What happens when people are allergic to a food?
Food allergy involves a response of the body’s immune system to the protein in a food the consumer has eaten. To be able to react in this way the body has to be ‘sensitized’ to a food and produce antibodies to it. Then, when you eat the food the antibodies kick in and they try to attack the food. This can result in lots of different symptoms – stomach upsets (vomiting, diarrhea, nausea), or skin reactions (rashes, dermatitis, itching or swelling), or respiratory problems (sneezing, rhinitis or asthma). But worst of all, for some really unfortunate people, a severe and rapid reaction called anaphylaxis can occur. Here, several symptoms occur, the throat can swell and close plus there is a dramatic drop in blood pressure. Without urgent medical treatment some people can die from this extreme allergic reaction. It seems that young food allergic persons suffering from asthma are at highest risk of dying from an anaphylactic shock.
