Food Allergy  

Food allergy is a condition that causes huge inconvenience and misery to sufferers. The allergic condition could stay with the sufferer for life and can sometimes be life threatening.

What is food allergy? 

Food Allergy is the body’s rapid response to a particular food or ingredient, usually a protein. The immune system reacts to a food it sees as an invader to the body and produces an antibody (IgE) to attack the allergens. Though these foods are normally harmless to most people, it will cause an immediate reaction to people who suffers from food allergies and can be life threatening in extreme cases. The most common food allergies are peanuts, tree nut such as walnuts, pecan and almonds, seafood, shellfish, milk, eggs, soy products and wheat.

Food allergies can affect adults and children though they are most common with toddlers and infants. Most infants and toddlers grow out of their allergies especially to milk, eggs and soy after a year. However, other food allergies like nut and shellfish allergy can be remain for life or it can reappear in their adult life.

What cause food allergy?

Research on the cause of food allergies is still very much ongoing. There is a common belief that sufferers usually have an immune problem. Their body immune system detects what it believes to be a threat to the body, trigger cells to release the antibodies IgE to attack the allergen. Hence whenever the person eat that food that he is allergic to, the antibodies will signal the immune system to release a whole host of powerful chemical including histamine into the bloodstream to protect the body. Histamine is one of the main chemical responsible for causing allergic responses, it contribute to inflammation and causes symptoms such as swelling on the skin, wheezing, itchy nose, trouble with swallowing, rashes, hives, cramps, diarrhoea and on extreme cases, anaphylactic shock. While most symptoms of allergies will disappear when the allergen leaves the body, others can remain for a long time.

People who suffer from asthma, eczema and those with a family history of allergy are more likely to develop food allergies condition. As the IgE levels in a child in highest under the age of 10, there are higher incidences of food allergic occurring. However, most children outgrow their allergies thereafter. Other causes of allergic reactions are insect stings, allergy to certain medication like aspirin and penicillin or airborne particles such as pollen and dust. Sometimes products that contain latex can caused an allergic reaction to the skin.