Allergies to food: the bronchi also cause
Two to 4% of adults are allergic to foods of various kinds. For the first time, French pulmonologists showed that these allergies are associated, in more than half of cases in adults, changes of the bronchi. Between food allergies and asthma, the differences are therefore more tenuous …
Food allergies are common. In young children, they often develop in response to proteins in cow’s milk, egg white and substances contained in peanuts. In adults, all kinds of foods may be involved.
1. A study in 35 adults allergic to fruits and vegetables
* The work conducted by the team of Prof. Benoît Wallaert in Lille, was performed in 19 adult women and 16 men, mean age 34 years. These people all had allergies to vegetables like carrots, celery, tomatoes or fruit such as kiwi, bananas, peaches or strawberries. These allergies are manifested by an inflammatory disease of the skin rather commonplace, hives, digestive problems like stomach aches or diarrhea but may have more severe reactions like swelling of the larynx or even signs of anaphylactic shock.
Two groups of patients were formed:
- One had previously developed an allergic rhinitis or asthma, the disease is so often connected with mites, tiny animals contained in the bedding (16 people);
- The other has no such history (19 issues).
2. Allergies are foodborne, but are also affected bronchi
Pulmonologists Lille expected that adults who have submitted in the past with allergic asthma or hay develop an overreaction of the bronchi in the administration of a drug, methacholine. The latter causes them to narrow and, consequently, a decreased ability to expire.
If this test was positive in these patients, the surprise has been in the second group. Although never developed respiratory allergy, its members showed an exaggerated and sustained reactivity of the bronchi in relatively high proportions (10 of 19 positive responses in this patient population, or 53%, against 13 out of 16 in the first group of patients, or 81%).
3. Asthmatics are more reactive digestive mucosa
To Prof. Benoît Wallaert, the explanation lies in the fact that “a common response of all digestive and bronchial mucosa may develop against an allergen. In support of this hypothesis, data from a study conducted four years ago by the Lille team. Indeed, it was shown that asthmatics have abnormalities of the digestive mucosa and often complain of gastrointestinal problems.
Tags: allergies to food, Allergy, bronchi, food