Do you develop watery, itchy eyes or a runny, stuffy nose during the same season every year? Do you sneeze often when you are around animals or at work? Have you ever developed inflammation after eating a specific food? If you answered yes to any one of these questions, you may be one of 50 million Americans with an allergy.
It’s not clear why some people become sensitive to certain substances such as molds, pollen, certain foods or house dust or drugs. But doctors know the propensity to develop allergies is inherited. If you are bothered by allergies, chances are someone in your instant family also copes with allergic reactions. Yet, you and your relatives do not necessarily have to be sensitive to the same allergens. You are less likely to inherit sensitivity to a specific substance than you are to inherit the common tendency to develop allergies.
Food Allergy:
Everybody loves to eat but most are un-aware of the fact the food they have can cause allergies. Foods can be tasty and look attractive too but it surely is not worth the problem when we eat such food and realize that we are allergic to them. Food allergies can cause itching, swelling and even death in some cases. Different types of foods can have dissimilar reactions in people. Foods like shell fish, and peanuts are known to cause allergies in many people. It is only after they have eaten it for the first time that a lot of people discover that they are allergic to it. Moreover, people can develop allergies much later in their lives because of these foods.
Causes of Food Allergy:
Food allergy is an un-usual response to a food generated by body’s immune system. Allergies to food are reason when the immune system sets up an attack on specific proteins in certain food sorts. The allergens in food are proteins that are responsible for annoying an allergic effect. They usually can withstand the heat of cooking, the intestinal digestive enzymes and the acid present in the stomach. So, the allergens can simply survive to pass over the gastrointestinal lining, enter into the blood stream, and reach the target organs and this result in allergic reactions all over the body. The mechanism of food allergy is associated with heredity and immune system.
Food allergy is a hypersensitivity reaction, which means an allergic reaction because of allergen is caused, when a human being is exposed to that allergen previously. In the first exposure, allergen provokes lymphocytes to generate the IgE antibody, which is unique for the allergen. Then this IgE is released and gets attached to the surface of the mast cell present in different tissues of the body (generally on tissues of throat and nose, skin, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract). When the person eats the food again, its allergen increases and sharpens particular IgE antibody on the surface of the mast cells and provokes the cells to release chemicals like histamine, which reasons symptoms of food allergy.
Environment Another hypothesis is that stress while eating can reason an allergic reaction to food that is eaten at that time.
Symptoms of Food Allergy:
Food allergies cause skin problems such as hives, rashes, and eczema. Skin reactions vary; mild reactions may involve a small rash or a few bumps, while a serious reaction may includes hives.
In addition to hives and rashes, the skin may swell. This is a potentially serious problem and may spread to the esophagus or throat and affect breathing.
Allergies to dairy products may cause intestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. Since other gastrointestinal conditions cause same symptoms, it’s vital to rule out other possible causes such as lactose intolerance and irritable bowel syndrome.
Sometimes, food allergy symptoms closely mimic a cold and these include coughing, runny and sneezing nose. However, the symptoms do not respond to flu or cold medications. You have to take an allergy medication and see whether the symptoms improve.
How to Avoid Food Allergy:
Learn the labels of the product, because reading the ingredients in any food can reveal allergens that a human being may not have realized were there. Usually, there will be an added note at the bottom of the label that indicates if the food was processed in a plant with other known food allergens, such as soy, nuts, wheat and dairy.
Be sure to wash and clean all dishes well when someone else in the household continues to eat items that someone else is allergic to. This includes silverware, plates, pots and pans, bowls and even cups.
Look for restaurants that supply to allergen free foods. Ask servers for help when picking from the menu. Never be scared to ask a server to make something a special way. Such as, if a person is allergic to gluten, he could ask for a burger with no bun.
Treatment for Food Allergy:
As a basic thing, progressing with a specific diet counts a lot an intervention to food allergy. If the patient is discovered to be allergic to at least a few types of food, then the best way to handle it is by doing away with those offending foods. This is right with the kids who occur to be inflicted with the so called peanut anaphylaxis.
For those people who suffer from many food allergies, the operation of rotation is applied. It means that the offending food must be taken at intervals and that implies to eat it about four up to five days or even longer. The typical case is that suffering from many allergies means that you have similar overt allergies to other sorts of food which are basically thought of to be secure. By eating them in rotation, you will be in a position to reduce your own exposure and the results also and it can help constructor your tolerance for them.
Medicines and supplements are similarly used to deal with the problem with the allergy signs and symptoms. They are able to offer the relief that the patients really need for.
