Doubt Is Cast on Many Reports of Food Allergies

New York Times ^ | May 11, 2010 | Gina Kolata

[decimon]

Many who think they have food allergies actually do not.

A new report, commissioned by the federal government, finds the field is rife with poorly done studies, misdiagnoses and tests that can give misleading results.

While there is no doubt that people can be allergic to certain foods, with reproducible responses ranging from a rash to a severe life-threatening reaction, the true incidence of food allergies is only about 8 percent for children and less than 5 percent for adults, said Dr. Marc Riedl, an author of the new paper and an allergist and immunologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Yet about 30 percent of the population believe they have food allergies. And, Dr. Riedl said, about half the patients coming to his clinic because they had been told they had a food allergy did not really have one.

>

“Everyone has a different definition” of a food allergy, said Dr. Jennifer J. Schneider Chafen of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Palo Alto Health Care System in California and Stanford’s Center for Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, who was the lead author of the new report. People who receive a diagnosis after one of the two tests most often used — pricking the skin and injecting a tiny amount of the suspect food and looking in blood for IgE antibodies, the type associated with allergies — have less than a 50 percent chance of actually having a food allergy, the investigators found.

[fr_freak]

How could so many people be allergic to their environment? It doesn’t make sense.

It's not entirely unrealistic. Only in the last 100 years or so have we had mass migrations of peoples to different regions and adopting different diets than those their ancestors have had traditionally for thousands of years. For example, if you take someone of northern European ancestry and stick them in the US Southwest, they will be exposed to a number of plants and other items that northern Europeans were never exposed to. Likewise for people from dry climates who move to, say, the Pacific Northwest where mold rules. Also, diets used to be region specific. Now you can get food from all around the world, year-round.

[murron]

I had gestation diabetes with my 4th pregnancy and wasn’t allowed to eat anything with sugar at all. As much as I had a sweets craving during that time, I was afraid to ingest anything made with Nutrasweet or Equal. It was a l-o-o-ong pregnancy.

[TigersEye]

My DNA traces back from N. America to Scotland/England to Europe to Eur-Asia to Africa. I guess that’s why I’m not allergic to anything. /s

[wtd]

thanks . . .my kids are older (college) and manage to avoid food allergies quite well. The only time we were in a fix was on a flight with Continental Airlines a few years ago. The flight crew distributed peanuts as the in-flight snack. By the time we realized what was on the menu, half the plane already opened their snack pouches. Both boys have always been exposed to peanut butter at home since my second born survived on peanut butter (very picky eater)- though we kept the PB in another room & used separate utensils & cleaned them separately after each use. On the flight, we gave both boys a dose of benedryl and kept their EPI pens handy - just in case - and managed to complete the flight without incident. Not sure what we could have done if either of these two boys would have reacted mid flight and the EPI pens weren’t enough.

[murron]

Have you ever had exczema as well? My sister couldn’t drink cow’s milk as a child, and suffered exczema as well when she drank milk. She still gets exczema today when she drinks milk.

[DBrow]

lol Push the flight attendant button and tell them to do an emergency medical landing. Does not sound like fun, though.

[DollyCali]

bttt

[TNdandelion]

My brother and I have both experienced food intolerances to a certain extent. His is more extensive than mine. For instance, I can eat strawberries without any kind of reaction. But if I eat a lot of strawberries, I’ll have a reaction. I call it an overdose. ;D My brother is more sensitive to citric acid...which is in quite a bit of foods. Sometimes he builds up a temporary intolerance to it. Strange.

[Judith Anne]

Huge allover hives, throat swelling.

[neverdem]

thanks decimon

[Nik Naym]

“He said it was likely “exercise induced anaphylaxis” brought on by mold on the nuts.”

Well, maybe if you were um uh

NOPE not gonna go there.

Perhaps if you washed your uh um um uh

NOPE not gonna go there either.

On second thought, I’m not going to touch this one......

[FTJM]

Agreed. Intolerance and allergy are different. It’s an inexact science to diagnose and treat. A food elimination diet is the best place to start imo. It’s takes discipline to figure it out and stay away from the triggering foods but it makes a big difference.

[Rockingham]

Yup. The elimination diet works but is hard to stick to.

[FTJM]

It can be very hard at times, and so easy to fall out of.

[cva66snipe]

Some likely get mixed up with adverse reactions to food or intolerance to some food additives. MSG is one good for it. I believe food additives are the culprit in a lot of food reactions. As a kid I could eat Bologna and I liked the taste. Even as a young adult same thing. If I eat a half a sandwich of bologna I'll be bent over double now in a matter of minutes and I sure doesn't taste like the bologna I grew up on. Neither do a lot of other processed meats which can do the same. Bread these days has so many additives it will last for weeks and taste like it's weeks old as well.

[DoorGunner]

The basic problem, here, is that certain physicians have been taught/decided that the word “allergy” can ONLY be used to describe one in which ImmunoglobinE is the major player.

It is a matter of semantics, NOT any sort of reality.There are several other immunoglobins, which cause various reactions. They are all “immune responses.” more particularly “Hypersensitivity Reactions.” If anyone wants to know more, this looks like a good start. (I haven't taken the time to read it thoroughly, yet. You could also Google “Hypersensitivity Reactions.”
http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/ghaffar/hyper00.htm

DG

[neverdem]

I went to the doc the next day. He said it was likely “exercise induced anaphylaxis” brought on by mold on the nuts.

Exercise-induced anaphylaxis: Clinical manifestations, epidemiology, and diagnosis

Exercise-induced anaphylaxis (EIAn) is a disorder in which anaphylaxis occurs in association with physical exertion. There is a related condition called food-dependent, exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIAn), in which symptoms develop only if exercise takes place within a few hours of eating, and in most cases, only if a specific food is eaten in the pre-exercise period.

The clinical manifestations, theories of pathogenesis, evaluation, and diagnosis of EIAn and FDEIAn will be reviewed here. The management and prognosis of EIAn and FDEIAn, anaphylaxis caused solely by foods, and the diagnosis and management of anaphylaxis from any cause are discussed elsewhere. (See "Exercise-induced anaphylaxis: Management and prognosis" and "Food-induced anaphylaxis" and "Anaphylaxis: Rapid recognition and treatment".)

I believe it's a decent source, but you have to subscribe. References are linked.

Diagnosing and Managing Common Food Allergies

The second link is to the JAMA's abstract referenced by the NY Times.

[Rockingham]

I screen everything, but food manufacturers sometimes pull a fast one by adding back in gluten containing ingredients.

[FTJM]

Gluten is in everything. Sprouted wheat seems to help.

[Rockingham]

I have wanted to try it, but life is too hectic now to attempt it.