Food Allergy Living Blog Tagged Results

In food allergy circles, we usually think of symptoms and side effects as results of food allergies, not the other way around. In most cases that’s true. Science has shown a strong link between food allergy and atopic dermatitis, a form of eczema. Last month Dr. Jon Hanifin, a respected dermatologist, gave a talk to colleagues discussing the link between atopic dermatitis and food allergies. The research he presented suggests that for some patients it may actually be atopic dermatitis that comes first and acts as a precursor to food allergies.

Atopic dermatitis is often one of the first signs that a parent or caregiver notices in their child which helps lead to the diagnosis of food allergy. As Dr. Hanifin explained, about 6-10% of children are diagnosed with atopic dermatitis, and of those about a third will be diagnosed with a food allergy. Which begs the question: If parents notice signs of atopic dermatitis first, and an allergy diagnosis comes later, couldn’t atopic dermatitis be causing some instances of food allergy?

What We Know:

-In cases of food allergy, offending foods cause reactions in the body which involve the immune system

-Immunoglobulin E antibodies (IgE) are immune substances which are normally in our bodies at low levels, but are higher with food allergy

-Allergy symptoms often involve the skin (including our digestive tract, which is like an inside skin), an important barrier that keeps most outside “things” from getting inside

-One factor of atopic dermatitis is “holes” in the barrier our skin provides

What Dr. Hanifin Proposed:

In the past it was assumed that food allergies came first, causing both high IgE levels and atopic dermatitis. Dr. Hanifin suggested that in some patients atopic dermatitis is caused by “gaps” in the skin (likely due to genetics), which means that foreign substances can enter the skin and cause adverse reactions. He thinks it may be proteins that get through these gaps which allows the body to become sensitive to certain foods, leading to a food allergy.

What does all of this mean? The biggest message here is that patients with atopic dermatitis, especially those under five years, should be tested for food allergies. While avoiding food allergens may not help improve atopic dermatitis, it could certainly prevent or improve other serious side effects of allergies. The second message is that more research needs to be done into the causes of atopic dermatitis and its relationship to food allergies. Any research that leads to better health, through reducing instances of atopic dermatitis and/or food allergies, is good research! Tell us about your experience: Was atopic dermatitis the first sign that you saw of your child’s food allergy?

- Rob

This weekend, March 18 – 22, we will be joining the best and brightest allergy and immunology experts at the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) annual meeting in San Francisco, California.

AAAAI was established in 1943 and is the largest professional allergy and immunology medical organization in the United States. With nearly 6,500 members, AAAAI is made up of asthma specialists, clinical immunologists, allied health professionals and many others, all of who have a special interest in researching and treating allergic diseases.

Presenting new advancements and findings for allergy, asthma and immunology patients is the main goal of AAAAI and the annual meeting and we are looking forward to learning from the presentations at the conference. Some of the food allergy-related topics this year include:

• The Food Allergy Guidelines: From Controversy to Consensus
• What is New in Pediatric Allergy
• Activation of the Innate Immune System by Allergens: How Allergic Reactions get Started
• Living with Risk: Quality of Life for Families with Food Allergies

We’ll be sure to keep you posted on all of the fun and exciting things we hope to learn this weekend!

- Sarah

You may have noticed that allergies and asthma often go hand in hand. Roughly, 70% of children with asthma have some type of allergy[1]. So do allergies cause asthma? Or does asthma cause allergies? The answer to both questions is no; one does not cause the other but the two conditions do have a strong connection.

Inflammation & Your Immune System

Allergies and asthma are both inflammatory conditions caused by dysfunction of the immune system. Sometimes they are referred to as “atopic diseases”. The immune system is the body’s defense to foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, pathogens, fungi, etc. When the immune system detects these foreign invaders, it releases cells that seek out and destroy them. Inflammation is one of the first responses of the immune system to infection. Usually, the immune system keeps us healthy; however, a malfunctioning immune system can lead to illness. This is what happens with allergies and asthma.

Asthma vs. Allergies

With allergies, the immune system is hyperactive and produces an unnecessary inflammatory response to a traditionally harmless substance (such as a food protein). Asthma is a chronic lung disease characterized by episodes of inflammation and narrowing of the airway in response to certain "triggers." These triggers vary from patient to patient and may include infectious agents, exercise, stress, pollutants such as cigarette smoke, and common allergens such as cat dander, dust mites, and pollen.

Is there a link?

There are approximately 9 million kids in the US who have asthma[2]. Of this 9 million, about ¾ have asthma that is triggered by allergies. Remember, we talked about different triggers for asthma symptoms (exercise, pollen, allergens, etc.). Patients whose asthma is triggered by allergens are often said to have “allergic asthma”. [3] According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, allergic asthma is the most common type of asthma, affecting around half of asthma patients.

Does Genetics Play a Role?

Atopy refers to the genetic tendency to develop allergic diseases, such as eczema, allergies and asthma[4]. Someone with “atopy” produces certain antibodies associated with allergic disease. Genetics and environmental factors both contribute to whether a patient does or doesn’t develop atopic diseases. Not all people with atopy (that genetic predisposition) go on to develop allergic diseases because environmental factors play a role too; However, they are significantly more likely to. Likewise, not all people with atopic disease have atopy (but most do).

Genetics obviously plays a big role in the development of allergic diseases. If one parent has an atopic condition, their child has a 1 in 4 chance of having some form of atopic disease (not necessarily the same one as the parent)[5]. If both parents have an atopic condition, the child is more than 50% likely to develop an atopic disease.

Hopefully, this information gives you a better understanding of why asthma and allergies are so often seen together. While neither one causes the other, some people have a genetic predisposition which puts them at a greater risk for developing all forms of allergic disease (such as allergy, eczema and asthma). So if you have one allergic disease, you have a higher risk for developing other types of allergic conditions in comparison to the general population.

Have you found this to be true with your little ones? Be sure to share your experiences with us in the comments!

- Mallory

[1] World Health Organization. Global surveillance, prevention and control of chronic respiratory disease: a comprehensive approach, 2007.
[2] The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth^®© 1995- 2010. http://kidshealth.org/.
[3] American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology.
[4] Atopic Diseases in Childhood. Gold MS and Kemp AS. MJA 2005; 182 (6):298-304. [5] The National Eczema Association. http://www.nationaleczema.org/.

I’ve been reading Coping with Allergies & Asthma, a magazine designed to aid allergy and asthma sufferers in taking a proactive approach to improving their quality of life. It’s a great way to get a quick update on what’s going on in the allergy community.

While the magazine has a lot of great content, one article in particular stuck out to me in the March/April issue that I wanted to share with you. The article, “Don’t Let Your Child’s Asthma or Allergic Illness Define the Family,” has a great message for all allergy parents — the emotional symptoms that come along with the physical symptoms of a food allergy can be just as hard, if not harder, to deal with.

The article offers the following tips to keep family allergy anxieties in check:

• Focus on the normal elements of childhood;
• Beware of transmitting anxiety to your children;
• Have one medical hour a week to focus on the allergy; and
• Reserve time for the allergy-free siblings.

Unfortunately, the articles aren’t available on the magazine’s Web site, but a table of contents is. You can see what else was in this issue of Coping with Allergies & Asthma by clicking here.

And to subscribe to the magazine, click here.

-Nita

It’s a new year and it seems not much has changed in the news department — it’s still all about allergies! I just came across an article in Time magazine on allergies and Americans.

The article, called “Have Americans Gone Nuts Over Nut Allergies?” is very similar to the article from the US News & World Report that I blogged about a few weeks ago. This article is a bit different, however, because it covers both sides of the allergy argument: doctors that feel people are too worried about allergies and parents who feel there is never enough attention paid to allergies.

To read the entire article, click here. T

he way I look at it is the more articles that are written about allergies, the more people that are aware of them. And that is always a good thing!

Have you read any interesting allergy news articles lately?

- Nita