Thursday, May 30, 2013

What are food allergies?

By Arthur Marks


Many people downplay the effects of food allergies as mild ailments, but this is sadly not the case. Albeit some of their manifestations might be tolerable, there exist others that are thorns in the flesh for their sufferers. Thus, it is of paramount import that the public at large to appreciate the various forms which these ailments manifest themselves.

Food allergies often manifest their outward and inward manifestations due to ingesting of some types of food that can possibly be deemed as detrimental to the welfare of the human body. For the most part these disorders trigger the body's immune system to produce antibodies, which happen to be its natural guards against anything detrimental matter found in it. These antibodies react by stimulating the body to produce chemicals such as histamine to counteract the effects of food allergens (the substance of food in the food ingested, or even touched). Such chemicals are often the culprits behind every untoward manifestations of ingesting foods that cause allergies.

It has been established that 6% of the children in the US struggle with some food allergy or the other. As per the statistics gathered by the US's food and drug administration (FDA) some of these "diseases" if they may be termed so affect shocking number of children under the age of 3, and they do not stop there, but also disturb the well being of a significant portion of adults

There is, however, a silver lining to this cloud of shocking statistics in that most of these children usually outgrow these eating disorders. For instance it is noted that out of all children that are allergic to milk, 80% of them shake off this disorder when they grow up. While 2/3 of those who can't eat eggs, and 80% of those who can't partake of wheat or soy foods normally outgrow these allergies by the time they reach 5 years.

However, it is sad to note peanut ailments are apparently very stubborn with a paltry of 20% 0f children outgrowing them. Conversely, there happen to be other food allergies that develop later on in life, and are seldom outgrown. These include fish or shellfish allergies that stubbornly affect the lives of their sufferers.

Some people experience very extreme symptoms, but some are less severe. There is a lot of variety from one individual to the next.

Food allergies often affect some of the most critical systems and organs in the body, which include the digestive tract, respiratory system, and the most prevalent kinds affect the skin. The milder forms of these disorders are often characterized by abnormal swellings, abdominal aches, respiratory problems, and the like.

Other effects can be on the skin; where they can cause painful swellings, the digestive tract; where they manifest in abdominal pains, diarrhea, vomiting, or even nausea. The respiratory tracts; where they cause sneezing, coughing, or stuffy noses, and finally the cardiovascular system; where they cause lightheadedness, or in extreme cases, fainting. Some people develop serious allergy manifestations, which are commonly know as anaphylactic, and usually affect two or more of the above systems, and can be fatal in extreme cases.




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