Re: Food allergy risk over-estimated ?

[Guest guest]

As a consumer, it is my experience that mainstream physicians consider

only IgE responses to be allergies (the type to produce anaphylactic

response within an hour), so these articles/letters are perhaps a bit

misleading to people who don't realize this.

I have qualms about reading about the hazards of " avoiding certain types

of food unnecessarily, possibly depriving themselves of valuable

nutrients in the process " . Sounds like fear mongering to me. There are

so many food choices available nowadays that even removing something as

commonplace as dairy isn't difficult and certainly doesn't lead to

compromising anyone's health because of nutrient deficiency. Calcium

fortified juices and soy milks abound. Similarly there are so many

products now available designed for celiac individuals which will work

perfectly for individuals wishing to test out whether wheat is the

source of their skin problems.

It seems to me (and doubtless many others) that if physicians wish to

turn a blind eye to delayed food allergy, summarily dismissing it as

food intolerance and implying it isn't worthy of their investigation,

then the onus must lie with the patient to find their own allergens.

The article acknowledges that " food intolerance does not trigger a life

threatening immunological response, but can produce symptoms such as

asthma, eczema or migraines " . Interesting since it wasn't long ago that

eczema was considered to be a dermatological condition with no link

whatsoever to food. Given the significant change in perspective in

recent years, it perhaps isn't much of a leap to consider that some day

soon other dermatological conditions like rosacea will also show that

link

It appears to be clearly defined that certain foods containing high

natural levels of histamine can act as potential triggers of rosacea.

In view of that, it would appear to be folly to ignore that an allergic

response can cause the release of histamine from within cells. And

there are numerous other cellular reactions which could potentially

cause, so one need not focus solely on histamine.

Finally, I find it intriguing to read about further research into " true "

allergy identification tests in this article when it also says that only

2% of the population experience it. Reliable IgE tests exist. Perhaps

some day soon the allergy researchers will take on the task of

identifying exactly what is occurring in the body when delayed food

allergies take place and developing a method (any method!) of

identifying delayed food allergy.

My apologies if my letter is a little disjointed. I've tried to make my

thoughts coherent while amusing a six year old. Also, thanks to J

Gleason for the letter mentioning IgG mediated allergic response. I've

also heard that secretory IgA may be a factor in some delayed type

allergic responses.

(bits and pieces from the original post)

>More people are

> self-diagnosing that they, or indeed their children have a food

allergy,

> and are eliminating certain food types from their diet

> The findings, from market analyst Datamonitor, suggest that many

people are

> avoiding certain types of food unnecessarily, possibly depriving

themselves

> of valuable nutrients in the process.

> A food intolerance does not trigger a life-threatening immunological

> response, but can produce symptoms such as asthma, eczema or

migraines.

>She said: " Nobody is going

> to cut something out of their diet without a reason, and if the body

does

> not like something it is better to avoid it. "