Health Network News

Food allergies are quite common in both adults and children, perhaps more so in children, but far from rare in adults as well. A food allergy is where the body has a bad reaction i.e. stomach ache, closing of the throat, skin rash etc. to a certain type of food. The most common foods that children have allergies to are milk, peanuts and eggs and for adults it’s fish, eggs, peanuts, shellfish and fish.

People can have all kinds of reactions to foods that they are allergic to, ranging from nausea and sickness to swelling throats and rashes and everything in between. However, there are some cases where if left untreated for too long, nothing can be done, and the allergy results in death.

There are a few allergies that are extremely common, and these are to dairy products, eggs, peanuts, tree nut, seafood, shellfish, wheat and soy. These are referred to as the “big 8″. The allergens in each of these foods (as with all foods) vary from country to country because of the differing environments that the food is grown in.

Skin prick testing is the most common method to confirm if there is a person has an allergy to a certain type of food. Blood tests are another common method that allergists use to confirm the whether or not a given patient has an allergy to a particular food that he or she has eaten.

When someone is having a serious allergic reaction the best drug to use is usually epinephrine applied using an auto-injector, this helps them to overcome the systemic reaction. However, as far as a permanent cure to allergies goes, there is no long term solution, the only way to avoid the reaction is to avoid the food that causes it. It is unfortunate, but that’s just the way it is. People who already suffer from a disease of some kind have been found to be more prone to developing these allergies.