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Monday 22 July 2013

Why Children and Adults Experience Food Allergy Symptoms

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.

The allergic reactions cause symptoms that can manifest in different parts of the body. Common allergy symptoms may include itching in mouth, ears, and throat as well as skin rash that is itchy and causes redness, a condition known as hives, asurticaria, or nettle rash. Other symptoms may appear as swollen face, eyes, tongue, lips, and mouth roof, a condition known as angioedema.

Some allergic reactions like anaphylaxis can cause very serious symptoms. Allergic reactions from foods arise when the body's immune system attacks proteins in the food. Although the proteins are harmless, the immune system perceives them as foreign substances. The body sends chemicals to attack the proteins, something that triggers allergy condition.

Although any food can trigger an allergy, there are particular foods that are associated with most of the allergies. Children tend to suffer allergies from foods such as tree nuts, peanuts, fish, eggs, milk, and shellfish. Children who have a history of suffering eczema during infancy are more likely to experience allergies from foods. In addition, if the eczema occurs early and is more serious, it increases the likelihood of suffering food allergy.

Allergies in adults are mostly caused by certain vegetables and fruits as well as crustaceans. Fruits like apples, pears, and kiwi fruits are among the triggers of allergies in adults. Vegetables like celery, potatoes, carrots, and parsnip also induce allergy conditions. Shellfish, prawns, crabs, lobster, fish, walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds, and pistachios are other common allergy inducing foods.

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.

To relieve mild to moderate symptoms of allergy, antihistamine medication may be applied as a treatment option. Another medication known as adrenaline is effectively used to treat serious forms of food allergies like anaphylaxis. Since allergy reactions can strike anytime, people who suffer from the condition may be given auto-injector pen device. This device has adrenaline dosages that can be used in case of emergencies when the reactions occur.

Food related allergies mainly occur in children who are below the age of three. Within this age, it is estimated that 1 in 14 children have a possibility of suffering allergies from foods. Many children tend to overcome the allergy triggers from foods like soya, eggs, and milk by the time they attain school age as the immune system matures.




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