Are You Overreacting To A Child Food Allergy?

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that a child food allergy is more common than they had thought. In fact, in kids under 18, 12% tested positive for a milk allergy, 9% for a peanut allergy, 7% for an egg allergy and 5% for a shrimp allergy. Of course, these numbers may admittedly be over-inflated because their 2005-2006 sampling only showed that the kids tested positive for the presence of immunoglobulin E antibodies, which doesn’t necessarily mean they will have allergies. Additionally, these numbers also include those with digestive disorders (which is different than the immune system response of an allergy). Experts suspect that one-tenth of the children who test positive for the IgE antibodies will have a reaction.

What about food allergies in babies? When four week old Grayson Grebe got eczema on his cheeks, his mother began to worry. Two months later, he was diagnosed with every food allergy in the book, including wheat, dairy, egg, bean, oat, rice, barley, chicken, pork, corn and peanut. His mother stopped eating these foods, but her baby’s condition did not improve. By 10 months, the doctors had cut out fruits and vegetables and put Grayson on a special hypo-allergenic formula. His eczema was so severe he needed to wear special mittens, long-sleeved shirts and long pants to prevent him from scratching. Once treated at the National Jewish Health center that specializes in allergies and respiratory diseases, doctors gave Grayson food challenges — gradually exposing him to small doses of the foods he was supposedly allergic to. “We came home with 12 foods he could eat,” Amy Grebe recalls. “It’s made so much difference in our lives.”

Anaphylactic shock is one danger of this sort of child food allergy test. In rare cases, a child with a severe allergy may suffer low blood pressure, stop breathing, turn slightly blue, lose consciousness and suffer multiple organ failure. Even if a child has only suffered a mild reaction in the past, there is still a possibility the next reaction may be more severe. Unfortunately, there are no tests to determine whether a reaction to peanuts will be a mild tingle in the mouth, a moderate case of hives or anaphylactic shock. On the other hand, being in a clinical setting is much safer than discovering an allergy out in the real world, where medical equipment isn’t ready to administer treatment for food allergy emergencies.

Child food allergy tests have gotten some flack in the news recently. A study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (January, 2010) found that 66/79 children who tested positive for peanut IgE antibodies could eat peanuts safely. Similarly, doctors from National Jewish Health reported that half of the 125 patients given food challenges could tolerate the foods they’d been avoiding for years. Hopefully, there will be new blood tests in the future. Research companies like Phadia AB are looking at tests that can determine which precise molecule within a food will trigger the antibody reaction. For instance, in those patients with peanut allergies, only 3/14 molecules are associated with anaphylaxis.

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Milk Allergy Symptoms

Cow’s milk is the most general allergy-causing foods in kids, and it’s the most important cause of allergic reactions in very young children. Milk allergy has an effect on roughly 2 percent to 3 percent of toddlers globally, and its symptoms and signs may be difficult enough to cause worry not solely for an allergic child, but also for the child’s parents. But the fine news is that most kids outgrow a milk allergy by the age 2 or 3.

Allergic reactions as a rule occur a couple of minutes to a few hours after you eat/dring milk
— but now and again it can be days before symptoms and sign occur. Signs and symptoms vary from soft to grave and can include wheezing, vomiting, hives and digestive problems. Seldom, milk allergy can cause anaphylaxis — a severe, life-threatening reaction.

Milk Allergy Symptoms

Three types of milk related allergy symptoms have been recognized:

1. Symptoms set in at once following ingesting cow’s milk. Reactions generally affect the skin, triggering hives and/or eczema.
2. Symptoms start some hours after consuming cow’s milk. Symptoms of this type are mainly diarrhea and vomiting.
3. Symptoms begin more than twenty hours after ingesting. The key symptom for this type is diarrhea.

Symptoms of milk allergy can affect the skin, causing rashes or hives; the digestive tract, causing bloating and diarrhea, and the respiratory system, causing runny nose and asthma.

Here is a more whole listing of symptoms:

• vomiting
• hyperactive behavior
• diarrhea
• asthma
• hives
• runny nose
• rashes
• stuffy nose
• ear infections
• bloating
• watery eyes
• eczema
• allergic shiners (black around the eyes)
• recurrent bronchitis
• failure to thrive

The above mentioned symptoms are not limited to people suffering from milk allergy. When you get to know food allergy symptoms, you will observe that many foods share a variety of familiar symptoms, such as: bloating, rash, and runny nose.

What is the Difference of Milk allergy and Milk Intolerance?

It is key to tell apart a real milk allergy from milk protein intolerance or lactose intolerance. Unlike a milk allergy, intolerance doesn’t involve the immune system. Milk intolerance triggers different symptoms and requires different treatment than does a true milk allergy. Ordinary signs and symptoms of milk protein intolerance or lactose intolerance include digestive problems, such as bloating, gas or diarrhea, after consuming milk.

Milk Allergy Prevention and Cure

The only way to prevent an allergic reaction is to avoid milk and milk proteins altogether. This can be demanding, as milk is a widespread food ingredient.
Despite your best efforts, you or your child may still come into contact with milk. Medications, such as antihistamines, may reduce signs and symptoms of a milk allergy. These drugs can be taken after exposure to milk to control an allergic reaction and help relieve discomfort.
If you or your child has a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis), you may need an emergency injection of epinephrine (adrenaline) and a trip to the emergency room. If you’re at risk of having a acute reaction, you or your child may need to carry injectable epinephrine (such as an EpiPen) at all times.