Food Allergy
What
It is an abnormal reaction of the organism to a food or one of its components.
It is characterized by its recurrence and the difficulty of identifying the allergen.
Read before
* The mechanism of allergy
What happens
Do not confuse:
* Food Allergy.
* And food poisoning.
In both conditions, there is indeed a concept of diarrhea, abdominal pain and vomiting, but the similarity ends there:
* An allergy is almost always associated with itching and rash. She returns unpredictably as the allergen has not been found in food.
* Intoxication is often associated with fever. It is episodic.
On the other hand:
If for poisoning, the identification of the feed is not too difficult to demonstrate, this is not the case for allergy where it is difficult to disentangle the responsibility a food and that of its ingredients (sweeteners, additives, coloring).
This difficulty sometimes leads the doctor to request an investigation into a rigorous allergy specialist service.
Demonstrations by age
* In infants, allergy is the most common allergy to cow proteins.
* In children between 1 and 3 years, food allergy is due to peanut and egg.
* Before age 15, he 'act of allergy to fish, legumes (soy, peas, lentils), dried fruit (walnuts, hazelnuts), beef, pork, shellfish, mustard and exotic fruits. In fact any product that contains protein can develop a food allergy. The allergy is often associated with atopic dermatitis. Other more subtle signs can be associated: allergic rhinitis, urticaria, asthma or anaphylactic shock, which remains a rare event.
* In adults, the events are more serious and more like: anaphylaxis, angioedema, asthma, eczema, rhinitis.
Demonstrations by food
Eggs
They most often cause facial edema, urticaria, vomiting or atopic dermatitis. The problem when you are allergic to egg, is a tiny bit is enough to cause allergy.
Cow milk
It causes reactions especially during weaning from breast milk during the 2nd or 3rd bottle, the first bottle of cow's milk is actually responsible for outreach. The acute reaction will occur 2 or 3 hours after ingestion, but it can happen when intolerance is simply that the signs are triggered from 3 to 48 hours after ingestion. The signs will mainly urticaria, vomiting with diarrhea, angioedema and anaphylactic shock.
Peanut
This substance contained in peanuts is responsible for all possible types of allergy, with a marked prevalence of asthma.
Allergens
Sesame, snails, celery, tomatoes, kiwi, are frequently responsible for food allergies.
Associations allergens
There are more and more cross allergies are called "syndromes" and involve an allergy to pollen and plant food. The most common:
* Grass-Tomato
* Celery Spice
* Peanut-peanut-lupine or lenses
* Ragweed-melon-banana
It may also be associations with material: latex-food example. The most common kiwi, chestnuts, mandarin, walnut, cherry, melon, strawberry, grape, fig.
Associations with allergens of animal origin also exist:
* Mites-whelks, snails, squid
* Cockroaches-crustaceans
* Pork-cats
* Egg-bird
You refer to:
* Itching, especially in the hour following the meal and increased by an effort.
* Nausea with or without vomiting.
* Some diarrhea.
* An outbreak of hives (raised red patches like nettle stings).
Cabinet
If this is the first episode, the doctor will remove a stomach flu or food poisoning, especially if the symptoms are incomplete or accompanied by fever and digestive problems boil down to a single (spasm, nausea, altered bowel).
It will help each in case of doubt an abdominal ultrasound and a blood count to eliminate an infection.
Once removed these two diagnostic possibilities, the doctor will begin a real investigation and dietary allergy that is most often assigned to an allergist:
* For a careful (what kind of food? What can sweetener or additive?) In which the patient's cooperation is essential especially if the victim of recurrent allergic reactions do not occur necessarily in each ingesting the suspected food.
* The foods most commonly involved in infants are cow's milk and adult types of allergens and food allergens (eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, fruits, seafood, etc..) Conservatives ( slicylates, sulfites, etc..) dyes (erythrosine, tartrazine ...), contaminants (mold, dust, metals, antibiotics, etc..).
* With the application of a battery of tests (skin prick tests or specific assays unit IGE) who are neither sensitive nor specific really.
Treatment
* It is primarily to remove the substance responsible for food (although it should have found).
* This very strict diet is continued for 6 weeks after which we evaluate the result.
* In case of marked improvement, we continue the scheme by introducing forbidden foods one by one. The reappearance of signs of allergy then proves that it is the food that is responsible. It is thus gradually identify responsible for food allergy.
* The reactions can be very violent during the introduction of the food, in some cases, anaphylactic shock, which explains why some reintroductions should be in hospital.
* In the case of special or recurrent symptoms manifested by explosives, the doctor will prescribe anti-histamines and / or corticosteroids.
Suites:
* Excellent when the allergen is found.
* There is no fear of recurrence.
* The precautions are now order food.
* In infants, in the case of an allergy to cow's milk protein, monitoring children is essential.
0 commentaires