Food allergies can result in various symptoms, ranging from mild itch and redness in the skin to full-body urticaria or severe drop in blood pressure (anaphylaxis). Your risk increases if someone in your family already has allergies such as asthma or eczema.
Symptoms
Food allergies occur when your immune system misidentifies certain food proteins as harmful, leading to symptoms in various parts of the body such as skin, airways or digestive tract. They may range from mild to severe symptoms – potentially even progressing quickly into life-threatening anaphylaxis.
Symptoms may occur shortly after eating a certain food or can come on several hours later. Their severity will depend on several factors, including whether or not it was cooked, what other meals you may have had that same day and even your feelings prior to consuming this specific dish.
Food allergies typically manifest themselves with symptoms like hives that appear on your skin, mouth, or throat. Other possible effects of an allergy to food may include stuffy nose, sneezing or watery eyes (allergic conjunctivitis); belly pain; itchy eyes and ears; constricted airways making breathing hard; as well as sudden drop in blood pressure that can result in shock.
Your provider can identify food allergies through taking a history and performing either an allergy skin test or blood test; skin testing involves applying small amounts of different food items onto the skin and monitoring its response; in blood testing, allergy cells may also be isolated for analysis.
Diagnosis
Food allergies are diagnosed by collecting symptoms and gathering a detailed history. Next, doctors perform skin tests and blood tests to gain more information about an individual’s immune system (including antibody reactions against food items).
Food allergies tend to run in families. While allergies can affect anyone, at any age or stage in life, their incidence tends to peak in children.
Food allergies may vary in severity from mild to severe reactions. Anaphylaxis, or the severe form, is known to produce symptoms all over the body such as difficulty breathing, low blood pressure and abnormal heart rates. If this happens to you, seek emergency medical help immediately – you may require an injection of adrenaline (epinephrine).
Food allergies are best diagnosed through a skin test, which involves placing liquid extracts of potential allergens onto the patient’s skin, pricking it repeatedly, and watching for reddish raised spots known as wheals to form. Blood testing may also be conducted in order to check levels of IgE which are often found among those suffering from food allergies.
Before diagnosing food allergies, it’s important to rule out other conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome, eczema and chronic health problems such as asthma. People living with skin conditions like eczema or asthma also face an increased risk of food allergies.
Treatment
Food allergies can be potentially deadly, so it is crucial that individuals know how to identify a severe reaction (anaphylaxis) and carry emergency medication such as epinephrine with them at all times. Furthermore, it’s also crucial that those affected avoid foods which trigger symptoms and always read food labels thoroughly before purchasing anything new.
Researchers supported by NIAID are working on cutting-edge treatments that go beyond simply avoiding allergenic foods, including oral immunotherapy. Oral immunotherapy introduces small doses of allergenic food over time to build tolerance to it and ultimately lessen or even eliminate allergic responses; such therapies could potentially even cure food allergies altogether.
Many children with food allergies will outgrow them during early childhood, yet it can be hard to predict exactly which allergies will go away and which will remain. According to statistics, approximately 80-90% of children who were allergic to egg, milk, wheat or soy will outgrow these allergies by age 5, while only approximately one out of every four will outgrow nut/tree/fish allergies by then.
Skin prick tests can help doctors diagnose possible food allergies in some instances. Doctors will prick liquid extracts of potential allergens onto your child’s forearm or back and observe for any reddish raised spots (called wheals) to confirm any possible reactions. While skin prick tests are very reliable and accurate, other ways of diagnosing an allergy include bloodwork analysis or food challenge tests whereby doctors administer small doses of suspected allergens under close medical supervision within an office or food challenge center with emergency medication and equipment at hand in case something unexpected arises.
Prevention
Food allergy prevention starts with knowing what foods trigger it and avoiding those items, and this has never been simpler thanks to labeling laws and special cookbooks designed specifically for people with allergies. Your allergist can assist with reading labels to identify hidden sources of allergens; additionally it’s essential that safe eating practices be practiced both at home and when dining out as waiters may not always recognize whether an ingredient contains something you are allergic to; discuss this matter with them as well.
Food allergies can cause a range of symptoms, from itching and hives to difficulty breathing and stomach ache. More severe reactions can even result in anaphylaxis – a potentially life-threatening condition requiring immediate medical care. Epinephrine auto-injectors like Adrenaclick or EpiPen may help treat severe allergic reactions; however, you must seek emergency assistance immediately after administering such treatments.
Studies have demonstrated that restricting infants’ early access to peanuts does not help protect them against peanut allergies; rather, restricting or completely eliminating peanuts could even hasten their development. As infants near 6 months of age are exposed to peanut-containing foods like peanut butter for feeding purposes, risk for peanut allergy is significantly decreased.
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