Health and medical news blog

The medical profession’s original, rather limited concept of food allergy, as described on pill, was of an immediate, violent reaction to food. Jane’s reaction to peanuts was a textbook example of such an allergy.

Not all allergic reactions to food occur immediately after eating it, however. There is a rare form of food allergy in which the allergen is not an intact food molecule but one of the products of partial digestion. Eating the food produces no ill-effects at first, but violent symptoms begin several hours afterwards, as the food begins to break down in the stomach (see p51).

Delayed reactions are also seen when food contributes to allergic symptoms such as asthma, rhinitis, eczema or chronic urticaria. It may be several hours or even days between the food being eaten and the symptoms appearing. With symptoms of this sort, it may also be necessary to eat quite large amounts of the food, or to eat it for several days in succession. If the food is one that is eaten regularly – as is often the case – the link between cause and effect is likely to be obscure, and food allergies of this type often go unrecognized. An elimination diet, of the kind described in Chapter Fourteen, may be necessary to work out what is causing the problem.

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