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Allergies

What are the symptoms?

Food allergy characteristically presents with multiple symptoms (lip swelling, tightness in the throat, rhinitis, abdominal pain, nettlerash and/or asthma and, rarely, life-threatening anaphylaxis). Rhinitis presents with itch/sneezing, watery nasal discharge and associated eye symptoms during the pollen season. Allergic asthma presents with cough, sensation of tightness in the chest, wheeze and breathlessness.

There is a history of immediate symptoms on exposure to these allergens and sensitivity may be confirmed either by skin prick testing with the relevant allergen and/or a blood test which measures the level of allergy-related IgE antibodies in the blood to the relevant allergen. However, these tests must always be interpreted in the context of a patient's symptoms on exposure to the relevant allergen, otherwise false-positive tests will occur. Occasionally, there is no particular time relation between exposure and symptoms so diagnosis may be difficult. Also, spontaneous remission may occur.

View Background Background  |  What are the causes? View What are the causes?

Medical text written November 1991 by Contact a Family. Approved November 1991 by Dr J Brostoff, Consultant Immunologist, Middlesex Hospital, London UK. Last updated July 2002 by Professor S R Durham. Last reviewed May 2006 by Professor S R Durham, Professor of Allergy & Respiratory Medicine, Imperial College, London, UK.

 

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