How Do I Treat It If It Happens? Several important steps can protect a patient with serious food allergies from having future reactions. These steps include: 1. Remove all sources of food that the patient...
Almost half of people who are allergic to peanuts are also allergic to tree nuts, such as almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamias, pistachios, pecans, and cashews. People who are allergic to one tree nut...
Over the past 10 to 15 years, researchers have sought ways to prevent the development of food allergy in children. A large number of interventions have been tried in parents who are at increased risk...
No treatment can cure celiac disease. However, you can effectively manage celiac disease through changing your diet. Once gluten is removed from your diet, inflammation in your small intestine will begin to resolve, usually within...
Celiac disease is a digestive condition caused by eating gluten, which is a protein found in bread, pasta, cookies, pizza crust, and many other foods containing wheat, barley, or rye. If you have celiac disease...
Autism is a disorder that affects brain development in children and causes problems with social interaction and communication skills. In recent years, investigators have sought to understand the role of food allergies in causing or...
Injectable dye, also referred to as radiocontrast media (RCM), is used in a wide variety of x-ray studies, including angiograms, computed tomography (CT) scans, and intravenous pyelograms. Reactions to RCM have been reported to occur...
Fortunately, many of the food allergies that occur in infancy and early childhood resolve spontaneously between the ages of 3 and 5 years. Prominent examples of these foods include milk, soy, and eggs. However, peanut...
The protein most often linked to shellfish allergy, called “tropomyosin,” is found in all types of shellfish, including abalone, clams, cockle, crab, crayfish, lobster, mollusks, mussels, octopus, oysters, scallops, shrimp, snails, and squid. The likelihood...
I am highly allergic to peanuts, and a recent allergy test also showed small reactions to soy and wheat, even though I can eat these foods without developing symptoms. Do I need to avoid soy...
Peanuts are commonly used as an ingredient in a large variety of processed foods, particularly baked goods, ice cream, and candies. As even trace amounts of peanuts may provoke an allergic reaction in a peanut-allergic...
The most important component in diagnosing allergy to a food is the patient’s history. A food allergy is most often suspected when a particular item was eaten prior to the onset of acute symptoms. In...
Heartburn is caused by gastric acid rising up out of the stomach and into the esophagus, causing irritation and inflammation. This condition, referred to medically as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), usually occurs because of loosening...
Certain raw fruits and vegetables may cause patients to develop itching of the lips, mouth, and throat. This syndrome, called oral allergy syndrome, is caused by specific proteins in the foods (including melons, bananas, and...
Many patients experience acute reactions after drinking beverages containing alcohol. In my own experience, the most frequently described adverse effects of alcohol can be attributed to alcohol intolerance, with exaggeration of the expected physical effects....
This reaction could certainly represent an allergic reaction to tuna. Fish allergy, as noted in Which foods are patients most commonly allergic to, is one of the more common foods to which adults become allergic....
Gelatin protein, which is found in Jell-O gelatin and pudding desserts, is normally added to many vaccines as a heat stabilizer. Routine childhood vaccines containing gelatin include MMR, varicella (chicken pox), influenza, and DTaP (diphtheria,...
Vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and influenza are both raised in egg-based cell cultures, prompting concerns about the safety of these vaccines in children who are allergic to eggs. Careful analyses of the...
Most cooking oils that are commercially produced, including peanut oil, are highly refined using a hot solvent extraction method, causing the protein to be removed from the product. Since it is the proteins in foods...
Food additives, including preservatives, flavor enhancers, and artificial colorings and sweeteners, are found in virtually all processed foods. As a general rule, food additives are unusual causes of food-related symptoms. However, in situations in which...
There are no medications or other treatments that increase the amount of lactase enzyme in the intestine. However, gastrointestinal symptoms can be prevented through a special diet. Most people with lactose intolerance do not have...
Most reactions to milk, particularly those that occur primarily in the gastrointestinal tract, are not allergic in nature. The most common adverse reaction to milk, which usually starts around age 7 or 8 years, is...
Peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts, eggs, cow’s milk, wheat, shellfish, and fish are the most commonly reported allergenic foods. Allergy to peanuts, soy, tree nuts, eggs, milk, or wheat often develop early in the first few...
There are two main ways that a food can cause bother-some physical symptoms. The first category is what we call a food hypersensitivity. These reactions occur when your immune system responds abnormally to proteins in...
Many studies have shown that people with allergic rhinitis have problems with mood and energy. In a survey of 2500 people with allergies, nearly 1 in 4 people felt embarrassed as a result of their...