The Facts About Allergies In Children
Catching Allergies in Children early can help prevent complications later. Learn more below
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What are the Possible Consequences of Allergies in Children
Allergies in children can be hard to deal with. You want to protect your child from the world, but sometimes being right there 24 hours a day is not an option. This is even harder when your child has allergic reactions. Depending on the severity of the allergic reaction, this can be a more serious issue. Knowing the types of allergy symptoms that a child can experience will teach you when you should start asking if an allergy could be causing these symptoms.
A runny nose can be a sign of allergies. It may not sound like much, but if a child is consistently forced to breathe through the mouth during certain developmental stages, this can have lasting effects. It can alter the way some bones in the face grow creating dental issues such as an overbite. Catching the warning signs early on may help you to avoid this.
Ear infections can be another sign of childrens allergies. Allergies in kids can actually lead to circumstances that increase the chances of your child having ear infections. In turn, this can affect your child’s ability to hear. Decreased hearing abilities are especially detrimental while a child is first acquiring language skills. If it is harder to hear then it is harder to learn from what you are hearing. This is another one of the childrens symptoms that you may want to watch out for as it may save you from complications down the road.
Allergies in children are unfortunate but are a fact of life. By remaining vigilant, you can recognize the symptoms and intervene before the problem grows beyond just allergic responses.
Food Allergies and your Children
It is quite possible that your child is eating the wrong foods. The underlying causes of many childhood illnesses and symptoms can be food allergies and sensitivities and parents may not even be aware of it. All people, and this includes kids are biochemically different and it is important to remember this. While child A can happily eat ice cream with no apparent side effects, child B may have an allergic response to dairy products and develop an ear infection for example.
What are Allergies? For various reasons an allergic response can occur when the body identifies an otherwise harmless food as a dangerous invader. When this happens, the body creates an outpouring of antibodies to eliminate the invader and aid in the prevention of a childs symptoms. Allergic reactions can be divided into two categories:immediate and delayed reactions. Within minutes of eating the questionable food an immediate allergic reaction can occur and the possibility of child symptoms such as wheezing, skin rashes, swelling and excess mucous production can be the result. In rare situations, life threatening situations can occur due to the constriction of airways. This is called an anaphylactic response or reaction. One example of an anaphylactic reaction is when the child has a peanut allergy and has consumed a peanut and the child's throat begins to close as a result. In this situation the food item must be strictly avoided as this type of allergic reaction is fixed and can never be challenged. Only 1% of children have anaphylactic reactions. For emergency situations parents of children who suffer anaphylactic reactions should always carry an EpiPen ( a shot of epinephrine injected into the skin) .
Delayed response is the second type of reaction. Most food intolerances and sensitivities fall into this category. These child food allergies can be more difficult to detect as they have a delayed appearence of symptoms (can be anywhere form one hour to days). As an example, a child who is allergic to a particular food may react one or two days later and develop allergic eczema on his cheeks. If a food sensitivity goes undetected, other symptoms may begin popping up on other parts of the body, it is not uncommon for this to happen. The signs and symptoms of food sensitivities, depending on the body's response can vary greatly and may include:
- Anxiety
- Asthma
- Attention-deficit disorder
- Allergic shiners (dark circles or puffiness under the eyes)
- Colic
- Bronchial infections
- Bed-wetting
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Crohn's disease or colitis
- Frequent infections
- Ear infections
- Eczema
- Hyperactivity
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Rashes
- Obesity or excess weight
- Runny nose
- Vomiting
- Spitting up in infants
How to Detect a Food Allergy: By far the most common allergy is a dairy allergy. It appears that the high protein content of cow's milk is what causes the milk allergy,(cow's milk derives 15% of its calories from protein, whereas human milk derives only 5%). The main irritant in cow's milk appears to be a protein called casein. Other types of common food allergies in children are tomatoes, citrus fruits, soy, gluten, wheat, corn, eggs and chocolate. To detect kids food allergies is like searching for a needle in a hatstack. The common scratch test that doctors perform does not test for food allergies or sensitivities, this may come as a surprise to most parents. However, there is a blood analysis measurement called the ELISA test that can be used to detect the reactions of white blood cells to certain foods. This food allergy test is useful for measuring immediate or delayed responses. As this ELISA test is quite costly ($120 to $1200) it is not routinely ordered.
There is another effective way to detect food allergies and that is to have your child follow an elimination or rotation diet. The way this works is you eliminate the food you think may be causing the problem (eg:wheat) for a recommended period of time, usually a minimum of two to four weeks and monitor the symptoms. To accurately detect the irritating food it is best to eliminate potential allergens one at a time. Childhood allergies and the symptoms may temporarily worsen during the initial stages of an elimination diet, don't worry though, this is not uncommon. Ensure your child drinks plenty of fresh clean water to flush his or her's system to help alleviate this phase. Following an elimination diet you may be able to reintroduce the irritating food back into your child's diet on a rotational basis. It is advisable to strengthen your child's system with nourishing food and supportive supplements prior to doing this.
Give only a small amount when reintroducing the food. If the child has no reaction, the food may be reintroduced on a rotational basis, maybe once every four days. In other words, if the child consumes wheat on Saturday, he or she should not consume it again until Wednesday. Try to avoid allowing the child to eat an excess amount of the food as it is likely that the undesirable food allergies will recur. If following the reintroduction of a certain food a reaction occurs, it is possible that you may have to wait longer prior to re-testing the child allergy or eliminate the food entirely. Rotation and elimination diets are a tedious procedure and take dedication on behalf of both parent and child, but in the long run thay are well worth the effort for children with food allergies.
The Following Tips may help to Prevent or Ward off Allergic Responses
- Breast feed, research clearly demonstrates that children who are breast-fed have far greater protection against childhood allergies.
- Supplement with fish oils daily.
- Children with allergies need a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and these should be included in your child's diet.
- Try incorporating dairy-free milks and cheeses into your child's diet. If you choose to include dairy products, do not do so until after the age of two years and start with a high quality yoghurt. If milk allergy symptoms such as runny nose, ear infections or eczema appear, remove dairy from the diet to see if the symptoms subside.
- Pay attention to your child's digestive health. Digestion and a poor immune/allergic response can go hand in hand in treating kids with food allergies.
Additional Resources for Child Allergies
Children's Allergies - ACAAI
The child with allergies may also have itchy, watery and red eyes and ... When a child's allergies are properly treated, his symptoms, behavior and school ...
All About Allergies
Up to 50 million Americans, including millions of kids, have an allergy. ... Pollen allergies are seasonal, and the type of pollen a child is allergic to ...
Child Allergy
Help your child breathe clean, pure air with an austin air purifier ... Most popular among parents who have you children with allergies or asthma. From $6.95 ...
What are the bloggers saying about Child Allergies?
Thirty years ago, food allergies were extremely rare, but today 4.3 million US children Oct. 1: Thirty years ago, food allergies were extremely rare, but today 4.3 million US children suffer from the potentially life-threatening ... source..
Oct. 1: Thirty years ago, food allergies were extremely rare, but today 4.3 million US children suffer from the potentially life-threatening condition. NBC's Robert Bazell reports. Added: October 02, 2008 Air date: October 01, 2008 ... source..
Oct. 1: Thirty years ago, food allergies were extremely rare, but today 4.3 million US children suffer from the potentially life-threatening condition. NBC's Robert Bazell reports. source..
Allergies in Children. Allergy is a condition, which causes a reaction and makes you feel ill when you eat, touch or come in contact with a particular substance that does not suit you. Sometimes, small raised spots with a red area ... source..
News about Child Allergies
The level of knowledge and understanding of children with food allergies varies significantly across three key groups: pediatricians and family physicians, the general public and families who have a child with food allergies. The article describing ... source..
Parents may balk at giving their feverish children the standard dose of acetaminophen, after a new study released Thursday suggests that the popular pain reliever and fever reducer could be linked to the development of asthma and nasal allergies in ... source..
It is a reaction by your immune system to a normal amount of a particular food. This reaction happens every time that food is eaten. Although food allergies are rare, they are most common in children under the age of four. A hypersensitive reaction ... source..
Allergies to animals are common and very troublesome. Some people simply cannot give up their pets. And yet exposure to a dog or cat can cause a sensitive person quite a serious reaction. Learn more on best treatments. Do you start itching whenever ... source..
Children who suffer from bouts of allergic rhinitis (hay fever) are also more likely to suffer from headaches, facial pain, and ear aches than children without these allergies, says new research presented at the 2008 American Academy of ... source..
Omega-3 fats, most commonly found in fish oils, can prevent allergies in children according to a new study from Sweden’s Linköping University. The study showed that one-year olds whose mothers had taken fish oil capsules during pregnancy had ... source..
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