The Medical Health Plus

Swine Flu Infections Surpass 100 in U.S.

Mexico prepares for shutdown of many public services to head off infections

THURSDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) — The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States has surpassed 100, federal health officials said Thursday.

Meanwhile, Mexico — believed to be the source of the outbreak — braced for a shutdown of all non-essential services as authorities sought to limit further infections in that country, where the virus is suspected of causing 168 deaths so far.

Late Thursday, Mexico’s top health official said the number of new swine flu cases seemed to be leveling off. Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova told a news conference he hoped the trend would continue and that a vaccine would be available in six months, the Associated Press reported.

At a Thursday morning news conference, Dr. Richard Besser, acting head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, “Today I am reporting 109 confirmed cases within the United States. We have 11 affected states. There are many more states that have suspect cases,” he added.

There are 50 confirmed cases in New York, 26 in Texas, 14 in California, 10 in South Carolina, two each in Kansas and Massachusetts and one each in Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, and Ohio, Besser said. The age range of those infected is 22 months to 81 years, he said.

“Six of the cases have been hospitalized, including the unfortunate case we reported yesterday of the child in Texas who passed away,” he said.

The never-before-seen flu strain is a combination of pig, bird and human viruses, prompting worries from health officials that humans may have no natural immunity to the pathogen.

Besser said federal health officials “continue to be very aggressive in our approach and we will continue to do that until the situation tells us that we no longer need to do so. There’s no one action that is going to stop this. There is no silver bullet, but all the efforts — the efforts of government, the efforts of communities and the efforts of individuals — will help to reduce the impact on people’s health.”

“There are things people can do,” he said, including “handwashing, covering coughs, staying at home when they are sick.

The vaccine plan is to complete the production of seasonal flu vaccine for next winter and then switch to production of a vaccine for the N1H1 swine flu, if needed, Besser said.

All of the cases diagnosed in the United States continue to be mild, federal health officials said Thursday.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that U.S. public health officials were recommending that schools with confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu “should strongly consider temporarily closing so that we can be as safe as possible.”

Texas has postponed all public high school sports and academic competitions at least until May 11 due to the outbreak.

On Thursday, Fort Worth, Texas, announced the temporarily closure of all district schools for its approximately 80,000 students, probably until May 12, after one student was found to be infected with swine flu and three others were suspected of suffering from the virus.

Dozens of schools elsewhere in the country have also been temporarily shut down, according to published reports.

As with the previously tested strains of the swine flu virus, new testing has found that the pathogen remains susceptible to the two common antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, according to an April 28 dispatch from the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization raised the swine flu epidemic level from 4 to 5, signifying that a pandemic is imminent, and urged countries to implement their pandemic plans. And on Thursday, WHO said it would cease calling the virus “swine flu,” using instead its scientific name, H1N1 influenza A, to help reduce confusion over the danger posed by pigs (pork consumption does not transmit infection).

On Thursday, Mexico prepared for a broad shutdown of services as officials urged businesses to close until Tuesday, to coincide with a long holiday weekend. Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in a televised address that only essential businesses such as supermarkets, hospitals and pharmacies should stay open, and only critical government workers such as police and soldiers would be on duty from Friday through Tuesday. School had already been canceled nationwide through Tuesday, The New York Times and the AP reported.

The decision Wednesday by the World Health Organization to raise the alert level underscored the concern of world health officials that the swine flu outbreak could trigger large numbers of deaths worldwide, even though there have only been eight confirmed deaths in Mexico and one in the United States, the AP reported.

“It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic,” WHO Director General Margaret Chan said in Geneva, Switzerland. “We do not have all the answers right now, but we will get them.”

On Monday, a 23-month-old Mexican boy who had traveled to Houston for medical treatment died, becoming the first fatality in the United States.

Switzerland and the Netherlands have become the latest countries to report swine flu infections. In addition to Mexico and the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Britain, Germany, Spain, Israel and Austria also have confirmed cases, the AP reported.

Mexico’s prevention efforts may be paying off — the outbreak seemed to be stabilizing; confirmed swine flu cases doubled Wednesday to 99, but new deaths finally seemed to be stabilizing, the AP said.

SOURCE: health.msn.com

Microwave Popcorn Concerns

The buttery scent used in microwave popcorn is the cause of a harmful, fatal lung disease. Bronchiolitis Obliterans, or Worker’s Lung, has been linked to a chemical used in food flavoring called diacetyl.

This chemical, when heated, releases a toxin that destroys tiny airways in the lungs if inhaled. First reports of this issue came out in 1985 when workers came down with the disease after working around the chemical in food factories. More recently people working around the popcorn have been diagnosed with the same problem. Consumers of microwave popcorn are put in the same danger of diacetyl if they inhale the fumes of a freshly opened bag of popcorn straight out of the microwave.
The solution? Don’t open up a bag of hot popcorn and inhale the fumes, no matter how great they may smell. Instead, wait for the bag to cool.

Sources:

http://alifespentwondering.com/articles/5/

Diet for IBS

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional common gut disorder, a functional disorder means there is a problem with the function of a part of the body, but there is no abnormality in the structure. So, in IBS, the function of the gut is upset, but all parts of the gut look normal, even when looked at under a microscope. IBS causes various symptoms, Up to 1 in 5 people in the UK develop IBS at some stage in their life. IBS can affect anyone at any age, but it commonly first develops in young adults and teenagers. IBS is twice as common in women as in men.
Partly digested food normally leaves the stomach and passes into the small intestine and then into the large intestine. The large intestine makes food move with gentle squeezing motions. The large intestine is also called the large bowel or colon.
In irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the intestines squeeze too hard or not hard enough and cause food to move too fast or too slowly through your system.
IBS is also called functional bowel syndrome, irritable colon, spastic bowel and spastic colon. It’s not the same as inflammatory bowel diseases, like ulcerative colitis.

Symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome

The signs and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome can vary widely from person to person and often resemble those of other diseases. IBS can cause diarrhea, constipation or a mixture of both. It can also cause pain in your abdomen that either comes in short bouts or lasts longer. The pain of IBS may go away when you pass gas or have a bowel movement.
Some people may have diarrhea right after they awaken in the morning. Diarrhea may also happen during or right after eating.
The symptoms may get worse when you’re under stress, such as when you travel, attend social events or change your daily routine. Your symptoms may also get worse if you don’t eat properly or after you’ve eaten a big meal. Women who have IBS may notice symptoms during menstrual periods.
Among the most common are:

* Abdominal pain or cramping
* A bloated feeling
* Gas (flatulence)
* Diarrhea or constipation — sometimes alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhea
* Mucus in the stool

What causes IBS?

Doctors are not sure what causes IBS. The nerves and muscles in the bowel appear to be extra sensitive in people with IBS. Muscles may contract too much when you eat. These contractions can cause cramping and diarrhea during or shortly after a meal. Or the nerves may react when the bowel stretches, causing cramping or pain.
The doctor may suspect that you have IBS because of your symptoms. Specific symptoms, called the Rome criteria, can be used to more accurately make this diagnosis. Medical tests may also be done to make sure you don’t have any other health problems that cause the same symptoms.

How is IBS treated?

IBS has no cure, but you can do things to relieve symptoms. Treatment may involve

* diet changes
* medicine
* stress relief

Diet for IBS

Most people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome will try to diet for IBS, and some get relief from taking nutrition supplements.
A healthy diet is important for all of us. However, some people with IBS find certain foods of a normal healthy diet can trigger symptoms or make symptoms worse. Current national guidelines about IBS include the following points about diet which may help to minimise symptoms:

• Have regular meals and take time to eat at a leisurely pace.
• Avoid missing meals or leaving long gaps between eating.
• Drink lots of fluid drink at least eight cups of fluid per day, especially water or other non-caffeinated drinks such as herbal teas. This helps to keep the faeces (stools) soft and easy to pass along the gut.
• Restrict tea and coffee to three cups per day (as caffeine may be a factor in some people).
• Restrict the amount of fizzy drinks that you have to a minimum.
• Cut back on sugar.
• Don’t drink too much alcohol. (Some people report an improvement in symptoms when they cut down from drinking a lot of alcohol, or stop smoking if they smoke.)
• Cut back on foods with yeast, especially yeast breads.
• Consider limiting intake of high-fibre food (but see the section above where an increase may help in some cases).
• Limit fresh fruit to three portions (of 80 g each) per day.
• If you have diarrhoea, avoid sorbitol, an artificial sweetener found in sugar-free sweets (including chewing gum) and drinks, and in some diabetic and slimming products.
• If you have a lot of wind and bloating consider increasing intake of oats (for example, oat-based breakfast cereal or porridge) and linseeds (up to one tablespoon per day). You can buy linseeds from healthfood shops.
• Emphasize soup with meat, beans and non-starchy vegetables.
• Go easy on spicy foods.
• Avoid chewing gum as more air may be swallowed
• Avoid raw vegetables and fruit unless eaten with an acidic or active culture dressing such as Ranch made with buttermilk.
• Avoid grains, corn and rice.
• Keep a diet diary – most important!

Salt (sodium chloride) in the Diet

Salt is crucial for our health, the amount of salt that we eat has a direct effect on our health and blood pressure. The more salt we eat the higher our blood pressure. This is true, not only in people with  high blood pressure, but also in people with normal blood pressure.

What is Sodium?

Sodium is an essential mineral or micronutrient which along with potassium helps to regulate the body’s fluid balance. Unlike other minerals, sodium (or sodium chloride aka salt) has a recognizable and popular taste, and is widely added to snack foods and other processed foods.

High Sodium Salt

A high sodium salt intake also causes other health damage, such as greater retention of water in your body, which leads to swelling of the ankles and weight gain. Too much salt also worsens thinning of the bones (osteoporosis), asthma and kidney disease and is closely related to cancer of the stomach. Therefore, everyone should cut the amount of salt they eat to improve their health.
The body uses sodium, potassium and other electrolytes to maintain a healthy fluid balance, and avoid dehydration. Thus sodium intake is linked to water retention and associated swelling (edema). Excess intake of salt is one of the commonest reasons why people develop fluid retention. Dietitians typically advise people with water-retention problems to eat fewer processed foods, add less salt when cooking and remove the salt shaker from the table. How much sodium should edema sufferers consume? One leading expert recommends women to reduce their daily sodium intake to 1,000 milligrams. (Normal Sodium RDA is 3,500 milligrams). A good low-sodium diet plan to follow is the DASH diet, which also helps to lower blood pressure.

How to Reduce In take

Eating a low-salt diet is one of the most important lifestyle changes people with heart failure can make. About 70 percent of the sodium in diet comes from processed foods such as canned soups, lunch meats and fast food, not from salt added to home-cooked meals.  Observe the sodium RDA and limit the amount of sodium that you consume from all these sources to no more than 2,400 milligrams (mg) each day which is equal to about 1 teaspoon of salt.

• Eat canned soups, or broths, or bouillon cubes, sparingly. These foods can be very high in sodium.
• Do not add salt to your food at the table
• Use fresh poultry, fish, and lean meat, rather than canned or processed types.
• Avoid bacon, unless sodium-free.
• Avoid salted nuts, chips and other snackfoods.
• Switch to low sodium margarine, or low-salt butter.
• Use herbs, spices, and salt-free seasoning blends instead of salt, in cooking and at the table.
• Cut back on instant or flavored rice, which usually have added salt.
• Choose “convenience” foods that are lower in sodium.
• Cut back on frozen dinners, mixed dishes such as pizza mixes, packaged mixes, and salad dressings.
• Choose ready-to-eat breakfast cereals that are lower in sodium.

Reduce Sodium in Meals

* Add less salt at the table and in cooking. Reduce the amount a little each day until none is used. Try spices and herbs instead, or sodium-free bouillon. Sprinkle lemon juice over vegetables, season or marinate meat, poultry, and fish ahead of time with onion, garlic, and your favorite herbs before cooking to bring out the flavor.
* Cook with low-salt ingredients. Remove salt from recipes whenever possible. Rice, pasta, and hot cereals can be cooked with little or no salt.
* Use fewer sauces, mixes, and “instant” products this includes flavored rices, pasta, and cereal, which usually have salt added.
* Rinse salt from canned foods.

For healthy living
Take plenty of vegetables, fruits and seeds alongside taking exercise, not becoming overweight and not drinking too much alcohol, are other factors important in preventing high blood pressure. Replacing salty processed foods with fresh foods is likely to be beneficial for reasons other than just salt. It is overall diet and lifestyle that matter, not just one component.
Instead of salt try other flavourings and use fresh foods such as: Any fresh, frozen or dried herbs ; All spices ; Lemon and lime juice ; Vinegar ; Red or white wine ; Cider or beer Onions ;
garlic ; shallots ; ginger ; chilies, etc

Note: There is a clear health risk in eating salt, not just for blood pressure but also because of links to osteoporosis, stomach cancer and other health problems. Since it is difficult to measure salt sensitivity and much of the salt in our diet is unnecessary, the best advice is to cut down and save lives.

Migraine Headaches

What is a migraine headache?

A migraine headache is a form of vascular headache. Migraine headache is caused by a combination of vasodilatation (enlargement of blood vessels) and the release of chemicals from nerve fibers that coil around the blood vessels. During a migraine attack, the temporal artery enlarges. (The temporal artery is an artery that lies on the outside of the skull just under the skin of the temple.) Enlargement of the temporal artery stretches the nerves that coil around the artery and causes the nerves to release chemicals. The chemicals cause inflammation, pain, and further enlargement of the artery. The increasing enlargement of the artery magnifies the pain.
Migraine attacks commonly activate the sympathetic nervous system in the body. The sympathetic nervous system is often thought of as the part of the nervous system that controls primitive responses to stress and pain, the so-called “fight or flight” response. The increased sympathetic nervous activity in the intestine causes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Sympathetic activity also delays emptying of the stomach into the small intestine and thereby prevents oral medications from entering the intestine and being absorbed. The impaired absorption of oral medications is a common reason for the ineffectiveness of medications taken to treat migraine headaches. The increased sympathetic activity also decreases the circulation of blood, and this leads to pallor of the skin as well as cold hands and feet. The increased sympathetic activity also contributes to the sensitivity to light and sound sensitivity as well as blurred vision.
What causes migraine headaches?
Migraine headaches seem to be caused in part by changes in the level of a body chemical called serotonin. Serotonin plays many roles in the body, and it can have an effect on the blood vessels. When serotonin levels are high, blood vessels constrict (shrink). When serotonin levels fall, the blood vessels dilate (swell). This swelling can cause pain or other problems.

Many things can affect the level of serotonin in your body, including your level of blood sugar, certain foods and changes in your estrogen level if you’re a woman.
What causes migraines?

Experts are not sure what causes migraines. It may have something to do with the blood vessels in your brain.

Migraines run in families, but it is not clear why some people get migraines and others do not.

Different types of migraine headaches

• Common migraine accounts for 80% of migraines. There is no “aura” before a common migraine.
• People with classic migraines experience an aura before their headaches. Most often, an aura is a visual disturbance (outlines of lights or jagged light images). Classic migraines are usually much more severe than common migraines.
• Status migrainosus is a migraine that does not go away by itself.

Possible symptoms of migraines

• Intense throbbing or dull aching pain on one side of your head or both sides.
• Nausea or vomiting
• Changes in how you see, including blurred vision or blind spots
• Being bothered by light, noise or odors
• Feeling tired and/or confused
• Stopped-up nose
• Feeling cold or sweaty
• Stiff or tender neck
• Light-headedness
• Tender scalp

How migraine can be treated?

You can usually manage your migraines. First try an over-the-counter pain medicine, such as ibuprofen or naproxen. Brand names include Advil, Motrin, and Aleve.

If over-the-counter medicine does not work, your doctor can prescribe stronger medicine that stops the migraine as it is starting. You may not be able to use some medicines if you are pregnant or have other health problems, such as heart problems or high blood pressure.

When you feel a migraine coming on:

- Stop what you are doing, and take your medicine. Do not wait for the migraine to get worse. Take your medicine exactly as your doctor told you to.
- Take it easy. Rest in a quiet, dark room. Close your eyes, and try to relax or go to sleep. Do not watch TV or read. Put a cold pack or cool cloth on the painful area.

If the first treatment you try does not work, try something else. It may take time to find what works best for you.

Some people also use other kinds of treatments, such as acupuncture. These may help reduce the pain or the number of migraines you have. But experts need more research to see if they really work.2

Be careful when you use your migraine medicines. Taking them too often can cause you to get another headache when you stop taking the medicine. This is called a rebound headache. If you find you are taking your medicines very often, talk to your doctor before a problem starts.
Can I reduce how often I have migraines?

You may be able to reduce how often you have migraines by staying away from things that cause them. These are called “triggers.” Common triggers include chocolate, red wine, cheese, MSG, strong odors, not eating, and poor sleep habits. It may be helpful for you to track and write down your triggers. You may be able to avoid the trigger and more migraines.

If you have migraines often, your doctor may prescribe medicine that helps prevent them.

Why Washing Hand Is Important

The most important thing you can do to keep from getting sick is to wash your hands, handwashing is one of the most important ways of controlling the spread of infections. Good hand washing is the first line of defense against the spread of many illnesses, from the common cold to more serious illnesses such as meningitis, bronchiolitis, influenza, hepatitis A, and most types of infectious diarrhea.

Hand washing is a simple habit that can help keep you healthy. This simple habit requires only soap and warm water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer — a cleanser that doesn’t require water.
Germs can be transmitted many ways, including:

• touching dirty hands
• changing dirty diapers
• through contaminated water and food
• through droplets released during a cough or a sneeze
• via contaminated surfaces
• through contact with a sick person’s body fluids.

Cultivate the habit of washing your hands:
* Before eating
*  After using the toilet
* After changing a diaper — wash the diaper-wearer’s hands, too
* After touching animals or animal waste
* Before and after preparing food, especially before and immediately after handling raw meat, poultry or fish
* After blowing your nose
* After coughing or sneezing into your hands
* Before and after treating wounds or cuts
* Before and after touching a sick or injured person
* After handling garbage
* Before inserting or removing contact lenses
* When using public restrooms, such as those in airports, train stations, bus stations and restaurants.

Use Proper Handwashing Techniques

Handwashing is the single most important procedure for preventing the spread of biological contamination. Some few tips of washing hands properly.

• Avoid touching the sink.
• Turn water on using a paper towel and then wet your hands and wrists.
• Work soap into a lather.
• Vigorously rub together all surfaces of the lathered hands for 15 seconds. Friction helps remove dirt and microorganisms. Wash around and under rings, around cuticles, and under fingernails
• Rinse hands thoroughly under a stream of water. Running water carries away dirt and debris. Point fingers down so water and contamination won’t drip toward elbows.
• Dry hands completely with a clean dry paper towel.
• Use a dry paper towel to turn faucet off.
• To keep soap from becoming a breeding place for microorganisms, thoroughly clean soap dispensers before refilling with fresh soap.
• When handwashing facilities are not available at a remote work site, use an appropriate antiseptic hand cleaner or antiseptic towelettes. As soon as possible, rewash hands with soap and running water.

Hand-washing techniques with soap and water includes:
* Wet your hands with warm, running water and apply liquid soap or use clean bar soap. Lather well.
* Rub your hands vigorously together for at least 15 to 20 seconds.
* Scrub all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails.
* Rinse well.
* Dry your hands with a clean or disposable towel.
* Use a towel to turn off the faucet.

Use warm water
Cold water is better than no water at all for a ‘one off’ hand wash, but should not be used for routine handwashing. Soap lathers (‘soaps up’) better with warm water. The active ingredients on the surface of the soap are released more easily, making them more effective in cleaning your hands of dirt, grease and oils without stripping away the natural oils in your skin. Using cold or hot water can also damage the skin’s natural oils. Over time, this can cause dermatitis.

Soap is important
Soap contains ingredients that will help to:

* Loosen dirt on your hands
* Soften water, making it easier to lather the soap over your hands
* Rinse your hands, leaving no residues to irritate and dry your skin.

Soaps can have different pH – they may be neutral, slightly alkaline or slightly acidic. That’s why some soaps irritate some people and not others. Perfumes in soap can be another reason why some people have skin reactions.
Take care of your hands
Handwashing is only one part of hand hygiene. Looking after your skin generally is important, as your skin is the perfect barrier against infection. After your hands have been dried thoroughly, you can help to look after your hands if you:

* Apply a water-based absorbent handcream three to four times a day, or more frequently if your hands are constantly in water.
* Use gloves to wash dishes to protect your hands.
* Use gloves when gardening to prevent a build-up of ingrained soil or scratches.
* Consult a doctor if a skin irritation develops or continues.

By frequently washing your hands the right way, you’ll wash away germs — such as bacteria and viruses — that you have picked up from other people, through contaminated water and food, from tainted surfaces, or from animals and animal waste.

Know Your Food Allergy

It’s critical for people who have food allergies to identify them and to avoid foods that cause allergic reactions. The word ‘allergy’ means that the immune system has responded to a harmless substance as if it were toxic. Allergies are an over-reaction of the body’s immune system to a specific component, usually a protein. These proteins may be from foods, pollens, house dust, animal hair or mounds and are known as allergens.

What is Food Allergy

A food allergy is an abnormal response to a food triggered by the immune system. Food normally doesn’t provoke a response from the human immune system, the body’s defense against microbes and other threats to health. In food allergies, two parts of the immune response are involved,one is the production of an antibody called immunoglobulin E (IgE) that circulates in the blood. The other part is a type of cell called a mast cell. Mast cells occur in all body tissues but especially in areas that are typical sites of allergic reactions, including the nose, throat, lungs, skin, and gastrointestinal tract.

Our bodies are protected from infections by our immune system. We produce molecules, called antibodies, which recognise the germs causing an infection. There are a number of different sorts of antibody, and the one which causes an allergic reaction is called immunoglobulin E (IgE).

The IgE acts like a tag, sticking to molecules in food or pollen called allergens. When someone who has an allergy eats a problem food the IgE attaches to the allergens, setting off an allergic reaction. One of the common effects that IgE triggers is the release of histamine, which causes the changes we see in our bodies as symptoms, like nettle rash or wheezing.

Allergens are usually proteins, and there are generally several kinds of allergen in each food. We do not know what makes some proteins, and not others, food allergens

Risk  of Food Allergy May increase if:

• You have a family history of allergy. Food allergies are most common in people who are atopic, meaning they have an inherited tendency to develop allergic conditions such as asthma, various allergies, and atopic dermatitis. If both of your parents have allergies, you have an increased chance of developing allergies.
• You have another allergic condition such as atopic dermatitis or asthma.
• You are young, Infants and children have more food allergies than adults.
• You have a medical condition that makes it easier for allergens to pass through the walls of the stomach and intestines and enter the bloodstream. These conditions include gastrointestinal disease, malnutrition, prematurity, and diseases that impair the immune system.

Symptoms of food allergy

The onset of symptoms from food allergy tend to be more immediate and can be life-threatening. Common symptoms include:

• Itching and burning and swelling around the mouth
• Runny nose
• Skin rash and hives, eczema, urticaria (skin becomes red and raised)
• Diarrhoea, abdominal cramps
• Breathing difficulties, including wheezing and asthma
• Vomiting, nausea
• Life-threatening anaphylaxis.

Allergenic Foods Includes:

Cow’s Milk: Two out of a hundred infants under one year old suffer from cow’s milk allergy, making it the most common food allergy of childhood. In general children lose this sensitivity as they grow up with nine out of ten losing it by the age of three; it is unusual for adults to suffer from this allergy.  Symptoms are frequently vomiting and diarrhoea in children, with 30-50% also having skin rashes of some type. A small number of children have an anaphylactic reaction to milk which tends to be lifelong. The major allergens in milk are the caseins and the whey protein b -lactoglobulin. People are usually allergic to more than one kind of milk protein. The proteins from cow’s milk are very similar to those from goats and sheep, and can cause the same sorts of reaction in cow’s milk-allergic subjects. Thus goat’s or sheep’s milk cannot be used as a cow’s milk substitute in allergic individuals.

Eggs: Allergy to eggs is usually observed in young children rather than adults, and like cow’s milk allergy, fades with time. Occasionally children suffer from a severe form of allergy which is not outgrown.  The main allergens are the egg white proteins ovomucoid, ovalbumin, and ovotransferrin. The eggs of other poultry, such as ducks, are very similar to those of hens and can cause reactions in egg-allergic individuals.

Fish and shellfish: Allergies to shellfish are unusual in children, mostly being experienced by adults. Reactions to fish are found in children and adults. The incidence of seafood allergy is higher in those countries with a high consumption of fish and shellfish. Severe reactions are more frequently found with these foods, including anaphylaxis. Cooking does not destroy the allergens in fish and shellfish, and some individuals maybe allergic to the cooked, but not raw, fish. The major allergens in fish are flesh proteins called parvalbumins which are very similar in all kinds of fish. This is why people allergic to cod tend to be allergic to fish such as hake, carp, pike, and whiting as well. Shellfish allergens are usually found in the flesh and are part of the muscle protein system, whilst in foods such as shrimps, allergens have also been found in the shells.

Fruits: In general allergic reactions to fruits and vegetables are mild, and are often limited to the mouth, and are called the oral-allergy syndrome (OAS).  Around four out of ten people having OAS are also allergic to tree and weed pollens. Thus people who are allergic to birch pollen are much more likely to be allergic to apples.There allergens in fruits and vegetables are not as complicated as other foods. Many of them are very like the allergens in pollens, which is why people with pollen allergies are also allergic to certain fruits.
Many fruit allergens are destroyed by cooking, and thus cooked fruits are often safe for fruit allergic people to eat.  Allergies to latex gloves, especially amongst health professionals, are increasing. As many of the latex allergens are like those found in certain tropical fruits, such as bananas, these people can get an allergic reaction to handling or eating these foods .

Legumes: This group of foods includes soya beans and peanuts. Peanuts are one of most allergenic foods and frequently cause very severe reactions, including anaphylaxis.

Allergy to peanuts is established in childhood and usually maintained throughout life. Both these foods have multiple allergens which are present in the raw and cooked foods. Peanut allergy can be so severe that only very tiny amounts of peanut can cause a reaction. Thus the traces of nuts found in processed oils, or the carry over of materials on utensils used for serving foods, can be enough in some individuals, to cause a reaction. The main allergens in peanuts and soya are the proteins used by the seed as a food store for it to grow into a seedling. One of the allergens in soya bean is very similar to a major allergen from dust mites, a common environmental allergen. We aren’t sure yet whether this means there is a link between dust allergy and soya allergy.

Tree nuts: This group includes true tree nuts, such as Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnut and pecan.

Whilst not as intensively studied as peanuts, indications are that tree nuts can cause symptoms as severe which can occasionally be fatal. Children who become sensitised to tree nuts tend to remain allergic throughout life.
Hazelnut and almond allergies are more like those people get to fruit, and are linked to pollen allergies. Nut allergens can be both destroyed by, or resistant, to cooking and we think that roasting may actually create new allergens.The allergens can be the seed storage proteins, or other molecules which are also found in pollen.

Cereals: Suffered by children and adults alike, wheat allergy appears to be particularly associated with exercise-induced anaphylaxis. The more of a cereal (wheat, rye, barley, oats, maize or rice) we eat the more likely we are to suffer an allergy. Thus rice allergy is found more frequently in populations eating ethnic diets.     Seed storage proteins (such as wheat gluten) and other proteins present in grain to protect it from attack by moulds and bacteria, have been found to be major allergens.
How to Treat a Food Allergy

The best treatment is to never eat the foods you are allergic to. Learn to read food labels and spot other names for problem foods. For example, milk may be listed as “caseinate,” wheat as “gluten,” and peanuts as “hydrolyzed vegetable protein.” When you eat out or at other people’s houses, ask about the foods you are served.

If you do eat a food you are allergic to, medicines can help. You may be able to stop a mild reaction by taking over-the-counter antihistamines. You may need prescription medicines if over-the-counter drugs do not help or if they cause side effects, such as making you feel sleepy.

If you have severe food allergies, your doctor will prescribe an allergy kit that contains epinephrine (say “eh-puh-NEH-fren”) and antihistamines. An epinephrine shot can slow down or stop an allergic reaction.

In conclusion Food allergies are rare. Most reactions to food are a food intolerance. The symptoms usually affect three main sites of the body – the skin and the respiratory and digestive systems.