Thursday, April 21, 2022

Do Food Allergies Last A Lifetime? Why Did It Suddenly Appear? Pay Attention To "cross-reaction" And Don't Eat It Wrong!

After eating pizza, pasta and salad, hives all over my body and my blood pressure dropped and I couldn't breathe. It's okay to eat no matter how you eat before, why is it suddenly like this? Food allergies can occur at any time, and it is hard to prevent, especially the dangerous reactions such as anaphylaxis. It is important to understand the causative factors and seek professional treatment.

In order to understand the cause of the disease, you must first think carefully about whether you have had allergic reactions to other foods in the past. If you haven't had a previous reaction to pizza, pasta, and salads, but have had an allergic reaction to other foods, it's possible that the allergy-triggering food ingredient is hiding.

For example, Southeast Asian restaurants crush peanuts on a cutting board, wipe the cutting board with a rag, and then process foods such as onions and bean sprouts to be added to the rice noodles directly on the cutting board. There are no peanuts in the rice noodles, and it also contains some peanuts, so it will cause allergy symptoms.

If you have never had any food allergies before, you have a new food allergy. Allergies have existed for a long time, but under certain circumstances, the human body recognizes a specific food as an allergy-inducing substance (called sensitization), and once the food enters the body again in the future, it will cause an allergic reaction.

"When I was a child, as long as I drank milk or ate eggs, my skin would get itchy and rash, so I couldn't eat it, but after I entered the senior year of elementary school, these symptoms disappeared. Not long ago I had rhinitis. Allergy blood test and the test showed that I am allergic to dust mites, butEverything is fine with food, does this mean that the food allergy has gone away? "

Milk, egg, and soy allergies that occur in young children usually go away naturally as they grow. If there is no abnormality after eating several times, and there is no abnormality in the blood test, it can be regarded as the problem of the food allergy has been cured. However, 10% to 20% of allergies persist into adulthood,

"I'm allergic to shellfish, I suffered from hives and edema a few years ago, and I stopped eating shellfish. I ate it when I recently traveled and didn't know it contained shellfish. , but was safe. In this case, can I continue to eat in the future?"

I used to have food allergies, but after a certain meal, I was fine, can I continue to eat in the future? If you stay away from allergenic foods for a long time, the allergy may disappear, but

Even if you have an allergy, you don't necessarily have the same symptoms every time you eat it. Sometimes symptoms are so mild that you can barely feel them; other times, they can cause extremely severe allergic reactions. Therefore, it is impossible to conclude that the food allergy has disappeared without symptoms after eating. It must be confirmed by repeated ingestion. If the reaction occurs again in the future, it is best to stay away from the food completely.

If you have had an extremely severe allergic reaction such as anaphylaxis in the past, the risk is quite high. It is recommended to consult with a specialist before confirming with an allergy blood test, skin reaction test or challenge test. A food allergy should not go away just because it doesn't cause a reactionYes, it needs constant attention and observation.

Is MSG also a cause of food allergies? It's not a big problem when eating meat normally, but as soon as you eat processed meat such as jerky or sausage, your skin will itch and rash. Is it caused by food additives? It is more likely to be allergic to food additives such as seasonings, spices, colors, preservatives, antioxidants, emulsifiers, and stabilizers contained in processed meat than to the meat itself.

In the ingredients of food additives, a certain substance will stimulate the immune cells in the body to secrete inflammatory substances. Although it will not affect ordinary people, people who are more sensitive to additives may experience hives, rashes, itching, and severe urticaria when ingested. It can even cause symptoms such as difficulty breathing, abdominal pain, headache, and dizziness.

Although these reactions to food additives look similar to allergies, the reaction mechanism it presents is different from the cause of general food allergies, so it is also called pseudoallergen, and it is difficult to draw blood through general allergies Confirmation by test or skin reaction test is possible only by direct ingestion such as challenge test.

"I've had rashes and itching since I was a kid. I started having a similar reaction to crabs a month ago. Could food allergies spread too?" Of course, yes People who are allergic to one type of food may also be allergic to other foods, but this is due to a cross-reaction with the previously allergic shrimp.

Cross-reactivity refers to theThe phenomenon of the same allergic reaction is found on various foods with similar structures. For shrimp allergy, there is a 75% chance of cross-reaction on the same crustaceans, such as crabs and lobsters.

Cow's milk and goat's milk are typical foods that are prone to cross-reaction, with a probability of more than 90%, so of course, children who are allergic to cow's milk and milk powder cannot be given goat milk powder. If you are diagnosed with food allergies, you should also identify the foods that will cause cross-reaction, and then stay away from them.

◎ This article is excerpted from / "Allergy Solutions" ◎ Image source / Dazhi Image / courtesy of shutterstock

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