Food Allergy - Symptoms And Cautions

In previous article about an introduction to allergies, we saw how failure of our body’s immune system in differentiating harmful and harmless elements/substances for our body causes reaction against the potentially harmless elements/substances leading to an uncomfortable condition called allergy. We also learned how the antibodies IgE (also called Immunoglobulin) are mainly associated with the allergic reactions.

In this article we will learn about one of the most common types of allergy called food allergy. At least 2% to 3% of world’s population suffers from some kind of food allergy. (The statistic might change with time with consideration in fact that countries like America has more than 5% children and 2 to 3% adults suffering from food allergies)

What is food allergy?
As mentioned above, in food allergy some specific food substance causes reaction in our body. Our immune system starts showing abnormal response and fails to recognize the harmless food substance. It interprets the substance’s existence in our body in similar fashion as it interprets the existence of virus, bacteria or any other foreign substance and starts taking action against the harmless substance.

What are the symptoms of food allergy?
As food allergy or hypersensitivity is caused due to the immune system, most of the symptoms include reactions related to our nervous system. Some of the symptoms are as given below:

• People might start vomiting after eating the food that causes allergy to their body
• The reaction might lead in sudden raise of itchy hives on the skin making the patient irritatingly scratch the skin.
• The reaction also may lead to swelling in different organs of the body. The organs may also get damaged worsening the situation further.
• Some people experience problems related to respiratory and digestive systems.
• Along with the above mentioned symptoms, people also experience nausea, cough, wheezing, diarrhea, metallic taste and problems with throat, and stomach problems.
• If the condition is more serious, people may experience anaphylactic reaction of varying intensity (which can be very mild to life threatening) in their bodies in or across the various organs. The anaphylactic reaction is a very severe and sudden reaction in which multiple problems may occur which includes all the above mention symptoms and low blood pressure, breathing problem etc.

What are the common food substances causing food allergy?
The most common foods which cause allergy in people are:

• Milk
• Peanuts
• Tree nuts
• Fish
• Lobster
• Crab
• Egg
• Soy
• wheat
• Shrimp
• Shellfishes

Although, any type of food can cause allergy in people, generally foods like fish, crab, lobsters, various types of tree nuts, and shellfish etc. causes allergies in adults. And egg, soy, milk, peanuts etc. food is a common cause of allergies in children.

How do I find out if I have food allergy?
After eating some food, if you experience any of the symptoms enlisted above then you should first carefully check if you have food allergy. Some times it might happen that something you eat may contain more than one type of food, which might lead to confusion in deciding which food you are allergic to. In this case you should be careful enough not to eat anything among the ingredients of what you had eaten and should avoid eating anything till you don’t consult a good physician.

What are the possible diagnostic tests and treatments available?
Your doctor might ask you about the various symptoms that you experienced and also may enquire about the food that you had eaten. Your doctor may also ask you about your past history of allergies or symptoms that you might have experienced previously.

Your doctor may decide to go for some diagnostic tests like skin test, blood test or even try to test the allergic reaction by making you eat very small quantity of the food you had consumed. These diagnostic tests can uncover the allergic condition and the food to which you are allergic.

Based on the results of diagnostic tests, your doctor might prescribe you certain medications or suggest you some schedule that you need to follow in order to avoid any more complications of food allergy.

Besides following the medication, you also need to be very careful about what you eat. You should never take a chance with the food that you are allergic to. Remember, your body might only show mild reactions to the food you are allergic but it also can lead to a very severe condition such as failure of organs, unconsciousness or death.