Allergies may seem quite a nuisance but few know that it is
actually an attempt by our body to save our life! Allergies are
our immune systems response to food allergens that can harm the
body. People can be allergic to a whole lot of things, a wide
range of things in fact, from pollens to cheese, to dust.
Reactions are also wide range. Some only exhibit skin reactions
such as rashes and itchiness while others report on
physiological reactions such as nausea and breathing
difficulties.
Allergic reactions are actually caused by our bodies attempt to
neutralize the foreign substance through antibodies. This
process releases a substance called histamine, which in turn
causes the allergic reactions.
One of the most common types of allergy is food allergy. There
are, in fact, millions of people who suffer from this ailment.
In addition to being largely inconvenient, food allergy can be
life-threatening. Unfortunately, finding out what food you are
allergic to can only be done through the process of hits and
misses. There is no clear cut procedure or diagnostic test that
can tell you outright to what food you are allergic to. And like
the diagnostic process, there is also no clear-cut procedure on
how to treat food allergens. Although there are medicines that
will help ease the symptoms and physiological reactions brought
on by the allergens, there are no drugs that can completely get
rid of the allergy.
Often, food allergens only cause mild symptoms such as
itchiness, appearance of rashes that spread all over the body,
itchy eyes and runny nose, bouts of sneezing and coughing,
vomiting, diarrhea and earaches. While these symptoms can cause
you a day's work at the office, they are not exactly dangerous
to your health. There are allergic reactions though that are so
severe that it will impede your breathing. This occurs when the
mouth, throat and the bronchial tubes swell so much that your
breathing area gets blocked. This condition can be accompanied
by rashes in the body and a really swollen face.
What is really difficult about dealing with food allergy is that
you do not know just how much can you take and how your body
will react when it ingests a certain amount. In addition to
taking care not to ingest the type of food that you are allergic
with, it is also good to determine early on if too much of the
food allergen can cause your death.
Here are some of the common food allergens. Take a look and see
if the food you are allergic on threatens your life...
Peanuts is perhaps the most dangerous of the lot, not because of
the bodily reactions that it can cause but because peanuts are
often used as hidden ingredients in a lot of food mixtures.
Because of this, people who are allergic to it are often caught
unaware.
Another food used as hidden ingredients in so many food mixtures
is soy. People should be really careful in eating foods that
they are not familiar with especially if they know that their
reactions to these foods are severe.
Fish and shellfish can cause severe reactions in some people
including difficulty in breathing and nausea.
Milk allergies are also quite common. It involves an allergic
reaction to casein, lactalbumin and lactoglobulins, which are
all proteins found in milk. Allergic reactions to milk can range
from something as mild as rashes to severe cases such as
wheezing, asthma, rhinitis, pneumonia and anaphylaxis.
About the author:
Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino,
California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines
and provides allergy resources on
www.your-allergy-re
sources.info.
