Posts Tagged ‘food allergy’

How likely is it to overcome food allergies in children? A good question, as at least 50% of children who are allergic to cow's milk, egg, soy and wheat will outgrow their allergy by age 6. However, kids with a walnut, cashew, almond, pistachio or peanut allergy have a 20% chance of recovery. As a parent, you're likely wondering what you can do to help your child. In this article, you will learn about some of the most popular tests and treatments for kids with food allergies.

Currently, there are two preliminary tests for food allergies in kids. After going over the child's and family's medical history, a basic physical examination and asking questions about the child's diet, pediatricians generally recommend a blood test. Even though this is not 100% predictive, many allergies can be ruled out this way. During this test, a small amount of blood will be drawn and observed for the presence of IgE antibody, which will reveal an immune system response to a particular food protein. For people with extreme shellfish or peanut allergies, this test is preferred because the patient does not have to be exposed to the potential allergens. During the 30-minute prick skin test, a tiny amount of solution containing a suspected allergen is placed on the skin, which is then pricked to let the solution get below the surface. If there is an allergic reaction, such as itchiness or a bump, then it's likely there is a food allergy.

Food Challenge tests are an accurate and widely accepted way of testing for food allergies in children. The only way to truly know if a child is allergic to a particular food is to have him or her ingest it. Since there are dangers involved with this method, children should only be tested in a clinical setting, where emergency personnel are at hand. Most allergic reactions involve small skin rashes or mild tingling in the mouth, which are easily treated. In rare cases, a child may stop breathing and encounter anaphylaxis. To perform this test, an allergy specialist gives the patient very, very small doses of the suspected allergen until gradual tolerance develops.

Despite the success of the Food Challenge when it comes to food allergies in children, many anxious parents do not want to go through the process. It seems counterintuitive to ask children to eat something that is known to be harmful to them.

However, there are many reasons to go through with the test as well. First, blood test results and skin test results are not very accurate. Another reason to perform a Food Challenge is to see if the allergy has been outgrown. Lastly, a Food Challenge can pinpoint the precise food causing the kid food allergy. Elimination diets can take much longer to yield results. Documenting the degree of sensitivity to the food is the most precise way to uncover the child's tolerance level.

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Tags: physical examination, Baby Food Allergies, kids with food allergies, prick skin test, food allergies in children, peanut allergy, immune system response, peanut allergies

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Most children with food allergies suffer mild but uncomfortable symptoms, such as loose stools, excess gas, diarrhea, constipation, nausea or vomiting. In some cases, blood or mucus will appear in the stools (particularly in the event of a milk allergy). It's not uncommon for kid food allergies to cause hives, ear infections, stuffy/runny noses, watery/red eyes, wheezing, asthma flare-ups, eczema, localized rashes or mild tingling/itching in the mouth. In severe cases, anaphylaxis may occur within minutes or hours. The child may find it difficult to swallow, breathe or speak. Usually, they will begin to panic as they begin to feel their throats swell, and they will turn red, feel weak and may slip into unconsciousness. In this article, you will learn about some of the ways that parents of these afflicted kids are coping.

The most important part of raising a child with a food allergy is to keep them safe. At home, you will need to make adjustments in many of your recipes to ensure that your child does not come into contact with his or her allergens. It's natural to feel overwhelmed and stifled at first, but after a little bit of digging, you'll find alternates for just about all of your families' favorite foods. There are many broad cookbooks, such as The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook, which offers more than 325 recipes free of all common allergens, such as wheat, milk, eggs, corn, sugar and yeast. Then there are also more specifically targeted books, like Amazing Dairy Free Desserts (for a milk allergy), Bakin' Without Eggs (for an egg allergy) or Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread (for a gluten allergy).

Sometimes children with food allergies begin to feel depressed or ostracized when other kids tease them for being unable to eat certain foods. It's important that you sit down with your child and talk about these feelings.

A good way to get into a discussion is to read one of the books written about food allergies. Nicole Smith is the author of several helpful children's food allergy books, such as Allie the Allergic Elephant: A Children's Story of Peanut Allergies; Cody the Allergic Cow: A Children's Story of Milk Allergies; and Chad the Allergic Chipmunk: A Children's Story of Nut Allergies. For other wonderful books to go over with your child, please visit www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/books-child.html. By reading these books, children will learn how to avoid dangerous situations and stay safe just like their favorite characters in these memorable stories.

If you have children with food allergies, then you must be prepared at all times to prevent a food allergy reaction. This can be tricky when you're out and about, but there are some helpful online tools and mobile phone apps to help you.

For instance the "Allergy Companion No Peanut" for the iPhone and iPod Touch will list menu items to avoid at over 50 major restaurants in the U.S. (www.allergycompanion.com). Similarly, you can check fast food restaurants at www.allergyfreepassport.com. Another iPhone/iPod app is the "Pocket First Aid & CPR from Jive Media," which provides you with American Heart Association content and lets you store medical contact information (www.jive.me/pocketaid). A similar (paid) program is Polka Close Call/My Emergency Information, which allows you to store detailed medical information and communicate with responders even if you can't talk (www.blog.polka.com/?p=170). You can search a number of foods and get updated alerts from Food Content Alerts at www.foodcontentalerts.com.

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Food Allergies Can often be Treated

For parents, a child food allergy is upsetting news. How can they protect their child from all contact with a particular food? Where will they find food allergy recipes? What if other kids tease and make fun of their condition? Parents have always struggled to help their children with food allergies that make life much more difficult, but researchers are slowly developing the opinion that small exposure to the allergens will gradually build tolerance in most kids. Children with shellfish or peanut allergies may always suffer, but a number of kids can outgrow their sensitivity to certain foods.

And how about babies and food allergies? Let me tell you the story about the four week old Grayson Grebe. When Grayson started to develop eczema on his cheeks his mother began to feel uncomfortable. She got him to the doctor and two months later he was diagnosed having about any food allergy known today. Greyson was found being allergic to wheat, diary products, egg, bean, oat, rice, barley, peanuts, pork and even chicken. His mother stopped eating these foods but Greysons condition didn't improve. When the boy was 10 months old the doctors had cut out fruits and vegetables and put the infant on a special hypo-allergenic diet.

His symptoms were so severe he needed to wear special mittens, long-sleeved shirts and long pants to prevent him from scratching himself. Once treated at the National Jewish Health center that specializes in allergies and respiratory diseases did his condition improve. The doctors there gave him food challenges, meaning 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."

Food allergies have to be taken very seriously and should not be treated without proper medical supervision. The dangers are severe, and can even result in anaphylactic shock. Therefore you should never experiment with your own version of child food allergy tests.

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.

The most important part of diagnosing a child food allergy is to examine the child's dietary history. "What did he eat? What kind of reaction did he have?" the doctor will ask. Next, the doctor may recommend a blood test or a skin-prick test for added confirmation. "If you come to me and say, 'My child ate a peanut butter sandwich and within 15 minutes, his lips turned blue, he got hives and threw up,' that's enough to tell me the child has a peanut allergy," explains Dr. Hugh Sampson of Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

"The more typical history is that they were eating a meal and he had this horrible reaction and they think it's peanuts. It's important to do a skin or blood test to make sure."

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Tags: Baby Product Reviews, diary products, peanut allergies, hypo allergenic diet, food allergy, test, Dr. Hugh Sampson, greyson, allergy recipes

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