Some individuals will outgrow their oral allergies, others will have them for a lifetime. In general, food allergies come from both meat and plant foods. Oral allergies largely come from fruits and vegetables. If you experience itchy lips, throat swelling or hives in your mouth, you may have oral allergy syndrome. An immune system response to plant proteins in fruits and vegetables can cause irritation and inflammation in your nose, mouth or eyes. Oral allergies occur more frequently in people with asthma or hay fever. An oral reaction can cause death from blocked airways.
Symptoms
People with oral allergies experience an adverse reaction to plant pollen proteins. Pollen from birch, ragweed, grass and mugwort trigger oral allergic reactions. You may not experience all oral allergy symptoms at once. Some people get itchiness or swelling of the lips while others may have hives in their mouth or gum irritation. An oral allergy can also cause eye and nose irritation. Of most concern for oral allergy sufferers is anaphylaxis. Symptoms of anaphylaxis include blocked airways and low blood pressure.
Causes
Approximately 2 percent of people have oral allergies. If you inherit the genetic profile of an allergy from your parent, you may experience irritation from consumption of plant pollen. The duration of your exposure to pollen determines the magnitude of your immune response. When you eat certain fruits and vegetables, your immune system may respond by attacking the proteins in plant pollen. The immune response causes irritation and inflammation of your mouth, nose or eyes.
Prevention
You may not know that you are allergic to a food until you eat it. However, if you suspect you have an oral allergy, your physician can run an oral food challenge test. This test will identify foods that trigger your allergic reaction. Once you identify the foods that cause oral irritation, discontinue their consumption. Cooking foods that you have an allergic reaction to may offset your immune response. Heating a pollen protein will change its nature. When the nature of a protein changes, your immune system may not recognize the protein and fail to issue an immune response.
Treatments
Treat life threatening oral allergic reactions with epinephrine. If you experience throat swelling, epinephrine will open up your blocked airways. The National Institutes of Health recommends, injecting the epinephrine through your clothing into the thigh. Delaying injection to remove your clothes can cause death. Go straight to the emergency room after an epinephrine injection. Use over-the-counter antihistamines to treat minor allergic reactions like hives or itching.
References
- The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Oral Allergy Syndrome
- Mayoclinic.com: Food Allergy Vs. Food Intolerance: What's The Difference?
- "Pediatrics in Review"; Food-induced Anaphylaxis and Oral Allergy Syndrome; Priyamvada Tatachar, et al.; April 2008
- Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America: Allergy Overview
- National Institutes of Health: Epinephrine Injection
- Mayoclinic.com: Food allergy: Treatment and Drugs
- Calgary Allergy Network: Oral Allergy Syndrome
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