Signs & Symptoms of Food Allergies
Food allergy is one of the causes of many acute and chronic diseases, so the recent increase in the number of diagnostic tests related to the detection of an immune response to food allergens. Food allergies usually first develop in childhood.
These types are difficult to recognize. Many people have symptoms of allergy to commonly used products, but neither know the measures or know what to do after there is an allergic reaction.
Food Allergies – is any allergic reaction to normal harmless food or food ingredients. Any one kind of food can contain multiple food allergens. Typically, this happens after shortage of protein and carbohydrates.
In allergy, the immune system produces antibodies in excess of the norm, making the organism so reactive that it perceives a harmless protein as if it were an infectious agent. If the immune system is not involved in the process, it is not food allergy and food intolerance.
Instructions
-
1
Causes:
True food allergies are rare (less than two percent of the population). The most common cause of it is heredity. This allergy typically appears in children during the first years of life.
Among adults who believe that they have a food allergy, about 80% actually have a condition which experts dubbed "food pseudoallergy”. Although the symptoms that occur in them, similar to those that are in true food allergy, the reason may lie in simple food intolerance.
Moreover, some people may develop psychosomatic reactions to food because they believe it is their allergen. Though that allergies can develop from almost any kind of food, the most common allergens include milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, soy, wheat and nuts especially peanuts.
Some people develop allergies to sulphites - chemicals used to preserve the colour of food, such as dried fruits and vegetables. -
2
Symptoms:
Allergic reactions usually occur after one or two hours after a meal. But in patients with severe allergies, just a touch or smell of food can cause an allergic response. Typical early symptoms include swelling and itching of the lips.
Irritating foods can cause nausea, vomiting, intestinal colic and diarrhoea after getting into the digestive system. Some patients with food can cause allergic rhinitis, for which the typical running nose, cough and shallow breathing.
Sometimes there might be any delayed allergic reaction - in the period from a few hours to two days even after digestion. Compared with the immediate response of delayed symptoms of allergic reaction is not so pronounced and may include eczema, hives and asthma.
