Nut Allergy
Another type of food allergy is nut allergy. Allergens in various types of nuts can cause mild to severe immune system reactions which lead to nut allergies. The immune system cannot take the presence of these allergens and as a result it becomes hypersensitive.
Millions of people have been inflicted with nut allergy. It is also mistaken for peanut allergy, since the symptoms for most food allergies are parallel. However, it is not likely that a person with peanut allergy is also allergic to other nuts, and vice versa. The process of determination and elimination can be done through allergy testing.
Nut allergy can come from the nuts, nut oils and other products derived from nuts. It is quite common for kids to get inflicted with nut allergy since they love eating sweets and candies laden with various nuts- almonds, cashew, macadamia, walnuts, beechnuts, filbert, hazelnuts and many others. But this condition can also occur in adults.
Symptoms
Skin symptoms:
- skin irritation
- eczema
- itching
- swelling
- hives
- inflammation
Gastrointestinal symptoms:
- stomach pain
- diarrhea
- vomiting
Severe symptoms:
- rapid heartbeat
- shortness of breath
- running nose
- itching on the mouth area
- wheezing
- nausea
Prevention and treatment
The best way to prevent nut allergy attacks is to change the person's diet. Ridding his/her diet of nuts that can cause fatal symptoms should be the done as early as possible. There are alternatives to nuts that carry the same nutrients and it just takes time for the person to adjust to the new diet.
For parents, you need to ensure that your child gets the right foods to protect them from nut allergy attacks.
Medications for nut allergies are prescription pills and/or shots, depending on the severity of the attack. For severe cases, doctors prefer injectable medications to allow the medicine to flow into the patient's bloodstream.
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