A food allergy It is something unpredictable and can happen at any stage of life. Even those who have never had an allergic reaction to eating a certain food may develop an allergy at some point later, especially when it comes to shellfish or foods recently introduced into the diet.
According to the allergist and immunologist Ana Paula Moschione Castrothis is still a topic that needs to be studied further, starting with the difference between lactose intolerance and food allergy to milk. Let's understand it better below!
Difference between allergy and intolerance
Ana Paula used lactose intolerance and milk allergy to explain the difference between the problems. According to her, allergies are triggered by the immune system, with milk proteins, such as casein, for example, being the ones that most bother the immune system. This triggers a response (which can be serious) that can even lead to anaphylaxis.
“The symptoms are varied, such as redness of the skin, shortness of breath and bleeding in the stool, and are more common in childhood and can be cured in adulthood. In addition, allergic reactions usually appear with small amounts of milk,” she points out.
When there is intolerance to lactose, which is the sugar in milk, the symptoms are gastrointestinal and occur most often in adults, with a tendency to remain for the rest of one's life.
“Difficulty digesting milk, a feeling of bloating, gas and diarrhea are some of the signs of intolerance. However, unlike an allergic reaction, intolerance does not present a risk of death,” he explains.
The professional advises that if you suspect that your child is allergic to milk protein, do not take the food away from the child, but rather seek a diagnosis from a specialist, so as not to cause a nutritional deficiency. Furthermore, it may not be an allergy, but rather another issue that needs to be evaluated.
Food allergy diagnosis
The diagnosis of food allergy, according to the allergist and immunologist, requires careful investigation.
“It depends on the clinical history carefully assessed by the allergist, combined with physical examination data, which can be complemented by the oral provocation test, considered the gold standard for diagnosis,” explains Ana Paula. “It is important to note that tests for detecting IgG for food proteins, which are commercially available, do not constitute a diagnosis of food allergy. A great deal of discretion is required for this diagnosis,” she warns.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that people with rhinitis, asthma and atopic dermatitis are slightly more predisposed to food allergies, but this varies and is not a rule.
So how can you prevent food allergies?
Ana Paula explains that the most severe form of allergic reaction is anaphylaxis, which leads to symptoms such as giant hives, usually accompanied by angioedema (swelling), shortness of breath with possible respiratory failure, cramps, acute vomiting and diarrhea, hypotension and shock, and in a matter of minutes the patient can progress to death.
Therefore, people diagnosed with food allergies need to be aware of their own health and avoid putting themselves in risky situations as much as possible.
With this in mind, the doctor left 5 tips to help prevent a possible reaction caused by food:
- If you already know that you are allergic to a certain food, don't risk it! Avoid it whenever possible;
- Always read the labels of industrialized products to ensure the absence of the allergen;
- Be careful with cross-contamination in restaurants, caused by utensils used with different foods (e.g.: the spoon that stirred the shrimp was used with the rice);
- For those who have previously had severe reactions, always have self-injectable adrenaline nearby, as accidental exposure may occur;
- The allergist and immunologist is the professional who diagnoses food allergies, so always follow the recommendations of a specialist.
