Food Allergies Treatment

Over seven million Americans have food allergies and many people with allergies are children. Allergic reactions can be triggered by eating a food or, for those who are very allergic, smelling or touching the food. Eggs, cows milk, peanuts, soy, wheat, tree nuts, fish and shellfish are the most common foods causing allergic reactions, but almost any food has the potential to trigger an allergy. These foods cause 90 percent of all food allergy reactions. Foods most likely to cause anaphylaxis are peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish.

Infants and toddlers are more likely to develop food allergies than older children or adults because allergies usually occur early in life when the immune and digestive systems are not mature. An infant’s risk of developing food allergies is strongly influenced by a family history of allergies. Children with an allergic parent have twice the risk of developing a food allergy than are children without an allergic parent.

It is important to note that children can sometimes outgrow their allergies to milk, eggs, soy and wheat. However, allergies to peanuts, nuts, fish and shellfish tend to persist throughout adulthood.

A food allergy is the result of your body’s immune system over-reacting to food proteins called allergens. Normally, your immune system and defense mechanisms keep you healthy by fighting off infections and inactivating proteins such as food allergens, which could potentially, cause allergic reactions. Therefore, the majority of people develop a tolerance to a wide variety of different foods in their diet.

In the individual with food allergy, the immune system produces increased amounts of immunoglobulin E antibody, or IgE. When these antibodies battle with food allergens, histamine and other chemicals are released as part of the body’s immune reaction to these substances. These chemicals can cause blood vessels to widen, smooth muscles to contract and affected skin areas to become red, itchy and swollen. These IgE antibodies can be found in different body tissues - skin, intestines, and lungs - where specific allergy symptoms such as hives, vomiting, diarrhea and wheezing are observed.

There is no cure for food allergies. Therefore strict avoidance of the foods your child is allergic to is the only way to prevent a reaction. Sometimes, medications such as antihistamines, like Benadryl, or Epinephrine are prescribed.