Do you sometimes experience swelling of the lips, tongue and throat, watery itchy eyes, runny nose and sneezing? Could you ever find the causes related to these irritations? Does it require medical aid? Do peeling and cooking your food help in minimizing the effect? This is Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS), a type of food allergy, is an allergic reaction that is confined to the lips, mouth and throat.
1) What is Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS)?
Oral Allergy Syndrome is an allergy to certain raw fruits, vegetables, seeds, spices and nuts causing allergic reactions in the mouth and throat. An allergic reaction happens while eating raw food that causes itching of mouth, lips, throat and palate. Oral allergy syndrome is due to a cross-reactivity between plant proteins from pollen and fruits or vegetables. When a child or adult with pollen allergy eats a fresh fruit or vegetable, the immune system sees the similarity and causes an allergic reaction. Interestingly, many patients with oral allergy syndrome can eat the same fruits or vegetables when they are cooked.
2) Who is affected?
Other pollen allergies may also trigger OAS, it occurs in people with asthma or hay-fever from tree pollen who eat fresh (raw) fruits or vegetables. Adults appear to be more affected than children. A food allergy frequently starts in childhood, but it can begin at any age. Fortunately, many children will outgrow their allergy to milk, egg, wheat, and soy by the time they are 5 years old if they avoid the offending foods when they are young. Allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish tend to be lifelong. In older children and adults, the most common food allergies are: Fish, Pea nuts, Shellfish, Tree nuts.
3) Symptoms of Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS):
Rapid onset of itching or swelling of the lips, mouth or throat is the most common symptoms of OAS. Other symptoms may include irritation of the gums, eyes or nose. Symptoms normally appear within minutes of eating the offending food. Sometimes, more severe symptoms can happen such as vomiting, cramps, diarrhea and on rare occasions, life threatening reactions with swelling of the throat, wheezing, trouble breathing and anaphylaxis. Fruit, Vegetable & Nut Allergies Associated with Spring Allergies. Symptoms are often worse during the spring and fall pollen seasons.
4) Tips to Overcome Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS):
In most cases OAS does not require medical treatment. It is best to avoid the offending foods. Often just peeling or cooking the food will reduce the effects. At times, an antihistamine can effectively relieve the symptoms. In adults and children with severe recurrent OAS, immunotherapies (allergy shots) to the pollen have been useful. These allergic reactions usually occur only when the food is raw. People who are allergic to the raw food can eat it cooked, canned, microwaved, processed or baked. For example, someone allergic to raw apples can eat apple sauce, apple jelly, apple juice, apple pie and dried apples. However, nuts may cause allergic reactions whether raw or cooked. This problem is usually lifelong. Allergy tests to these foods may sometimes be negative unless a fresh fruit is used for the test (instead of a commercial allergy extract). The allergic reaction to these foods can occur anytime of the year when eating the foods but can be worse during the pollen season. Because the more allergic part of the fruit may be in the skin, some people allergic to fruits, e.g., peaches, can eat the flesh without reaction if the skin is peeled away. Similarly for apples, some brands of apples cause more allergic reactions than others. Freshly picked apple, e.g., straight from the tree or an unripe apple, may cause fewer allergic reactions than one which is very ripe or one which has been stored for weeks after picking.
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