Food Allergy Research Paper

Food allergy is not to be confused with food intolerance. While an intolerance can leave someone feeling discomfort, an allergy can be detrimental to someone's health from even inhaling a food (“National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases”). There are many types of allergies, all around the world. According to the Center of Disease Control (CDC), over 50 million Americans alone, have some type of allergy. Specifically 15 million of those Americans, are diagnosed with a food allergy. The most common allergies are peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish. What these specific foods do the body can range between a small itch to life threatening reactions and what causes these reactions, has a much deeper chemistry
Food allergies usually occur early in life, when symptoms appear after eating the food (“National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases”). However, food allergies may present themselves at any time. Although family history coincides with food allergies, there still remains no way to predict if the child will have the allergy for sure until tested with the allergen (“The European Food Council”). A blood test is conducted by an allergist inserting different allergen into the body and measuring the amount of IgE antibodies that are produced (“National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases”). This may take several days to complete. A skin prick test has the same method and has immediate results (“National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases”). These tests are very helpful because food allergies can be detected in a controlled environment early on, before an unfortunate reaction happens outside a medical
Some mild symptoms consist of itchy mouth, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, stomach pains, and sneezing. These usually passes on their own, due to the immune system over powering the infection. Not all symptoms can be taken lightly (“Kids With Food Allergies”). Anaphylaxis shock happens in a matter of minutes and is the most severe manifestation of a food allergy (“The European Food Council”). Anaphylaxis shock is a life threatening responding to food that includes swelling, hives, lower blood pressure, and dilated blood vessels. In the worse case, the person having the reaction may suffer from cardiac arrest or suffocate to death, which sadly, is not uncommon. In fact, about 200 people out of every million die (even hospitalized patients) every year in the United States (“The European Food