Peanut Allergy Symptoms - article by Good English Article Sites

Preventing Peanut Allergy Symptoms

Having a peanut allergy can be difficult because peanuts are a pretty common food ingredient. It’s important to know that you have a peanut allergy so that you can avoid any food triggers. A peanut allergy might not sound that serious, but symptoms occur soon after ingesting peanut and can sometimes even result in death.

Peanut allergy symptoms include hives, redness and swelling on the skin, itching around the mouth and in the throat, diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea/vomiting, chest tightening, shortness of breath and a runny/stuffy nose. In more severe cases, a peanut allergy can lead to anaphylaxis, an allergic reaction that causes the body to go into shock. Symptoms of anaphylaxis include constricting airways in the body, a big drop in blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, and dizziness/loss of consciousness. People experiencing anaphylaxis can die very quickly if they aren’t treated.

It’s unknown why only some people develop peanut allergies and others don’t, but it’s known that peanut allergy symptoms are caused by a malfunction in the immune system. Our immune systems detect harmful foreign substances that enter the body and fight them. When fighting the pathogens, cells will release histamine, which is a signal for an inflammatory response. The symptom of inflammation is not the pathogen itself, but a result of the body fighting the pathogen. When the pathogen is eliminated, the immune system remembers it by creating antibodies so that the next time that pathogen enters the body, the antibodies trigger an immune reaction. In the case of peanut allergies, the immune system for some reason thinks that peanut is harmful and it develops antibodies against it, so peanut allergy symptoms occur the next time you’re exposed to peanut.

Peanut allergy symptoms are triggered in 3 ways. One is through direct exposure to peanuts by eating them or touching them. Another is accidental exposure in which peanut accidentally gets into your food, which can happen because of different foods touching each other during factory processing. The last way is by inhaling peanut from peanut products. People who have peanut allergies should try to avoid eating or being around peanut foods and products, and it’s best to stay away even from foods that might have been exposed to peanuts. Sometimes food will come with a warning label saying that it was processed in a factory that also processes nut products. Most people will experience the milder symptoms, but those who are at risk for anaphylaxis should carry around an epinephrine injection with them in case of an emergency.

Most Recent Articles