What is the Connection between Asthma and Food Allergy?
Food allergy is not easy to handle especially if you are allergic to multiple foods but what more if you have asthma? How do we stay safe if we have these two totally different conditions? Will our anaphylaxis plan change or will it still matter since our food allergy somewhat found an ally with asthma?
We will try our best to answer these questions and hopefully, it’ll help you understand that such condition exists and why we need to be more extra vigilant if one of our kids or family members has both allergies.
Food Allergy and Asthma
Experts say that those who have food allergies are vulnerable to other types of condition like asthma or other allergies like eczema. Unfortunately, it is not rare if both condition coexist in one person, nowadays more and more children who are allergic to egg have eczema and both are triggered by the same allergen. Though this is not always the case, as some have asthma and food allergy instead of eczema, similarly, their asthma is triggered by their food allergen.
Food Triggers for Asthma
Sulfite is a well-known food trigger for asthma and it is found in dried fruits, wine, pickled foods, and other processed foods. Aside from sulfite we have what we know as the Top-8, these triggers are popular to those with severe food allergies.
Other triggers are food colorings, salicylates that are present in instant coffee, soy sauce or tomato sauce, etc. MSG may also trigger asthma.
The Serious Connection
Though both food allergy and asthma are two different conditions they are seriously connected by anaphylaxis. People that only have asthma are no stranger to breathing problems and this is what makes it dangerous. If you have both conditions, it’s confusing if a person is having an asthma attack or is it an early sign of anaphylaxis. This dilemma is another additional burden to those with food allergies.
Avoiding Allergic Reactions
In case you haven’t had your allergy testing yet, you should prioritize it. In this way, you can know what your allergies really are and if they are food-triggered.
When you have the results the best way to avoid any reactions or anaphylaxis is to stay away from any of your triggers, especially in foods. Keep in mind that asthma has non-food triggers like pollution, pollen, or cigarette smoke, so you need to follow other steps to keep yourself safe.
One of the things you could also consider is looking on tumeric benefits to reduce the frequency and severity of allergic reactions and asthma attacks.
Medication and Cure
There is no other known cure for anaphylaxis except for epinephrine, also known as adrenaline. Thanks to technological advances, it comes in an auto-injector form. Popular epinephrine auto-injector brands are EpiPen and Auvi-Q and hopefully, due to a limited supply of EpiPen, other companies will come up for people with severe food allergies to have other options when supply is still scarce.
There are anaphylaxis plans available online that can be downloaded and saved on your phone. This will familiarize you with what to do in case of anaphylactic shock. Always carry two EAI with you at all times and keep in mind to immediately call 911 or your medical emergency hotline after your use your EAI.
We dove in deeper with anaphylaxis so if you want to know more, check this link.
Resources:
WebMD – https://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/food-allergies-and-asthma
Lung.org – https://www.lung.org/about-us/blog/2018/07/asthma-and-nutrition.html
Science Daily – https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160128151939.htm
NCBI – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6244552/