Food allergies including peanut allergies are a lot more complicated than some people think. You might be thinking can adults develop an allergy or not? There is still a lot we don't know about them, like why some people get them and others don't. Most of the time, food allergies are found in children, but they can be found at any point in life. Also, food allergies may not last as long as we thought at first. Research shows that some people who have become less sensitive to an allergy through immunotherapy lose their protection when they stop getting the shots. Also, a lot more adults than children say they have serious food allergies. Let's look at what the research says about the number of people with food allergies and some important things to think about. People often get peanut allergies when they are young, and their immune systems are still developing. Some kids outgrow their allergies as they get older, but many have allergic reactions for the rest of their lives. Some research shows that peanut allergies are getting more common because people aren't getting enough Vitamin D. Children don't spend as much time outside as they did in the past, which can hurt their immune systems. Vitamin D won't help treat a peanut allergy, but it might stop it from happening in the first few years.
How many people have problems with food? Based on a survey of more than 40,000 people, it is thought that as many as 10.8% of adults have food allergies. In the group of people who had a clear allergy, 38% said they had at least one food allergy that started as an adult. But it's important to know that almost twice as many said they had a food allergy, even though they didn't have any symptoms that would be caused by an IgE-mediated food allergy. Also, this data is limited because it comes from what people say about themselves. Oral food challenges were not done to confirm allergies. In this group of adults, shellfish allergies were the most common (at 2.9%), followed by milk allergies at 1.9%, peanut allergies at 1.8%, tree nut allergies at 1.2%, and fin fish allergies at 0.9%. And shellfish, soy, tree nuts, and fin fish were the foods that were most often linked to adult-onset in this group. Who gets food allergies more often as a child or as an adult? A previous study that looked at the medical records of 1,111 adults with food allergies from an allergy clinic found that about 15% of these adults got their food allergy as an adult. Most of the people in this group got food allergies when they were in their 30s. In this group of adults, the five most common food allergies were shellfish (54%), tree nuts (43%), fin fish (15%), soy (13%), and peanuts (9%).
As was said in the previous study, these patients did not have oral food challenges. This is a big problem with the study. Also, only one clinic was used to collect the data. The answer to the question, "Can you become allergic to peanuts all of a sudden?" Definitely, yes. People can get food allergies at any point in their lives. But it's important to know that peanut allergy that starts in adulthood seems to be much less common than other possible allergies, like shellfish allergy. Food allergies can be brought on by any food. People who think they might have a food allergy should see an allergist who is certified by a board. Food allergies can cause itching and swell in the mouth and throat, hives, vomiting, diarrhea, wheezing or trouble breathing, and even a dangerous drop in blood pressure. Anaphylaxis is often used to describe the worst kinds of reactions. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology is a good place to learn more about food allergies.
A new study from the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology shows that nearly 1 in 5 adults in the United States who have peanut allergies got them after the age of 18. This is more than 800,000 adults, which is a surprising number for an allergy that is usually thought to affect kids more than adults. Adults were also less likely to be diagnosed than children. This may be because doctors aren't as likely to look for peanut allergies in adults and because adults are less likely to go to the doctor. Even so, it's important to see an allergist if you think you might have a peanut allergy that came on later in life. The study shows that the number of adults who develop peanut allergies is higher than was thought before. It also shows that most children don't outgrow their peanut allergies, so this is an ongoing problem for adults. Whether you have peanut allergies as a child or as an adult, your symptoms and treatments are likely to be the same. That means that if you have a severe allergic reaction, you need to see an allergist and get a prescription for epinephrine. People who get this allergy as adults are less likely to have an auto-injector for epinephrine. The study found that only 44% of adults with a peanut allergy that started as an adult have an auto-injector, while 56% of adults whose allergy started as a child do. Research shows that, in addition to epinephrine, new antibody treatments can help stop allergic reactions that could be fatal.
According to the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, if peanut allergies run in your family, you may be able to stop your children from developing a sensitivity to peanuts by exposing them to the allergens early in infancy, even within the first few months of life. Can a peanut allergy be treated? Most people think that if you have an allergy, you need to stay away from the allergen that causes it. Even though this will help you avoid an allergic reaction, it is hard to stay away from peanuts because they are in so many products. Oral immunotherapy treatment is something you should think about if you don't want to worry about eating peanuts by accident. In oral immunotherapy, a small amount of peanut protein is eaten every day until the immune system gets used to it. Over the course of a year, you slowly eat more peanuts. This makes you less sensitive to the allergen. Oral immunotherapy has been shown to help people with peanut allergies, but only a small number of experienced allergists can do it.
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