Whether nausea, itching or headaches: a food allergy manifests itself with a wide variety of symptoms and can be life-threatening in the worst case. Early diagnosis and targeted treatment of this condition is therefore crucial for your health. Our experienced doctors at Avi Medical will accompany you at all our locations.
The clinical picture of food allergy describes unfounded defensive reactions of the body to supposedly dangerous, foreign particles. In this respect, an allergy differs from an intolerance, in which the body fails to process certain substances such as gluten or lactose due to a lack of enzymes.
Food allergy is particularly common in women and children and is divided into two classes. Class 1: This refers to a single allergy to certain individual food components (such as egg whites, peanuts and soy in children, fish and wheat in adults). Class 2 food allergy is a so-called cross-allergy and occurs in people who already suffer from another allergy - such as a pollen allergy. In this case, the body suddenly marks certain foods that are structurally similar to other allergens (such as pollen) as allergens as well. In this way, one allergy becomes two for those affected.
A food allergy can also be both a type 1 and a type IV allergy. Type 1 (immediate type) shows immediate symptoms. In the type IV variant (late type), on the other hand, these show up one to two days after the body has had contact with the allergen.
A so-called elimination diet is used to diagnose a food allergy. In the course of this, potentially affected persons avoid a certain food or food component forat least one month. If the individual's symptoms improve during this period and worsen immediately after consuming the potential allergens again, it is most likely a food allergy. In particularly severe cases of food allergy, just bringing the allergen (such as a peanut) to the mouth is enough to cause symptoms and thus establish an allergy.
Possible triggers of a food allergy are in principle every food and every food component. The most common allergens include cow's milk, wheat and nuts.
Unlike pollen, house dust or animal hair allerg y, food allergy affects more than just the external respiratory system. Typical symptoms include:
