How long do people with severe allergies live?
June 13th, 2007 by admin
Sara asked:
I work with children and we recently had a disscussion about some kids who can’t even be in the same room with peanuts or milk. So much so that even residue or the scent in the air will cause a serious attack. The nurse told us that with each exposure the reaction gets worse! Obviously it’s nearly impossible to avoid all contact with these foods. If each reaction gets worse, won’t the children eventually die from this? Is it typical for people with food allergies that are that serious to have shortened life spans?
I work with children and we recently had a disscussion about some kids who can’t even be in the same room with peanuts or milk. So much so that even residue or the scent in the air will cause a serious attack. The nurse told us that with each exposure the reaction gets worse! Obviously it’s nearly impossible to avoid all contact with these foods. If each reaction gets worse, won’t the children eventually die from this? Is it typical for people with food allergies that are that serious to have shortened life spans?
- Posted in Allergies
June 15th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
I am so allergic to pollens that I had to go to the hospital for eating fruit that wasn’t washed off.
I plan to live a long time
June 16th, 2007 at 3:00 am
Sara: It is not the scent in the air that causes the problem. Allergy is a chronic defect in the immune system. It can be controlled but not cured. What happens is that the body mis-identifies some benign protein (from the nut or the milk for example) as an enemy invader. The immune system is called into action, IgE is produced, and the subsequent histamine can cause all sorts of reactions. The most severe is anaphylaxis.
Now as long as the allergic person doesn’t ingest (eat) the protein or inhale a particle (like the dust from peanuts) they are OK. Since milk doesn’t produce dust like particles, a person with lactic allergy can be in the room as long as no one is flinging the milk about. (Can you just imagine that sight?) As these kids grow up, they are taught to read labels carefully to look for the ingredients that cause them problems. Trust me, if you have severe allergies, the last thing you want to do is be sick, so you avoid the things that cause you problems. I have severe allergies, but I am very careful about environmental control. I have made it over 40 years and I plan on making it another 40!