Differentiating Food Allergies from Other Kinds of Allergies

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One of the most common forms of allergies is an allergic reaction to something in the air. However, this article tends to differentiate food allergies among the other kinds of allergies.

What is an allergy anyway? Allergies occur when the body’s immune system mistakenly reacts to a safe substance the one that does not problem most people. People who have allergies are often sensitive to more than one substance. Examples of air-borne allergens that cause allergic reactions are pollens, house dust mites, mold spores, latex rubber, insect venom, medicines, and last but not the least, the foods.

It should be the virus and the bacteria that the body should resist but allergic reactions are caused by the immune system responding to a false alarm. When a person with allergies first comes into contact with an allergen, the immune system treats the allergen as an intruder, and therefore will make antibody for it. The second time around the allergen comes to the body, allergic reactions will start.

A food allergy may be categorized as perennial or seasonal allergy compared to others that occur seasonally and therefore named as seasonal allergies. It is just that seasonal food allergens can be available all time of the year by the use of genetic modification since people can make derivatives from allergen sources. Perennial allergies like food allergy can occur throughout the year as they tend to be more difficult to be treated.

Seasonal allergies may be tree pollen, grass pollen, weeds, fungi and mold allergies. On the other light, like food allergies, perennial allergies maybe house dust, dust mites, cockroaches, animals, cigarette smoke.

Food allergy, obviously, is not an air-borne allergy unlike the other allergies. But all these allergies occur and appear primarily because of protein. Food allergies may trigger the same reaction as those of the airborne allergies. And therefore that concludes and makes food allergies more dangerous than airborne allergies.

Since food allergies are perennial allergies, they are also regarded as the hardest allergies to treat because they are most likely to cause severe reactions. Although airborne allergies are allergies that cannot be easily avoided, they rarely cause severe reactions and are truly seasonal. There are also allergies that can be triggered by direct skin contact and cause rashes to the allergic person. It is easier to treat than the food allergy because you just have to avoid making direct skin contact to the allergens. In addition to food allergies, there are some kinds of food allergies that can be induced only by exercising and can be avoided by just not exercising after eating.

Airborne allergies directly affect the lungs, making the allergic person/s experience some difficulty in breathing. The same way that makes an airborne allergy has a tendency to cause a fatal reaction. Food allergies also cause inflammation in the lungs and throat that result in difficulty in breathing. Food allergies can be triggered seasonally if and only if the allergen sources are produced in the market seasonally or perennially like airborne allergy. On the other hand, in food allergy, allergens may come from ingredients that are derived from the actual allergen source, which makes the product-causing allergic reactions available even if it is not the season of the allergen sources.

Food allergy’s allergic reaction may include skin rashes or allergic eczema, difficulty in breathing and anaphylactic shock. These differ in any other allergies that only cause either one or two of the stated reactions.

Food allergies may not be as common as other allergies are. There are even some instances where food allergies are mistaken as food intolerance or the like. However, though very little of the population has such, we should always stay vigilant and aware of such food allergies as they can certainly cause severe or fatal reactions. Watch what you eat and stay perfectly healthy.

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