Comments on: Have No Fear, Food Allergy Prevention is Here!

By: Leyla

Leyla — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 16:00:04 +0000

This is a fascinating post, Alice. Your article and the comments got me wondering what the difference is between food allergies and food intolerances, because I know multiple people with lactose intolerance. Apparently, the immune system response triggered by your body in a food allergy is different from the response your body has in the case of an intolerance. In food intolerance, your body’s digestive system is responding rather than your immune system. I was also very surprised to find that food intolerances are a lot more common than allergies, and about 10% of Americans have lactose intolerance, specifically.

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/foods-allergy-intolerance

By: Jessica K.

Jessica K. — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 02:21:34 +0000

Interesting post, Alice! As some other people have previously mentioned, I also know someone who has a disease where allergic reactions play part in almost every food and are a main issue in his life. This disease is called eosinophilic esophagitis. In order to get his fill of nutrients, vitamins, and other benefits that humans receive from food, he must constantly sip a certain juice. Occasionally, he may be tested to see if there are any foods that he may eat and there usually are a few ( for example, in the past, he has been allowed to eat cantaloupe). This condition often results in heartburn, acid reflux, and difficulty in the process of swallowing and digesting food. This disease is also a very uncommon variation of dysphagia. I also researched some information about food allergies in general. I have found that they are often hereditary and that their isn’t a specific treatment besides avoiding the food that causes allergic reactions.
For more information of eosinophilic esophagitis and other food allergies, check out the links below:

http://www.medicinenet.com/eosinophilic_esophagitis/article.htm
http://www.medicinenet.com/food_allergy/article.htm

By: Monica

Monica — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:18:44 +0000

Alice, this is a great and very informative post. What I really like is how you chose this topic because there are many people around the world that suffer from this. Children typically, have many food allergies and the visits to the ER (emergency room) have been on the rise since 2001. This is good because now children, as well as adults have a new modified protein to stop this. This will definitely decrease the chances of visiting the ER on a frequent basis. There is actually a very weird allergy pertaining to money. This allergy is becoming more common through each generation, and it triggers the allergy dermatitis (http://onlinenursepractitionerschools.com/20-weird-allergies-that-actually-exist/) . This has been a very lethal allergy in fact.

By: Cartland

Cartland — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 03:04:57 +0000

Really good post, Alice! I did some research after read your post.
I find out that food allergy is actually a big problem, especially for kids. And there’s also many people trying to find out a way that can decrease the food allergy. From the article I found, I knew that the environment of the eating place is also very important for kids. If the kids enjoy the food, and have fun in the place they eating, the food allergy may will not be happen to that kid. Also the shape of the food and the flavor are important too. The interesting and delicious food make kids happy, so they enjoy eating food which is a helpful thing.
I hope that there will be less food allergy, and everyone will enjoy the food. Because I’m a food fan too!

source:
http://larchmont.patch.com/articles/on-a-gluten-free-diet-have-a-food-allergy-no-problem-when-you-dine-at-bellizzi

By: Quick Links | A Blog Around The Clock

Quick Links | A Blog Around The Clock — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 01:17:17 +0000

[...] Have No Fear, Food Allergy Prevention is Here! [...]

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 01:04:41 +0000

Alice, what a great post. I was so interested in this particular topic I researched food allergies. I came across a new discovery published today. In a study at the University Ouolu in Finland scientists found a link between food allergies and the spring. The study showed that babies conceived in the spring were more prone to food allergies. The scientists believe the cause of these babies, who were conceived in the spring, having food allergies is the high exposure to pollen and the sunlight. If you would like to see the actual study attached is the link to the publication and the report on the study:
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/644669.html

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 23:11:44 +0000

Really interesting topic, Alice! As a baby I was tested for food allergies and was told that I had none, but for around 2 years now, I’ve been noticing itchiness in my throat when I eat different fruits and vegetables. I haven’t yet been tested again, but I was very glad to become more educated about allergies by reading your article. I further researched peanut allergies and found that allergic reactions occur when the body is tricked into believing that something in our food is harmful and therefore our body produces antibodies called immunoglobulin E or IgE. IgE causes a chemical called histamine to be released and histamine can cause wheezing, itchy hives, swelling, and other allergic reactions. Anaphylaxis can be the result of severe peanut or nut allergies and results in the swelling of airways and a drop in blood pressure. This has been known to be deadly, and people with peanut allergies, or any allergy for that matter, should be fairly cautious.

http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/nutrition/nut_allergy.html

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 22:50:51 +0000

Nice post Alice! When I saw the title of this post on the homepage, it caught my eye, because in my family there is sometimes a problem of food reaction from shellfish, so this made me curious. When you told us the statistics of how many people have food reactions i was amazed! I 100% agree with you that this epidemic is unbelievable, and should be focused on more. Luckily for us Shau-Ku Huang took matters into her own hands, and now we have knowledge of a way to cure this food reaction. I did some research and found out that it isn’t just the food that is giving us this reaction. Food is combinded with many chemicals, so maybe if people stop mixing so many chemicals, the reaction rate would go down. The link below shows some of the top chemicals mixed into our food.

http://www.foodreactions.org/forum/viewtopic.phpt=2831&sid=2472a3cdddad13e91d850f6055180537

By: Taylor

Taylor — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:33:48 +0000

Awesome post Alice! Personally, I love how you chose this topic, mostly because I’m very interested in rats. I did some research to see if there are any other animals being tested for food allergies, and to no surprise I found that dogs are as well. Supposedly, they have reactions to the dry dog food they are fed, and often try to avoid eating it. Symptoms include: tearing, hair loss, hotspots, excessive scratching, etc. It has also been thought that lambs suffer from similar types of symptoms from the food they are eating as well. For further information, here’s a great website: http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/medical/canine-allergies.html

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:20:54 +0000

That’s pretty interesting, but did you know that your doctor can give an allergy test that can determine if you have allergies to over 50 things. It’s basically a large amount of needles coated with a small amount of the product. If you start to itch at the specific spot that means you are allergic to the product. It tests environmental and food allergies. It’s been out for a while and it’s a simple painless test and has been used for a long time.

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/allergy-tests