Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff Lauren vogelbomb here with a classic episode of the podcast. In this one, we get into the science of food allergies, including how common they really are and why they're often confused with other conditions. Hey brain Stuff Lauren vocal bomb here. A lot of attention has been given to the increasing number of American kids with serious food allergies, now believed to be one in every thirteen children, that's about eight percent.
School cafeterias have largely banned peanut butter, peanuts being one of the top triggers, and savvy parents note a quiz sleepover guests on allergies to other common foods like milk, eggs, and wheat. Childhood food allergies are a big deal because a bad reaction could lead to anaphylactic shock, which, if untreated by an epinephrine shot, could be fatal. But kids and their parents aren't the only ones who need to be educated about food allergies and how to respond to
a severe allergic reaction. According to a new study, adults have it even worse. More than ten percent of American adults now have one or more food allergies, according to the largest in depth survey of the prevalence of food allergies among adults. Of the forty thousand adults surveyed, ten point eight percent were determined to have a legitimate food
allergy to things like shellfish, milk, and peanuts. Of the top three allergies severe enough to cause telltale symptoms of anaphylaxis like hives, swelling, throat tightening, and trouble breathing, and
nearly half of the allergies developed as adults. What worries doctor Ruci Gupta, the lead author of the study and a pediatrician and researcher who previously focused on childhood food allergies, is not only these surprisingly high prevalence of food allergies among adults, but the fact that only half of the adult food allergies identified by the survey had been diagnosed by a doctor. Even more alarming, less than a quarter of adults with a bonafide food allergy carried an epinephrine
pen the only way to halt a deadly reaction. Clearly, more Americans need to take food allergies seriously by talking with their doctors about avoiding certain foods and having an emergency response plan in place. But a second surprising finding that came out of gup to study is that a separate and nearly equal cohort of American adults believe they
have a legitimate food allergy but actually don't. When asked if they were allergic to any foods, a full nineteen percent of survey respondents said yes, but when prompted to list the symptoms of their most severe reactions, only ten point eight percent met the standards of a convincing food allergy,
like difficulty swallowing, chest tightening, or vomiting. The rest of the respondent cited symptoms like diarrhea, belly pain, and itching, which are signs of a food intolerance or other conditions, but not a true allergy. The confusion stems from a general misunderstanding of what is and is not a food allergy.
For example, many Americans thirty one percent according to a twenty fifteen survey, believe that the only difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance is the severity of the reaction, or that people with food allergies can eat small amounts of the offending food without triggering a reaction. A true food allergy means that consuming any amount of the allergen, even a tiny sip or crumb, will trigger
the immediate and overactive immune response known as anaphylaxis. The severity of the reaction depends on the severity of the allergy. A People with a food intolerance, on the other hand, can sometimes eat or drink small amounts of the troublesome food without triggering any symptoms, and even when the symptoms are at their worst, they are usually confined to the gastrointestinal tract. GOUPDA doesn't blame the nearly nine percent of Americans who falsely believe that they have a food allergy.
In addition to food intolerances, which, to be fair, can make people feel absolutely lousy, there are a host of other conditions with symptoms that overlap with true food allergies. A common one is oral allergy syndrome, in which certain fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts trigger an itching sensation in the mouth and throat and swollen lips. It looks like a food allergy, but the reaction is actually triggered by
common pollen allergies, and the symptoms go away quickly. But if your throat burns and your lips blow up like balloons every time you eat a peach. You could be forgiven for thinking that you had a food allergy. A celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder and marked by severe intolerance to gluten, is also not a true food allergy, since the autoimmune response does not result in anaphylaxis. It still sucks, though.
In the food Allergy survey, Gupta and a panel of allergists were trying to be as conservative as possible when deciding if a certain bundle of symptoms qualified as an allergy, which means that their figure of ten point eight percent
of adults with food allergies could be low. The only way to know for sure would be to test each and every person who reported a food allergy, either through a skin prick test or the more dramatic food challenge, in which an individual ingests a potential allergen in a doctor's office to gauge their immune response. But with the
sample size of forty thousand, that's not practical. Gouped to things that The key takeaway from the food Allergy survey is the importance of talking to a doctor to figure out if your specific set of food related symptoms is a true allergy or something else, Goupta said, because some of these conditions are treatable and some of them are life threatening, it's important to know what you're dealing with, and if it turns out that you don't have a
true food allergy, that's great news. Instead of anxiously avoiding all contact with certain foods, you can take steps to avoid a reaction. For example, oral allergy syndrome can often be avoided by cooking the offending fruit or vegetable instead of eating it raw. And people with lactose intolerance rather than a true milk allergy, can enjoy lactose free dairy products without giving up the pure joy of an ice
cream cone on a hot summer day. So if you've experienced unpleasant reactions to certain foods, don't suffer in silence. Talk to your doctor or make an appointment with an allergist to get tested. Knowledge. After all is power. Today's episode is based on the article why is there so much confusion about who has food allergies? On HowStuffWorks dot Com? Written by Dave Ruse. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and is
produced by Tyler Klang. Before more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.