Food allergies can be life-threatening conditions that must be managed immediately and strictly avoided in early childhood, along with emergency epinephrine auto-injectors for any potential reactions that arise.
Children typically outgrow food allergies to milk, eggs, wheat and soy; however, peanuts, tree nuts and seafood tend to remain challenging triggers for allergic responses.
Symptoms
Most food allergies manifest themselves through symptoms that manifest themselves in the mouth or throat, including tingling or itching to tingling or itching to swelling of the mouth, throat or tongue, anaphylaxis (an adverse allergic reaction that affects multiple parts of the body) or all over as raised red bumps with pale centers that resemble bug bites (hives).
Food allergies arise when your immune system mistakes a protein in certain foods for something harmful, triggering reactions such as itching, hives, stomach discomfort or breathing difficulty. A severe reaction could even drop blood pressure drastically and even lead to shock; in these instances call 911 immediately or go directly to an emergency room.
Food allergies are more likely if you or a member of your family also has other allergies such as asthma or eczema, while exclusively breastfed infants have a greater chance of developing food allergies than babies fed from bottles.
To diagnose a food allergy, your physician will ask about your symptoms and when they occur when eating certain foods. He or she will also check for other conditions with similar symptoms, like lactose intolerance (which makes milk hard for your body to digest) or celiac disease (an autoimmune disorder in which the body cannot tolerate gluten, an ingredient present in wheat and other grains). You may undergo skin tests to confirm a food allergy.
Causes
Allergies occur when our immune systems overreact to certain foods, sometimes even life-threateningly so. An anaphylaxis-type reaction could occur that affects multiple body systems simultaneously and causes symptoms like difficulty breathing and even passing out; symptoms typically start two hours or later or never at all.
Milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat and soy are among the most frequently allergenic food items, making up 8 out of the 15 food allergens cited. Allergies tend to affect young children more frequently, though they can appear at any age and often remain throughout life.
Rarely, an allergy to one food can lead to cross-reactivity with another food due to similar proteins present. For instance, those allergic to ragweed may also react adversely to bananas or melons due to similarities in their proteins.
Most individuals with food allergies must avoid eating foods which cause reactions. This may prove challenging when dining out or other people offer dishes containing allergenic food items, which may prove especially difficult when social settings require eating something containing allergenic components. It’s essential that all childcare providers, school personnel and parents of your child’s friends understand why and when an allergic food should be avoided and how best to respond if your child experiences adverse symptoms from it.
Diagnosis
Your doctor will first discuss when and how your symptoms started, whether antihistamines are helping and then perform a food allergy test to accurately pinpoint it.
Skin tests are often the go-to test for allergies. Your doctor pricks a small amount of the suspected allergen onto your arm or back and watches for any reaction – typically, raised bumps called wheals indicate an allergic response; although these can be uncomfortable tests, their results tend to be fast and reliable. Blood tests measuring immunoglobulin E antibodies to food proteins can also help diagnose food allergies quickly.
A food challenge (OFC) may be necessary if skin prick and blood tests come back negative. You will consume increasing quantities of the allergenic food under medical supervision in an OFC; it must take place in either a hospital or physician’s office where immediate medical care can be reached in case anaphylaxis develops; should an allergy be diagnosed, your physician may provide you with an epinephrine auto-injector and teach you how to use it – essential tools in treating such serious allergic reactions that could potentially result in shock or even shock leading to shock and death if untreated!
Treatment
Accurate diagnosis is key in successfully treating food allergies. A patient history review, physical exam and various allergy tests such as skin prick tests or blood tests for antibodies are usually involved in making this assessment.
Healthcare professionals may prescribe an emergency epinephrine autoinjector (Adrenaclick or EpiPen) for severe allergic reactions that could potentially be life-threatening. For food allergies, however, the most effective treatment involves avoiding foods which trigger symptoms – this means carefully checking ingredient labels and avoiding foods known to contain allergens like peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, eggs, fish shellfish and wheat as examples of food sources that should be avoided. It’s also vitally important that caregivers, classmates and others understand this condition in case someone offers something which they should avoid.
Research is ongoing into finding ways to desensitize people to food allergens. For the most part, however, the best treatment option is avoidance altogether. Medication may help control mild to moderate symptoms like rashes, itching and swelling; in extreme cases epinephrine should be given immediately by healthcare providers. Researchers funded by NIAID are exploring several approaches for treating food allergies, including oral immunotherapy and sublingual immunotherapy treatments as well as lab-made antibodies.
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