Food Allergies Guidelines

Some people develop various types of allergies to food, being more sensitive to some food products, which have no negative effect on others. The amount of substances from food that can cause an allergic reaction may be extremely small. For example, small quantities of steam resulted from the cooking process, sometimes too small to be detected without specialized equipment, can cause very dangerous allergies for extremely sensitive persons.

What foods cause allergies?

Theoretically, any culinary product can cause an allergic reaction. However, allergies involve mostly, the presence of gluten (viscous protein substance, which is found in cereals beans), seafood, peanuts or soy based products.

Food allergy symptoms

Most patients have the symptoms of acute stomach pain, different kinds of eruption on the skin, bloating or vomiting. All of these symptoms usually occur less than half an hour after consuming the product that caused the allergy. Very rarely, food allergies can lead to anaphylactic shocks, which are manifested by hypotension and loss of consciousness. Such cases represent a medical emergency. One of the foods most commonly associated with these shocks is peanuts, and products based on latex, which cause similar reactions.

Food allergies develop easier in patients who present atopic syndrome, a combination of very common diseases: allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, or eczema and asthma. This syndrome is most often transmitted hereditary.

Food allergy treatment

Food allergy treatment consists initially in epinephrine administration. Because the symptoms may reappear even if the shot was made, the person should go to the guard room every time there is an allergic reaction, even if he feels better.

Emergency medical services should be contacted immediately if the person has had a severe allergic reaction in the past, caused by the same food and similar symptoms.

Emergency services should be called immediately if any of the following symptoms occurs:

- Neck or tongue edema (swelling);

- Aggravate respiration, wheezing or deep coughing;

- Pale face or cyanosis (blue coloration of the skin due to the lack of oxygen in tissues);

- Signs of shock, including:

- Sensation of dizziness or faint;

- Confusion, irritability, sense of impending death;

- Weakness, sensation of thirst, nausea, vomiting;

- Wet and cold teguments and sweat;

- Faint.

If the symptoms get worse, the doctor should be contacted. It is important to identify the foods that caused the allergy, in order to avoid them in the future;

Sources: www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/.../000817.htm, www.romedic.ro, www.emedicinehealth.com/food_allergy/article_em.htm, www.foodallergy.org