Table of Contents
What is a food allergy
A food allergy is a disease when an immune system response occurs immediately after eating a certain food, even though only a very small amount of the allergen is consumed.
Food allergies affect about 6-8% of all children under 3 and over 3% of all adults.
Additionally, a food allergy can be a chronic or acute illness where mild symptoms can also be a rash, digestive upset, or swelling of the airways more severe than directly life-threatening anaphylaxis.
How does food allergy happen?
Imagine that, if it is functioning normally, when the immune system detects a virus entering the body, it will immediately produce specific antibodies (i.e. immunoglobulins E and often abbreviated as IgE) against it.
Obviously, this is a very positive response that is essential for the body to survive and develop healthily.
However, when our immune system is mistakenly determined that something in the food we eat is the same harmful agent as the aforementioned virus, bad luck occurs. It’s a food allergy.
However, if the first time you eat food containing your allergen, your immune system will react only by generating specific antibodies to fight against this substance (i.e. the corresponding IgE immunoglobulins), then these IgE antibodies. attach themselves to the surface of special cells called mast cells which can be distributed to all tissues in the body, especially places like the nose and throat, lungs, skin, and gastrointestinal tract, and so they wait!
It is only when you eat this food again that the allergen in this food in addition to stimulating the immune system to produce a lot of specific IgE antibodies is the same as on the first exposure, the phenomenon particularly serious now is that it interacts with the IgE antibodies currently located on the surface of the aforementioned mast cells and activates these cells to release chemicals with inflammatory properties like histamine, prostaglandins and leukotrienes etc. These are powerful active ingredients which can affect the skin, respiratory system, digestive system, or cardiovascular system and hence these reactions cause symptoms of food allergy.
The allergy symptoms depend on where the said inflammatory substances are released in the body. If they form on the skin, you may develop a rash or swelling. If they form in the ears, nose, or throat, you may experience itchy nose and mouth, or difficulty breathing and swallowing. And, if they form in the gastrointestinal tract, you may experience stomach pain, stomach pain or diarrhea, etc.
In addition, it is also important to note that the immune system does not react against all the ingredients of the food, never against sugar or fat, but against some nature of a protein nature.
Allergenic proteins are commonly found in the following foods:
Fish, eggs, shellfish such as shrimp, lobster and crab, tree nuts, walnuts, pecans, peanuts and certain grains including wheat, etc.
In fact, the manifestations of a food allergy are easy to confuse with other disorders such as food intolerance, food poisoning or the availability of other medical conditions in the body etc. Among them, a food allergy is directly linked to the immune system and can have the most serious consequences. Other disorders can include:
Food intolerance due to the lack of an enzyme essential for the complete digestion of food. For example, in lactose intolerance, as discussed in our previous conversation, a lactase deficiency reduces the ability to digest milk sugar, causing bloating, diarrhea, and cramping.
- Food poisoning: In this case, the harmful agents are of course toxins which cause poisoning for the body. And in fact, the symptoms of food poisoning are in many cases the same as those of a food allergy.
- Sensitive to food additives. Sulphites commonly used in canned dried fruit, for example, can trigger asthma attacks in sensitive people.
- The toxicity of histamine (the substance just mentioned above) in frozen fish that are not properly preserved such as mackerel and tuna increases the risk of poisoning.
And, people with celiac disease (as discussed in the previous lecture) are susceptible to gluten allergy when consuming foods containing this ingredient etc.
However, if you have been determined to have a food allergy you need to be extra vigilant, if any of the following symptoms appear you should think about a food allergy first.
Symptoms of Food Allergies
Symptoms that indicate the body is allergic usually appear a few minutes to about 2 hours after consuming the allergen.
Some of the typical signs below will help you recognize a food allergy, including:
- Tingling in the nose and nose
- Rashes, hives, eczema cause itching and discomfort
- Swelling of the lips, face, tongue and throat or other parts of the body
- Wheezing, stuffy nose, or difficulty breathing
- Abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting
- Dizziness, vertigo or even fainting
The severity of allergic reactions to food varies from person to person, which may only be uncomfortable for one person, but can be serious or even fatal in case of anaphylaxis.
In case of anaphylaxis, urgent treatment is needed to avoid coma or death. Symptoms of anaphylaxis include:
- Swollen throat
- The airways are narrowed and constricted
- Severe decrease in blood pressure
- Fast pulse
- Dizziness, lightheadedness, or loss of consciousness.
By the way, I would like to highlight a few things to note about anaphylaxis:
Anaphylaxis usually has very pronounced symptoms and often has more than one system involved among organ systems such as the skin, respiratory tract, digestive system and cardiovascular system.
Anaphylactic reactions are often accompanied by a drop in blood pressure, and it is because of the hypotension that the patient loses consciousness, has cardiac arrhythmias and even dies.
As in the previous conversation, there are many cases where consuming allergenic foods and exercising can cause allergic reactions such as itching, head turns, and even many cases. Therefore, if you are a food allergic person, in addition to avoiding the allergenic foods you are familiar with, you should only exercise at least 2 hours after meals to avoid the risk of speaking.
So who is at high risk for food allergy?
Who is at risk for food allergy:
A food allergy is very common and can occur in any age group or gender. Factors that increase your risk of food allergy include:
- Genetics: If a parent has a simultaneous food allergy, their children are more at risk than other children.
- Age: Children, especially toddlers and infants, have a higher risk of allergies than adults due to low resistance and an incomplete immune system. Children are often allergic to shrimp, crab, cow’s milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and wheat.
- Environment: Pollution of water sources, air pollution, the living environment with infectious diseases and pollution of houses, utensils, etc. are also factors that cause food allergies in some people.
- Toilet. Poor eating habits or poor lifestyle habits also increase the risk of food allergies.
- History of other allergic diseases. If you have hay fever or eczema, there is also a risk of food allergy.
- Medical history related to asthma, eczema, rash or allergy. In it, people with food allergies often suffer from asthma. When the two diseases appear together, the symptoms usually worsen.
- And, medicine has also recorded the case of a 42-year-old woman who does not have a food allergy but after receiving a liver transplant a person with a peanut allergy becomes a peanut allergy.
Prevent and treat food allergies
First of all, you should know that there is currently no known treatment to eliminate food allergies. All the measures described below are only recommended for the treatment of allergic reactions as well as some precautionary measures.
To deal with food allergy situations, you should consult your doctor so that you can take a number of medications such as:
- Over-the-counter drugs or antihistamines (such as chlopheniramine, alimerzine, cyclizine, meclizine, terfenadine, astemizol …): Quickly reduce symptoms in mild cases.
- Bronchodilators (such as salmeterol, inhaled salbutamol): Reduce bronchospasm, make it easier for the patient to breathe.
- Corticosteroids (inhaled: beclomethazone, fluticazone; sprays: mometason, budesonide): help fight inflammation, reduce edema, reduce bronchospasm.
And you can also wear a MedicAlert® bracelet. This bracelet indicates the nature of your food allergy. It informs those around you and is very useful in emergency situations.
More serious than emergency medical intervention for anaphylaxis, you can take a backup epinephrine injection device with you in case you need it. Epinephrine has been produced synthetically since 1900, it is used in the form of an injectable and injectable solution in the external muscle of the thigh. In North America, there are two brands of epinephrine auto-injectors on the market: Epipen®, which contains a single dose, and Twinject®, which contains two doses. You should talk to your doctor to find out the details on the use and dosage that are right for you.
However, the most important thing for you, as well as for anyone, once identified as having a food allergy is to take good precautions, and to prevent food allergic reactions requires constant vigilance and thoroughness. Because even a very small amount of food can cause a reaction. You should avoid foods containing allergenic ingredients. Check food labels carefully to make sure they do not contain allergenic ingredients. Let those around you know that you are a food allergist. Eliminate sources of household contamination from cooking utensils and utensils. Be careful when taking your meals. You should inform the restaurant staff of the foods that cause your allergies and the extent of the allergies, if any.
Finally, fitness is essential for everyone and is especially essential for people with food allergies where one of the most important goals of exercise is to build resistance and improve digestion. In yoga, there are also many excellent exercises that are useful for the sick, you can learn, consult and practice!
I wish you good health, goodbye and see you soon!
