Food allergies can affect skin, respiratory system and digestive tract. From mild to severe symptoms and even life-threatening reactions.
Most food allergies appear during childhood and typically outgrow them as time progresses. Common allergenic triggers include milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and crustacean shellfish as well as wheat and soy.
Symptoms
Food allergies can have symptoms that impact skin, throat, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory system and cardiovascular system. Their severity varies between mild and severe reactions and between individuals; examples could include hives, lip or face swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing, tightness in chest area or sudden drops in blood pressure (shock). In cases of anaphylaxis-type reactions symptoms can become life threatening quickly – seek emergency care immediately if these occur!
food intolerances differ from food allergies in that their symptoms don’t involve skin reactions and aren’t life-threatening, instead manifesting in stomach ache, bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation.
Your doctor will first ask about your symptoms and health history before conducting a physical exam. He or she may then perform tests to detect food allergies; an allergy skin test involves having some of the suspected allergen prick your skin with tiny amounts in order to assess any reactions, while blood tests involve taking blood samples from you in order to search for antibodies related to those allergens; you’re more likely to have one if someone in your family suffers from eczema, asthma or certain genes; milk, eggs, wheat and soy allergies usually resolve by childhood, while peanuts tree nuts fish or shellfish allergies tend to remain throughout life.
Diagnosis
Food allergies occur when the immune system mistakenly interprets certain proteins found in certain foods as harmful, leading it to produce antibodies and release chemicals which cause symptoms that range from mild to severe. Anaphylactic shock may result in life-threatening reactions; injections of adrenaline (Adrenaclick, Auvi-Q or EpiPen) should be given in such instances.
Your child’s healthcare provider can diagnose food allergies through a physical exam and detailed health history review, including an inventory of foods they are allergic to and when and how often they ate them, along with any associated symptoms. They may also ask if any other allergies exist such as hay fever or asthma as well as whether anyone else in their family suffers from such reactions.
Allergists typically rely on skin tests and blood tests to diagnose food allergies. A skin test involves applying liquid extracts from potential allergens to the arm or back and pricking it, watching for reddish bumps known as wheals to form on either arm. Blood tests may also be helpful but are less accurate; an oral food challenge conducted under medical supervision may also provide confirmation.
Treatment
Allergy medications may provide temporary relief, but in order to prevent severe and life-threatening allergic reactions it’s vital that food allergens be avoided altogether. When attending your allergy appointment make sure you share all relevant food allergy history information with the care team. Tell them which foods seem to cause problems for you, when and for how long symptoms appear, as well as which nonprescription antihistamines and other medications could help control them. Your allergist may suggest an oral food challenge to determine whether you truly have an allergic response to certain foods. This test, administered only with medical supervision in an environment stocked with emergency medication, involves gradually increasing amounts of the suspected trigger food over a series of tests conducted under medical supervision and with emergency supplies on hand.
Your provider may recommend auto-injectors such as EpiPen(r) or Auvi-Q(r) to treat severe reactions such as anaphylaxis. It’s essential that these medications be readily available at all times and you understand when and how to use them, since Epinephrine can quickly reverse life-threatening reactions that arise within minutes after food allergy triggers. Other treatments being studied include oral immunotherapy and sublingual immunotherapy – two approaches in which you swallow liquid or tablet doses of your allergen in order to desensitize yourself to it – speak to Mayo Clinic care team about these possibilities and receive advice regarding these options from their team.
Prevention
Though there is no cure for food allergies, preventive measures can still be taken. The key is avoiding those foods which trigger an allergy; that doesn’t just mean being cautious at restaurants but reading labels carefully as well. Be wary that allergens can hide under different names, while cross-contamination occurs often in kitchens; making sure all surfaces, cooking utensils and cutting boards used during an allergen-free meal have been thoroughly washed can reduce cross-contamination risks as can avoiding buffet-style or unpackaged foods – more likely to contain hidden allergens!
Food allergies are on the rise and we don’t fully understand why. But genes and environmental factors both play a part. Children born through C-section are more likely to develop food allergies compared to those who gave birth naturally; additionally, bacteria that is present during delivery could alter how our immune systems responds to certain allergens.
Doctors should provide individuals with food allergies with instruction on how to read food labels and recognize early symptoms of anaphylaxis or severe asthma attacks (hives). It is also advisable that those living with food allergies carry emergency epinephrine auto-injectors at all times for use if a severe reaction does occur, in case one arises; school staff, friends, and family should all have written emergency action plans that outline appropriate responses if a severe reaction happens.
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