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Teenagers with food allergies have an increased risk of asthma
Many children and adolescents around the world suffer from asthma. Australian researchers have now found that adolescents with food allergy suffer four times more often from asthma compared to adolescents without such an allergy to food.
Researchers at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute found that adolescents with food allergy are much more likely to suffer from asthma. The likelihood of developing asthma is fourfold higher in these adolescents compared to healthy adolescents. The doctors published a press release on the results of their study.
Many children in the world suffer from asthma. Researchers now found a link between food allergies and asthma. Adolescents with a food allergy also suffer from asthma up to four times more frequently. (Image: bubutu / fotolia.com) Researchers are studying about 10,000 adolescent subjects for their study
The so-called anaphylaxis is an allergic reaction of the immune system to the repeated consumption of protein. Scientists now found a link between asthma and anaphylaxis. For this purpose, the experts examined about 10,000 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14 during their study. The researchers were able to establish that people with multiple allergies to various foods suffer ten times more often from asthma than people without such an allergy.
Misjudgment of the symptoms can delay life-saving treatment
There was concern among some medical professionals that a teenager's so-called anaphylactic reaction might be thought to be an asthma attack. This could then lead to a delay in the administration of a life-saving epinephrine autoinjector, explains Professor Katie Allen of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Australia.
By the year 2050, approximately 7.7 million Australians will suffer from a food allergy
In Australia alone, there are about 30,000 new cases of food allergies each year. Experts estimate that with the current rate of illness by the year 2050, approximately 7.7 million Australians will suffer from a food allergy. Experts have been warning for some time that the rate of allergy incidence in Australia is growing at an alarming rate.
There is a very high rate of people with food allergies in Australia
Australia has one of the highest rates of food allergies in the world. The rapid increase in food allergies over the last 10 to 15 years has already shown a high demand for so-called allergy management in the current generation of adolescents and this will continue to increase as demographic trends develop, explain the researchers.
Two percent of 10-14 year-olds suffer from nut allergy
The scientists referred to the story of a 15-year-old teenager who died in 2012. He had inadvertently consumed cookies with macadamia nuts. The teenager suffered from both a nut allergy and asthma. The observed symptoms were initially attributed to asthma, say the experts. Later, however, the observed response was identified as anaphylaxis. In Australia, up to two percent of children and adolescents aged 10 to 14 suffer from nut allergy, with about five percent suffering from a food allergy, the authors explain.
Investigation allows a better understanding of food allergies
The study's findings enable researchers to better understand and understand the full spectrum of food allergies. A study of this type and size has never been performed anywhere in the world, say the doctors.
Education about food allergies needs to be improved
Unfortunately, there have been some deaths from anaphylaxis in recent years. People with food allergy and asthma often have not recognized the allergy as a cause for their health problems, say the authors. It raises the question of whether the patients were poorly informed about the signs and symptoms of their food allergy. If this is true, it could have been an important factor in the death of the patients, the experts add.
Treatment of food allergy should be paramount
If a person with a food allergy and asthma suspects that they have eaten something that may cause an allergic reaction and suddenly begins to suffer from difficulty breathing, the treatment of food allergy should take precedence, says Professor Allen. (As)