Why we should take food allergies seriously

They could cause death, says expert Mustapha, 26, a security man in an  estate in  Jabi, Abuja, experienced a severe food allergy after eating prawns recently. A tenant in one of the houses he guards was embarking on a two-week journey and decided to give him the prawns and other items in his fridge. He […]

• They could cause death, says expert

Mustapha, 26, a security man in an  estate in  Jabi, Abuja, experienced a severe food allergy after eating prawns recently. A tenant in one of the houses he guards was embarking on a two-week journey and decided to give him the prawns and other items in his fridge.

He was excited with the gift and decided to cook and eat the prawns that day. He had never eaten prawns before. Shortly after consuming the shrimp-like creatures, he felt seriously ill. He couldn’t breathe properly and felt his head and face swelling. He rushed to one of the tenants in the building and she gave him N500 to go and buy some medication in at a medicine store nearby.

However, he said he felt so ill that he knew that N500 may not tackle the problem even if he went there,  so he managed to get himself to the first floor and knocked on the door of a young woman there who had often been kind to him.  Her intervention saved his life.

The young neighbour said she initially wanted to give him some money to go to a pharmacy  but realized on closer observation that  Mustapha needed more assistance than money at that time.

Narrating the incident the neighbour said: “I saw Mustapha eating at the security post that day when I drove in from the office. Barely seven minutes after I entered the house, I heard a knock on my door. I opened the door only to see Mustapha shaking and saying he was feeling sick and needed money to buy medicines.

I went in to bring some money and by the time I returned, I noticed rashes all over him, he had developed serious nasal congestion within minutes. He could hardly talk and was gasping for breath.

“I took him to a pharmacist living in the next compound and the man said it may be food allergy. He advised me to quickly take him to the hospital. I called my husband who was away on a trip and he advised I take him to Gwarimpa District Hospital,  the closest hospital to our area.

“We rushed him to the emergency unit and the doctors swung into action. He was diagnosed of  food allergy and given Epinephrine injection. I was asked to buy some other drugs for him. He got better almost immediately after they gave him that injection.”

Mustapha said the young woman  spent  over N30,000  for his treatment. “She was also running round to buy drugs for me. If that lady was not around that day, maybe I would have died. I am also grateful that the pharmacist was at home at the time and knew that it was a serious problem that needed me to go to the hospital. The person who gave me the prawns had travelled, and the first neighbour thought it was just fever. I never knew that reaction to food can cause such a problem,” he said.

He said symptoms of the allergy started again four hours after he was given the Epinephrine injection and he had to be given another one before he got better.

Similarly, Uchendu, 47, a civil servant, said he bought groundnut for his family some months ago. His daughter soon fell ill, developed rashes and began to itch all over. She was later diagnosed with allergy to groundnuts.

Magadalene, a student, said she was allergic to a popular food seasoning. Whenever it was used to cook any meal and she ate it she threw up, suffers diarrhoea and felt feverish. As a result, she avoids eating in restaurants and at social gatherings. When friends and family members served her food, she first asked if they used that particular seasoning to cook the meal.

Food allergies could range from mild to very  severe, according to medical experts. Food allergens are naturally-occurring proteins in foods  that cause abnormal immune responses. The many adverse reactions they cause are referred to collectively as food allergies.

According to a dietician, Mrs Sarah Abagi, food allergies are essentially immune responses to any food substance that the body mistakes as an enemy which may not be the case.

“The immune system of some people wrongly identifies certain foods as harmful so their body launches an attack. So food allergies are abnormal  responses  that occur in persons from the reaction of their immune system  to foods,  meaning their natural body system over reacts,” she said.

The dietician said some common food allergies include allergies to groundnut, fish (which sometimes may not be the fish itself but the stock used to cook the fish soup), wheat (because of the gluten content), shellfish like crabs , prawns,   milk, nuts like hazel nuts, and soya  products like milk.

She said common symptoms of food allergies were teary eyes, redness of the eyes, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea or vomiting,  swelling of the face,  tongue and throat or other parts of the body, rashes, itching, nasal congestion or trouble breathing.

The expert said the trouble breathing occurred because the allergic reaction affected the person’s airways, and once there was swelling in one’s air ways, it caused breathing difficulty that could lead to fatigue,  light headedness, and even death.

She added that the symptoms also depended on the food eaten.

The dietician said majority of food allergies were detected from childhood.

She said it was important for mothers to watch out for allergic reactions in children when they stopped exclusive breast feeding after six months, adding they should watch out  for allergic reactions to formula, eggs or other food substitutes introduced.

“You should look out for things you didn’t notice while breastfeeding the baby. That is why you need to have a diary so that you can note the baby’s reaction to the foods, and withdraw the food substitutes when you notice reactions,” she said.

The expert said it was important for adults and children to recognise foods that trigger such reactions and stop them, adding that it was also important for adults and children who have been diagnosed with food allergies to take all medications prescribed for them.

She said people may need epinephrine injection when they had serious allergic reactions to food and may also need to carry the injection along whenever they go to social gatherings should they react to any food served.

Abagi said it is also important for people  prone to allergic reactions  to wear identification tags  or medical alert cards like diabetic patients.

Asked what people should do when they experienced food allergies, she said the first thing is to mark the food that causes the reaction and stop eating it. She said they should also seek the attention of a doctor immediately.

She advised people to eat healthily, such as diets rich in whole grains or high carbohydrates like oats, cornflakes,  as well as low fats and fruits that contain natural antihistamines like citrus fruits (tangerine, lemon, grapes, black currant and blue berries among others).

The dietician said because food allergies could be life threatening, it is important for people to watch what they eat and to also eat mindfully. She said doing so would enable them trace the allergens responsible for their reactions so they could stop eating the food.