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Allergies to food

from Medical topics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2014

By
Mary Gregerson
Edited by
Susan Ayers ,
Andrew Baum ,
Chris McManus ,
Stanton Newman ,
Kenneth Wallston ,
John Weinman  and
Robert West
Mary Gregerson
Affiliation:
Family Therapy Institute of Alexandria
Susan Ayers
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Andrew Baum
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Chris McManus
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
Stanton Newman
Affiliation:
University College and Middlesex School of Medicine
Kenneth Wallston
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
John Weinman
Affiliation:
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's
Robert West
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London
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Summary

Features

Food allergies are immunologic hyper-reactions to ingested substances considered non-pharmacologic, for the most part. Either the failure to develop or a breakdown in oral tolerance may be at fault in Immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediated allergy while inflammatory mediators are implicated in non-IgE cell mediated food allergies. Some food allergies have a mix of IgE and non-IgE mediation (Sampson, 2003). Generally, food allergies engage multiple classic immune mechanisms found in allergies (see ‘Allergies: general’).

Irrespective of aetiology, food allergies are the number one cause of generalized anaphylaxis treated in hospital accident and emergency (A&E) departments, and cover one-third of the total emergency room/A&E visits in the USA and the UK (respectively, Yocum & Kahn, 1994; Pumphrey & Stanworth, 1996). Anaphylaxis is when the smooth muscles vasodilate and constrict causing vasculature collapse because there is no blood pressure. Unknown, though, is why different individuals respond with different symptoms to different foods.

Food allergies can produce a range of discomfort and disease. Allergic immune dysfunction may create gastrointestinal, respiratory, or dermatologic symptoms like migraine, gluten enteropathy, Crohn's disease, eczema, wheeze, urticaria, irritable bowel syndrome or abdominal pain, and, in extreme cases, systemic anaphylactic shock (Del Rio Navarro & Sienra-Monge, 1993) (see ‘Inflammatory bowel disease’ and ‘Irritable bowel syndrome’). Besides producing discomfort and disease, these allergies can be fatal, and need serious consideration.

Food allergies are different from food intolerance and food aversions (Ferguson, 1992). Allergy requires an immune over-reaction, typically with elevated immunoglobulin E (IgE).

Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 540 - 543
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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