These antibodies in turn attack the tissues of the body. These foreign proteins that are responsible for the overreaction are medically termed as allergens. This means that in food allergy, for patients, food to which the immune system reacts is known as allergen.

Food allergy is a type 1 allergy wherein the immune system generates antibodies named IgE-antibody after the body is been exposed to allergen. This means that when you eat the same kind of food the next time, the immune system will generate more IgE. When the number of these antibodies reaches an adequate level, the person will start showing symptoms such as rash and swelling.

One can conclude from the above explanation that allergic symptoms are not exhibited when you eat the food for the first time. However, there are high chances that the food items that causes allergy are found in other food items, for example, nuts in ice-cream. This will make it difficult for you to know when you ate the allergen the first time.

Food Allergy Causes

You are more likely to have food allergy if you or family members are suffering from the other allergic diseases such as eczema or asthma.

Apart from this, food allergens and cross-reacting allergens are the major causes of food allergy. In a cross-reaction, food comes in contact with other allergens that results in overreaction of the immune system to the food.

Listed below are the most common allergens.

• Milk
• Soya beans
• Wheat
• Peanuts
• Shellfish
• Fish
• Eggs
• Fruit and vegetables

Listed below are a few cross-reacting allergens.

• Birch pollen cross-reacting with:
  • Hazelnut, walnut, and other nuts
  • Apple, plum, cherry, pear, and kiwi
  • Potato peel, carrot, and tomato
• Grass cross-reacts with beans and green peas

Further Complications

In most cases of food allergy, patients live their life without any abnormalities, but with some control on the diet. Listed below are the rare complications that occur due to food allergy.

• The victim might not obtain all the vital nutrients that are required. This can actually result in related disorders and problems of undernourishment such as anemia.
• The mucous membranes in your oral cavity and throat might swell and might cause problems in breathing.
• Asthma attacks and anaphylactic shock can take place.

Food Allergy Symptoms

An allergic reaction can take place immediately after eating such food or can occur after a few hours. Listed below are the symptoms of the food allergy.

• Swollen lips, face, or throat
• Itching in the mouth and lips
• Vomiting
• Stomach cramp
• Diarrhea
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Irritation
• Hay fever
• Asthma
• Rash and prevailing eczema worsen

After you become sensitive to certain kind of food, eating that food again and again results in more production of antibodies by the immune system. This simple indicates that if the symptoms are mild today, they can grave tomorrow.

Sometimes, you can suffer from an anaphylactic shock even if you eat a small amount of allergen. This is actually a fatal reaction given by the immune system wherein the airways narrow down and the heart does not function properly. This calls for an urgent treatment with adrenaline. Further, you also might feel difficult to breathe that needs immediate medical treatment.

Always be alert of avoiding allergic food items when you are out for eating if you are suffering from food allergy.

Diagnosis

When you feel or think that might be allergic to a certain kind of food, consult your doctor or a qualified specialist for a diagnosis before you poke your nose in changing the diet. Depending on how severe your symptoms are, the doctor will decide upon the method of diagnosis.

Blood and Skin Tests

These tests include a prick-test of the allergen on the skin and the RAST blood test, which has the potential to remove the allergies. However, they often have reactions due to which only experts should test and evaluate the allergy.

Lastly, do not believe on the test kits that you get in health food shops and over the internet, as they are not reliable.

Food Elimination Programme

An allergist, who has thorough experience in dealing with the allergic diseases, might suggest the listed below programme to check whether there is an allergy or not. This is actually a common process to confirm food allergy.

• Be on a normal varied diet for two weeks, but maintaining all details of what has been eaten and what were the reactions, if any.
• If there is a reaction after eating an item, that item should be henceforth avoided in this period of two weeks while constantly maintaining the diary.
• If you notice remarkable improvement in your symptoms, the further idea is to intentionally eating the food item that might be the cause of the allergy and get openly frustrated.
• If you observe that the symptoms are reinforced, you will be asked to try such frustrational tricks even more wherein no one including the allergist knows about whether you are consuming the allergic food. The reason for doing so is to rule out the psychological cause.

The diagnosis should be such that it must rule out other medical conditions that occur due to indigestion, which are listed below.

• Coeliac disease
• Lactose intolerance
• Non-immunological reactions for which the immune system is not responsible, for example, histamine in shellfish
• Minor food poisoning
• Bowel symptoms for which an inflammatory condition such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease is responsible

Food Allergy Treatment

The best choice is to stop the intake of the food items that stimulate the allergic reactions. Further, medical alternatives can provide you with relief from the symptoms without curing the allergy. Generally, antihistamines are useful when there is itching, but even they are not capable of preventing any allergic symptom.

Show You Care

Listed below are certain guidelines that you should keep in mind with regards to food allergy.

• Always find out which food items or things you are allergic to and observe any cross-reactions.
• Seek guidance from your allergist regarding which food items you can eat and which you cannot eat.
• Know the symptoms well.
• Talk to your doctor whenever you have some doubt regarding any aspect of the allergy or reactions.
• Obtain urgent medical treatment when you suddenly feel difficult to breathe.

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