Don't Mess Around With Peanut and Nut Allergies

By Dorothy Santoro

Many people today suffer from nut allergies and allergic reactions to nuts and peanuts are reported by over 3 million Americans and indicate an increasing health concern.

For reasons that are not understood, nut allergies in the U.S. and Britain have doubled or even tripled among children within the last two decades

Therefore more attention is being paid to both peanut and nut allergies, even though the symptoms of peanut allergy and nut allergy are the same, but a person with peanut allergies may not necessarily also be allergic to tree nuts, and vice versa. Peanuts are legumes, but they often get lumped in, allergy-wise, with tree nuts like pecans, cashews, and hickory nuts.

Of the food allergies, peanut, shellfish and tree nut are among the most common life threatening allergies. They tend to be severe and could lead to anaphylaxis.

Normally, anaphylaxis begins within minutes of exposure by someone with nut allergies. Starting with itching in the eyes and face, hives, swelling, nausea, wheezing, stomach pain, runny nose, tingly tongue, an anaphylactic reaction can quickly advance to difficulty breathing and swallowing.

These allergic reactions can be so severe, that there really is no margin for error. Treatments, such as, epinephrine pens and pills can help, but, it is usually the best bet to seek emergency care immediately since nut allergies can be fatal.

Avoidance of all nuts and peanuts, is truly the only real way to treat this type of allergy. And one of the good things is, that over time, people with nut and peanut allergies usually become better and better at avoiding those foods that cause the allergies.

The problem lies, when intake of nut products occur because of a hidden ingredient, like in a cake, cookie or even chili. Another problem is on special occasions.

Holidays and special occasions are far more dangerous for children with nut allergies because there is a much greater likelihood of kids eating nut containing foods and it becomes more problematic to supervise children properly.

Taking precautions only makes sense. Like when to fly. Best time to fly if you have nut allergies is in the early morning, when planes are cleanest. Peanuts, of course, are served throughout the flight.

And it is always possible that cross contamination could have taken place in a factory that also processes nuts or peanuts. So, even strict avoidance isn't always sufficient. Some factories may use the same equipment as they do for products that don't contain them, so tiny amounts of nuts or peanuts could be transferred to other foods.

Another cross contamination situation could be at buffets or self-serve restaurants, where people put serving utensils in and out of different bowls and serving pans. And just rinsing hands with water alone or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer will not remove all nut or peanut residue.

Even shampoos and some lotions contain tree nuts, so it is important to check labels of all the products you use if you know that you have an allergy to nuts. And peanuts often find their way into products that you wouldn't imagine.

And one of the best things you can do, is make sure all your friends and family know if you have been diagnosed with a nut or peanut allergy, so if the worst happens, they will not waste anytime in getting treatment.

To find out more about allergies and what you can do about them, please check out the site at http://www.allergies.healthprobleminfo.com for various resources.