Health Tips: Avoiding allergies

Ignorance is anything but bliss

A U.S. study shows a dangerous trend among the estimated 12 million Americans with food allergies: ignoring advisory labels that warn of the presence of allergens.

The widespread alerts are intended to call attention to the possibility that the product in question may contain or have come in contact with peanuts or other allergy triggers because they were manufactured on shared equipment or in the same facility. Such increasingly common, voluntary advisories -- which are not regulated -- are intended to increase food safety by minimizing exposure that could result in a severe, even deadly, allergic reaction, researchers reported in the latest issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Yet, the researchers from the University of Nebraska, Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network and Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York determined 25 percent of the parents with allergic children surveyed failed to heed the warnings in 2006. That compares to a mere 15 percent in 2003.

Just how much attention those surveyed paid to the alerts depended on the wording, with 88 percent avoiding items that "may contain" an allergen but only 65 percent not using products "made in a facility that uses" an allergen.

The scientists also found a difference in the amount of allergen present in various items slapped with a warning label. For example, higher levels of peanuts were detected in more products labeled as sharing facilities with the allergen than in products bearing the other warnings. In all, peanuts were traced to 13 of the 179 products tested, or 7 percent.

"We believe that allergic consumers are increasingly ignoring the advisory labeling because the warnings are now used so frequently that consumers assume they are not serious," study co-author Dr. Scott Sicherer of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute said in a statement. "Our study shows that there truly is a risk, that the particular words used in warnings do not reflect the degree of danger, and not heeding those warnings is tantamount to playing a hazardous game of allergy roulette with food."

Medicines can cause allergies

Of the many side effects of medications, up to 10 percent are allergic reactions, a study suggests. Such reactions occur when the body's disease-fighting immune system goes into overdrive in response to a drug. Such an overreaction can have serious consequences and, in fact, brings about 106,000 deaths each year, said Dr. Roland Solensky of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

"Adverse reactions to medications are experienced by most individuals at some point in their life, and consequences can sometimes be severe," Solensky cautioned in a statement. "It is important to recognize allergic reactions because, at times, they can progress and be life-threatening, such as in the case of anaphylaxis."

Some drugs more dangerous than others

Specialists say nearly any drug can produce an allergic reaction in someone at some point. Some, however, are more prone to do so than others because of their chemical makeup. The American academy of allergists lists those as:

-- Antibiotics, such as penicillin;

-- Anti-convulsants and hormones, such as insulin;

-- Anesthesia medications, such as neuromuscular blockers;

-- Vaccines and biotechnology-produced proteins, such as Herceptin.

Symptoms of such allergic reactions can include:

-- Hives and other types of rashes;

-- Itchy skin;

-- Wheezing and other respiratory problems;

-- Swelling of the face and other fat-containing body parts.

Alleviating drug allergies

Treatment of an allergic reaction to a medication depends on the nature and severity of that response, specialists say. If the effect is mild, quitting the medication may be the best remedy. In more severe cases, allergists or immunologists might prescribe such pharmaceutical solutions as antihistamines -- which stymie the allergy-triggering histamine -- corticosteroids -- which cut swelling and inflammation -- or EpiPen (epinephrine) in an emergency. While in many cases, the problem can be solved by switching medicines, when no alternative is available, the doctor may recommend the patient be desensitized to the remedy, a process that involves a gradual dose buildup to the therapeutic level.

The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology recommends seeing an allergist/immunologist when there is a:

-- Severe allergic reaction that could have been due to a medication (anaphylaxis without an obvious or previously defined trigger);

-- History of allergies to penicillin allergy and projected need for future antibiotic use or no effective alternatives to penicillin for the infection at hand;

-- Previous multiple drug allergy or intolerance;

-- An allergy to protein-based bio-therapeutics;

-- Previous problematic reaction to aspiring or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;

-- Necessity for chemotherapy for cancer or other condition and prior hypersensitivity to those treatments;

-- Past allergic response to local anesthetics.

UPI Consumer Health welcomes comments on this column. E-mail: lwasowicz@upi.com