Deadly allergies: Food turned poison
Feb 15, 2005
ALLERGY is the reaction of the body’s immune system to a usually harmless substance.
By Paul Semugoma
ALLERGY is the reaction of the body’s immune system to a usually harmless substance.
The immune system recognises disease-causing agents that invade our body. It isolates and destroys them. But this policing function goes wrong, when the body mistakes a harmless substance for an invader.
The system mounts a defensive reaction, harming the body. This is what happens with an allergy. The substance may be in the air we breathe, what we touch, or the food we eat. It triggers a cascade of reactions causing the symptoms in our bodies.
Who is affected?
Anyone can develop a food allergy but children are more likely to do so than adults. People with conditions like asthma, ‘nasal allergies’ and skin eczema are more prone.
Any food can cause a reaction but a few foods cause most (90%) allergic reactions. These are eggs, milk, wheat, soya, groundnuts, tree-nuts and shellfish. The allergy is usually specific to one food. For example, one may be allergic to cows milk, but not goats’ milk. ‘Food intolerance’ is a commoner condition mimicking food allergy.
The most common example is milk intolerance, caused by lack of an enzyme (lactase) to digest a sugar (lactose) found in milk. Symptoms occur a few hours after taking milk and are usually mild. They include gas, stomach pain and loose stools. It is not life threatening.
Allergy symptoms
These start soon after taking the food, within two minutes to two hours. There is an itchy skin rash, with hives and wheals over many parts of the body. Swelling of the lips and mouth occurs with stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Typical ‘allergy’ symptoms like itchy eyes, nose or throat may accompany these.
Symptoms including difficulty in breathing, cough, wheeze and dizziness may be followed by shock, loss of consciousness and death. This is anaphylactic shock and it kills quickly.
What to do
This allergic reaction is an emergency because it becomes worse very fast. Death can occur within the hour. Intervention has to be fast.
As soon as you realise someone is having a reaction, ring a doctor .
Keep the person calm and rested .
An anti-histamine tablet like Piriton(r), a cool shower or cool compresses may help mild symptoms
Severe symptoms like difficulty in breathing mean you have to get the person to hospital immediately. Do not delay, and do not let him drive.
At the hospital, you will be given drugs to reverse the reaction. You may be held for a few hours to make sure that the condition does not return.
Afterwards
Once a person has reacted to a food, that food should be eliminated from his or her diet. It can now kill him.
You should also be prepared in case he takes the food accidentally. Your doctor may advise that you have an adrenaline injection kit nearby, just in case.
Generally, many children ‘outgrow’ food allergies. This is more likely if the food is excluded from the child’s diet for some years. Lots of people have allergies for their lifetime.
Any allergy, especially a food allergy, can be a very serious condition. It should not be under-estimated. Recognising the allergy and excluding the offending food is the best protection.
The writer is a medical doctor
ALLERGY is the reaction of the body’s immune system to a usually harmless substance.
The immune system recognises disease-causing agents that invade our body. It isolates and destroys them. But this policing function goes wrong, when the body mistakes a harmless substance for an invader.
The system mounts a defensive reaction, harming the body. This is what happens with an allergy. The substance may be in the air we breathe, what we touch, or the food we eat. It triggers a cascade of reactions causing the symptoms in our bodies.
Who is affected?
Anyone can develop a food allergy but children are more likely to do so than adults. People with conditions like asthma, ‘nasal allergies’ and skin eczema are more prone.
Any food can cause a reaction but a few foods cause most (90%) allergic reactions. These are eggs, milk, wheat, soya, groundnuts, tree-nuts and shellfish. The allergy is usually specific to one food. For example, one may be allergic to cows milk, but not goats’ milk. ‘Food intolerance’ is a commoner condition mimicking food allergy.
The most common example is milk intolerance, caused by lack of an enzyme (lactase) to digest a sugar (lactose) found in milk. Symptoms occur a few hours after taking milk and are usually mild. They include gas, stomach pain and loose stools. It is not life threatening.
Allergy symptoms
These start soon after taking the food, within two minutes to two hours. There is an itchy skin rash, with hives and wheals over many parts of the body. Swelling of the lips and mouth occurs with stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Typical ‘allergy’ symptoms like itchy eyes, nose or throat may accompany these.
Symptoms including difficulty in breathing, cough, wheeze and dizziness may be followed by shock, loss of consciousness and death. This is anaphylactic shock and it kills quickly.
What to do
This allergic reaction is an emergency because it becomes worse very fast. Death can occur within the hour. Intervention has to be fast.
At the hospital, you will be given drugs to reverse the reaction. You may be held for a few hours to make sure that the condition does not return.
Afterwards
Once a person has reacted to a food, that food should be eliminated from his or her diet. It can now kill him.
You should also be prepared in case he takes the food accidentally. Your doctor may advise that you have an adrenaline injection kit nearby, just in case.
Generally, many children ‘outgrow’ food allergies. This is more likely if the food is excluded from the child’s diet for some years. Lots of people have allergies for their lifetime.
Any allergy, especially a food allergy, can be a very serious condition. It should not be under-estimated. Recognising the allergy and excluding the offending food is the best protection.
The writer is a medical doctor