Posted on 12/22/2004 8:48:11 PM PST by ijcr
A woman with a severe allergy to tomatoes died after opening a tin of spaghetti bolognese, it emerged yesterday.
Raya French, 37, a part-time receptionist from Tankerton in Kent, was preparing dinner for her four children two weeks ago when the tomato sauce in the can sent her into anaphylactic shock.
She was taken to hospital, but never regained consciousness. She was allowed to die four days later after her family decided that she had no chance of survival.
Mrs French developed an allergy to raw tomatoes three years ago, and would come out in hives and suffer asthma attacks. Recently the reactions had become more severe.
Her husband, Stephen, said yesterday that despite what had happened, his wife would still want their children - Alexandra, 15, Tom, 10, Maddison, six, and Louis, four - to enjoy the festive season.
"It's been a very difficult time, but we're working towards Christmas," he said.
Canon Patrick Sales, the vicar of All Saints church in nearby Whitstable, said that more than 300 people had attended her funeral last Wednesday.
"She was a governor at the local school where her children were pupils.
"She knew a lot of people in the community and there was a big response to her death."
Mr Sales said of Mrs French's husband and children: "They have been very brave and positive about all this."
Does anyone know if these sorts of late-onset allergic reactions are on the rise? Any leads on cause? Seems strange to me that someone will become allergic to common foods late in life.
A constriction in the throat is serious, in my opinion. I'm guessing, just because it's common, that you might have a citrus fruit allergy. The oils from the juice probably dissolve in the alcohol, which makes them more easily absorbed through the mucous membranes of the throat--so you have a more severe reaction than if you just drank the juice plain.
This is just my guess.
Even w/o a sense of smell, there's no way I could drink that swill! Because everyone knows I love coffee, you can just guess what I recieve alot of at Xmas. I finally had to be blunt.
Drat! I was hoping for no less than a guffaw.
Barilla Tomato Sauce Can Be Hazardous To One's Health. Film at 11.
I either have the hives/welts, swelling of eyes, throat, tongue, throat and/or asthma attacks and with popcorn, my blood pressure drops in the other deadly reaction.
One learns to cope, I have to wash my hands if I get corn juice, oatmeal or bananas on them and take an antihistamine.
If the hives and welts are too bad or throat/tongue starts to swell it's the antihistamines plus ice water, either applied or drank to reduce swelling.
Emergency inhalers and steroid inhalers for the asthma plus oral bronchildialators if it doesn't stop plus maybe coffee because it has bronchildialators in it plus the heat helps relax the muscles and clear the congestion.
Doc had me on Claritin, I noticed after a bit my allergy to corn was worse so I went looking for the cause. I'd forgotten to check the Claritin label and they use corn starch in their pills.
Those Epi Pens are really a necessity that some people should carry all the time. They offered me one and I foolishly declined. Maybe I should rethink my decision.
I know I used to be able to eat corn bread but then if I ate balogna(corn syrup whic usually doesn't bother me) within the next few days I'd have a reaction.
Now I can't space it out like that.
It's been about 20 years since I've eaten oatmeal, popcorn or bananas so if I happen to accidently eat some I might survive it the first time. When I serve such to family I do try not to touch it nor be around it.
If you have an allergy, it's just your body confusing a harmless substance for a deadly germ and the body reacts the way it does to kill the "deadly germ".
I've heard within the next 5 years they'll have a "vaccine" out that will really be a series of shots to help those with deadly food allergies such as peanuts, etc.
Hoping to get a fresh supply under the tree.
Merry Christmas to you!
There was a nurse that was a regular that would come in to order deep fried clams even though she was allergic to them. She would put her medicine right on the counter to have it handy. I've read that people can crave that food item to which they are allergic.
I absolutely love avocados, bananas, and kiwis. Also milk and eggs, to which I am also allergic.
I just can't risk it. Don't want to kill myself.
>>I am allergic to coffee.
:O Yikes. I just love coffee, and can't imagine being allergic to it. Even started home roasting it recently.
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What is wrong with you people? She was allergic to RAW tomatoes. This was a canned sauce. Obviously, she didn't think it was the same. Not too smart, but not a conspiracy.
Many of the allergy-causing chemicals are airborne. This is why peanuts and peanut by products can be so dangerous. Of course, there is still "ingestion" but only of a small (but fatal) amount through the nose.
Me and my brother love coffee too. Got him a home roasting machine for Christmas with some unroasted coffee beans. :-)
Thankfully everyone in our family knows we hate flavored coffee.
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but it is not possible to have this sort of reaction from a skin contact with an allergen...IS IT????
Pasta la vista, baby.
One reason that the late-onset allergies are happening is that more people are living long enough to be affected. One goes through chemical changes as one ages.
LOL!!!
Who could forget the lyrics???
Attack of the killer tomatoes! Attack of the killer tomatoes!
They'll beat you, bash you, squish you, mash you
Chew you up for brunch and finish you off for dinner or lunch!
They're marching down the halls - They're crawling up the walls
They're gooey, gushy, squishy, mushy - Rotten to the core
They're standing outside your door!
Remember Herman Farbage while taking out his garbage
He turned around and he did see tomatoes hiding in his tree
Now he's just a memory!
I know I'm going to miss her - a tomato ate my sister
Sacramento fell today - They're marching in San Jose
Tomatoes are on their way!
I have a lot of allergies. The usual - dust, cats, mold, pollens of all sorts. The wierd one is Mountain Dew. And after many years of sleuthing and a particularly bad hive outbreak in college, we have determined that it is the erythorbic acid in Mt Dew, and worsened by the citrus with it. Also found in most cold cuts, which I actively avoid, the 'pink' ones being the worst. I do love ham and turkey, but try to limit. Also as a preservative for some frozen fruits. (My sister doesn't have this.) And of course the antibiotic Erythromycin. It was a combination of lots of orange and grapefruit juice with the antibiotic that led to the giant hive outbreak in college. A few years after that one of the woman's magazines ran one of those 'don't combine these foods with these meds' articles. Don't combine Erythromycin with citrus, 2-3 hours before & after taking pill. The tiniest amount of Mt Dew causes immediate, small amounts of hives, generally controlled by benadryl. My first outbreak was after my 3rd birthday party! Sometimes sausage or bologna causes a milder, smaller reaction, a small hive or 2. I always avoid citrus when I do have ham, mmmm, ham...
And, I just remembered, my sister also developed an allergy to oak pollen around the same time as the fruit allergy, probably related. I will be sharing this info with her. And you have a good point, she's in New England and probably did enjoy the apples for several days. She sometimes picks apples in Vermont in the autumn.
I've heard within the next 5 years they'll have a "vaccine" out that will really be a series of shots to help those with deadly food allergies such as peanuts, etc.
I think I've heard about that, too. That would be a godsend for so many of us!
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