Food allergies

Trainee: I know that food allergy symptoms are most common in babies and children. But can they appear later in life?

Nurse: Yes. They can appear at any age. You can even suddenly develop an allergy to foods you have eaten for years without any problem.

Trainee: What are the symptoms of food allergies?

Nurse: A food allergy reaction occurs when your immune system overreacts to a substance in a food, identifying it as a danger and thus triggering a protective response.

Trainee: But are allergies to food inherited or acquired?

Nurse: While they tend to run in families, it is quite impossible to predict whether a child will inherit a parent’s food allergy or that they will have a similar condition.

Trainee: Anyway, are the symptoms serious?

Nurse: They can range from mild to severe, and are variable.

Trainee: So, they could be dangerous!

Nurse: Yes. The most severe allergic reaction is anaphylaxis, which is a life-threatening whole-body allergic reaction. You feel your airway and chest tighten, which can impair your breathing, cause a dramatic drop in your blood pressure and affect your heart rate.

Trainee: Ok.?So what foods can trigger an allergic reaction?

Nurse: While any food can cause an adverse reaction, some types of food account for almost all reactions. These are eggs, milk, nuts, fish, wheat and soy. Trainee: And how can we detect the symptoms?

Nurse: They may involve the skin, the gastrointestinal tract, the cardiovascular system and the respiratory tract.

Trainee: Yes, but I mean how can they manifest?

Nurse: They can surface, for example, in vomiting, hives or what we call urticaria, that is it starts as an itchy patch of skin that turns into swollen red welts, shortness of breath, repetitive cough, shock or circulatory collapse, trouble swallowing, dizziness or feeling faint and of course, anaphylaxis.

Trainee: And how can we avoid food allergies? Are there any treatments?

Nurse: Once a food allergy is diagnosed, the most effective treatment is simply to avoid the food.

Trainee: So now, how can we medically detect allergies?

Nurse: To make a diagnosis, allergists ask detailed questions about your medical history and your symptoms. Then, they may order skin tests or blood tests, which indicate whether food-specific immunoglobulin antibodies are present in your body.

Trainee: You said that the best way to prevent allergies is to avoid the food. But is there any medication in case of severe symptoms like anaphylaxis?

Nurse: The only medication that is used in this case is epinephrine, that is adrenaline injection, which should be used right away because anaphylaxis can come within minutes and could be fatal.