{"id":58913,"date":"2017-05-25T07:15:21","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T11:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=58913"},"modified":"2021-08-18T15:22:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T19:22:03","slug":"adult-allergies-food-allergies-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/adult-allergies-food-allergies-symptoms\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Allergies: Why We\u2019re Getting Them And What to Do About It"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Why
Photo: Twenty20<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wilson Kimball was 40 years old when she found herself in the emergency room vomiting and suffering a severe migraine. Doctors were unable to pinpoint the cause, so after several days of testing, they released Kimball. On the way home, she stopped at her favorite deli and ordered tuna salad, made the Italian way with oil and vinegar instead of mayonnaise. The vomiting immediately returned, but this time Kimball was able to help doctors figure out the culprit: An allergy<\/a> to the mold in vinegar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shocked that I could get it at this age,\u201d says Kimball, commissioner of planning and economic development for the City of Yonkers. \u201cI was also a little depressed when I realized what it meant. Vinegar is in everything, so I could no longer have ketchup<\/a> with my fries, which was my favorite thing in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adult-onset allergies are on the rise, and it\u2019s not just the seasonal kind causing Americans to sneeze and sniffle through record pollen counts<\/a> this year. Doctors are seeing an increase in all kinds of environmental and food allergies \u2014 from ragweed pollen to shrimp to a preservative you’ll find\u00a0in shampoos, hand soaps and lotions. Combined, they afflict nearly 30 percent<\/a> of U.S. adults, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started out practicing 20 years ago, I wasn\u2019t seeing this kind of late-onset allergies in adults. Now I\u2019m seeing patients in their 50s and 60s,\u201d says New York City allergist Clifford Bassett, MD, author of The New Allergy Solution<\/em>: Supercharge Resistance, Slash Medication, Stop Suffering<\/em><\/a>. \u201cYou can tolerate something your whole life, and then your body will suddenly react. Something that\u2019s usually harmless \u2014 like peanuts<\/a>, cat dander, molds or spores \u2014 is now seen as the enemy. The immune system is unpredictable.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>5 Habits Secretly Making Your Allergies Worse<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside the\u00a0Adult Allergy Epidemic: A Perfect Storm<\/h3>\n

\u201cYou could be allergic to 80,000 chemicals that have not been tested for how they affect humans.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Researchers aren\u2019t sure why an adult might one day develop allergic symptoms<\/a>, such as sneezing, runny nose or itchy, watery eyes, after eating a peanut butter cup at the movies when she\u2019s loved them her entire life. (Note: Food allergies are different from food intolerances<\/a>, which cause digestive ills, such as gas, bloating<\/a> and diarrhea.) \u201cWas it because of some life event? Was there an infection? A change of behavior? There are a lot of questions we need answers to,\u201d says Paul Bryce, PhD, who studies allergies at Northwestern University\u2019s Feinberg School of Medicine. Food allergies are estimated to affect five percent of adults<\/a> and eight percent of kids. Bryce was part of the team that reviewed more than 1,100 cases<\/a> of food allergies and found that, on average, adult patients were in their early 30s. The top allergens: shellfish, tree nuts, fish, soy and peanuts.<\/p>\n

Although the reason for a\u00a0mid-life rejection of lobster rolls might remain a mystery, the culprits of other allergies are clearer. Scientists blame climate change<\/a> for the pollen rise, and we\u2019re exposed to more toxic chemicals, pesticides and synthetic fragrances. \u201cYou could be allergic to 80,000 chemicals that have not been tested for how they affect humans,\u201d says Bassett. He also blames over-cleaning for the surge in symptoms. In other words, the sterile Pine-Sol-ed homes of our youth didn\u2019t challenge our immune systems enough to protect us later. There are even reports<\/a> of allergic reactions to the metals nickel and cobalt found in cell phones.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re also at greater risk for developing seasonal and food allergies if you\u2019re a woman or have a family history, according to research<\/a>. It\u2019s not clear why women\u2019s hormones play a role. But Bassett notes that women\u2019s collective lifetime usage of beauty products have pushed their environmental tolerances to the brink.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Do I Have a Cold or Allergies? 6 Telltale Signs<\/a><\/p>\n

Diagnosing Adult-Onset Allergies: Process of Elimination<\/h3>\n

If your allergies are due to the spring pollen invasion, they should eventually improve. \u201cBut if people feel like they\u2019ve been having a cold that lasts longer than a week, they should see an allergist to make sure it\u2019s not seasonal,\u201d says Reenal Patel, MD, of Allergy & Asthma Care of New York. She explains that some people with tree pollen allergies might be more susceptible to food allergies. So the seasonal symptoms could\u00a0be a clue that something else is going on.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, an allergy specialist will conduct a skin prick test<\/a> that deposits a small amount of up to 60 kinds of allergens under the skin of\u00a0your arm. If you’re allergic to any of them, a reaction quickly shows up as a red bump indicating the presence of an allergy antibody. Doctors often use blood tests as a backup. Or, there’s patch testing. For this method, a dermatologist applies\u00a0a series of allergens to your back to see if a reaction develops over several days. Detecting food allergies gets\u00a0trickier, though, and might involve you eating the suspected food in a clinic in what\u2019s called a food challenge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>6 Simple Food Swaps to Quit Sugar for Good<\/a><\/p>\n

Finding Relief: A Holistic Approach<\/h3>\n

Treatment options range from taking drugstore antihistamine medications to nasal steroid and antihistamine sprays to immunotherapy that gradually re-introduces allergens to patients. But Bassett believes we\u2019ll suffer less if we take a more holistic approach. \u201cStress<\/a> affects the immune system, so we need to focus on proactive preventative measures,\u201d he says. Among his suggestions: getting enough vitamin D, eating an anti-inflammatory diet, maintaining a healthy body weight, and getting enough sleep and exercise.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Bryce says we need more research to understand the emotional impact of new allergy diagnoses on adults. \u201cThere\u2019s so much focus on food allergies for kids, but we think that a 50-year-old deserves just as much attention,\u201d says Bryce. In fact, his Northwestern team is starting a new study about how food allergies affect adults\u2019 quality of life.<\/p>\n

For Kimball, it meant coming to terms with the long list of vinegar-containing foods she could no longer eat: salsa, mustard, mayonnaise, balsamic reduction on her Brussels sprouts. \u201cIt might be easier to develop them as a kid because as an adult, you realize all that you\u2019ve lost. You know how good these foods are,\u201d says Kimball. \u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous, I know. But your whole world changes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our exposure to pollen, pesticides and toxic chemicals is at an all time high. But are they to blame for the rise in adult-onset allergies? Experts weigh in. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":58967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7,11],"tags":[165,51,224,228,282,341,393],"class_list":["post-58913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","category-health-hacks","tag-allergies","tag-food-choices","tag-illness","tag-spring","tag-stress","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2food-allergies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}