FOOD ALLERGIES

Yihua Magoulas Edu 214 Spring 2014 Professor Jennifer Lara

ALLERGIES
Food allergy is a serious medical condition affecting up to 15 million people in the United States, including 1 in 13 children. Whether youre newly diagnosed or brushing up on the facts, learning all you can about the disease is the key to staying safe and living well with food allergies. What is Food Allergy? The job of the bodys immune system is to identify and destroy germs (such as bacteria or viruses) that make you sick. A food allergy results when the immune system mistakenly targets a harmless food protein an allergen as a threat and attacks it.

ALLERGENS
Although nearly any food is capable of causing an allergic reaction, only eight foods account for 90 percent of all food-allergic reactions in the United States. These foods are: Peanut Tree nuts Milk Egg Wheat Soy Fish Shellfish

SYMPTOMS

Hives (reddish, swollen, itchy areas on the skin) Eczema (a persistent dry, itchy rash) Redness of the skin or around the eyes Itchy mouth or ear canal Nausea or vomiting Diarrhea Stomach pain Nasal congestion or a runny nose Sneezing Slight, dry cough Odd taste in mouth Uterine contractions

SEVERE SYMPTOMS MAY INCLUDE ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING:

Obstructive swelling of the lips, tongue, and/or throat Trouble swallowing Shortness of breath or wheezing Turning blue Drop in blood pressure (feeling faint, confused, weak, passing out) Loss of consciousness Chest pain A weak or thread pulse Sense of impending doom

DIAGNOSIS & TESTING

Skin

prick test Blood test Oral food challenge Trial elimination diet

RESOURCES

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/foodallergies/ http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates /ucm089307.htm http://www.foodallergy.org/ http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/foodsafety-education/get-answers/food-safety-factsheets/food-labeling/allergies-and-food-safety

REFERENCES

Branum AM, Lukacs SL. Food allergy among U.S. children: trends in prevalence and hospitalizations. NCHS Data Brief. 2008;10:1-8. Liu AH, Jaramillo R, Sicherer SH, et al. National prevalence and risk factors for food allergy and relationship to asthma: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 20052006. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010;126(4):798-806.e13. Boyce JA, Assa'ad A, Burks AW, et al; NIAID-Sponsored Expert Panel. Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of food allergy in the United States: report of the NIAID-sponsored expert panel. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010;126(suppl 6):S1-S58. The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network. Food Allergy News. 2003;13(2). Sampson HA, Munoz-Furlong A, Campbell RL, et al. Second symposium on the definition and management of anaphylaxis: summary reportSecond National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease/Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network Symposium. Ann Emerg Med. 2006;47(4):373-380. Decker WW, Campbell RL, Manivannan V, et al. The etiology and incidence of anaphylaxis in Rochester, Minnesota: a report from the Rochester Epidemiology Project. J Allergy Clin Immunol.