Monday, July 22, 2013

What are the Common Food Allergies in Children and Adults

By Kate Richards


Although most allergic reactions are mild, there are cases where these can be severe. Both children and adults experience allergic conditions but there are those foods that tend to cause allergies in children such as eggs and milk. On the other hand, there are certain foods that are known to cause allergies in adults like vegetables, tree nuts, and vegetables.

These reactions in body cause different symptoms that may range from itchy sensations in ears, throat, and mouth, raised red skin that is itchy (nettle rash), inflamed tongue, face, lips, eyes, and roof of mouth, a condition referred to as angioedema. These symptoms can occur at the same time in various parts of the body.

If the allergy reactions are very serious, they can trigger life-threatening symptoms like anaphylaxis. Allergies occur when the immune system in the body mistakenly attacks proteins found in the food. The immunity function acts abnormally and invades the proteins in food after it perceives them as foreign substances. The body releases chemicals to fight the otherwise harmless proteins and it is from these chemicals that allergic reactions occur.

Many foods trigger allergies but there are particular foods that are thought to cause allergies in most of the patients. Children are likely to suffer allergy when they take food like shellfish, fish, peanuts, eggs, tree nuts, and milk. Food allergy conditions tend to affect children who have suffered eczema in infancy. If a child suffered eczema at an early age and the eczema was serious, it means that such child has a high probability of experiencing food allergies.

Adults experience allergy conditions from foods including vegetables and fruits. Fruits like kiwi fruit, apples, peaches, and pears tend to trigger allergy in adults. Likewise, vegetables such as carrots, parsnip, celery, and potatoes also cause such allergies. Other triggers of allergy in adults are crustaceans like shellfish, lobsters, crabs, and prawns. Tree nuts like brazil nuts, walnuts, pistachios, and almonds also cause the allergy reactions.

It is not clearly understood why allergic reaction occur in people but it has been established that people who suffer food allergies also experience other allergic conditions like eczema, hay fever, and asthma. No treatment has been found for allergy, and one effective way of managing the condition is by identifying the foods causing the symptoms and avoiding them.

Mild and moderate allergy symptoms may be relieved with use of medication called antihistamine. In more severe form of allergy such as anaphylaxis, another medication called adrenaline is used to effectively relieve the symptoms. Moreover, people who persistently suffer from food allergies can obtain an auto-injector pen device, which has adrenaline dosages for emergency treatment.

In children that are less than 3 years, allergic reactions tend to be common. About one in 14 children aged less than 3 years will have one or more allergic responses to foods. Fortunately, many children tend to overcome the allergies triggered by foods like wheat, eggs, soya, and mild before they reach school age because of changes in their immune system.




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