Everyone knows about the type of food allergy that causes an immediate reaction. The response can range from hives, to life-threatening anaphylactic shock. This type of allergy has received the most attention in standard medical practice here in the United States. It is known as a Type I, IgE-mediated response. A child who wheezes or gets hives immediately, or within 20 to 30 minutes after eating a food such as peanuts or strawberries has a Type I reaction.
However, there is another type of food allergy response that is delayed. It has brought about a huge gap between public and practitioner awareness of these syndromes. Unfortunately, here in the U.S. you may be more likely to hear about the wide range of symptoms caused by gluten in the book Gluten Free for Dummies than you are in the offices of many allergists and internists. In all too many medical practices, these reactions are often called “food sensitivity” or “food intolerance” or even “not real allergies,” and may be misdiagnosed, overlooked or dismissed. This has led to misunderstanding between medical practitioners and people who are seeking help for themselves and their children.
The fact is that these delayed type responses are actually identified in medical textbooks as a true allergic response. Most of the delayed-type food allergies fall into the category of Type III response. This means that an antibody called IgG, (or less often IgA or IgM) attacks the food. In a delayed response, the combination of the antibody and the food is a highly inflammatory particle (an antigen-antibody complex) that circulates in the body and causes many different problems. These particles can even cross the blood-brain barrier and cause mood and behavior problems. A child with a delayed Type III response may have ear pain, look flushed, have chronic nasal congestion, and a history of ear infections and tonsillitis. Or, a child might be very tired, have flu-like symptoms, swelling in lymph glands, and appear depressed. Or a child might have attacks of tantrums, hyperactivity and stomach pain. In some children, bedwetting may be the only symptom. In others, it may be only ADD, or childhood migraines.
Two of the most extreme examples of delayed-type allergic response may be autism and schizophrenia. There is a correlation between delayed response to wheat and dairy proteins and these two diseases. The main “problem protein” in wheat is gluten, and in dairy is casein. Both of these proteins, in people who are susceptible, are attacked by the body’s immune system, and the delayed-type allergy response is set off, with disastrous consequences for the health of the brain. Here is a paragraph from a June 2002 article in Original Internist by Meera V. Jathar, MD and V.S. Jathar, PhD:
“Cade, et.al, in their recent article “Autism and Schizophrenia: Intestinal Distorders,” [in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience,2000, 3:57-72] reported [that] a gluten-casein free diet was accompanied by improvement in 81% of autistic children within three months in most of the behavior categories. High-titer IgG antibodies to gliadin were found in 87% of autistic and 86% of schizophrenic patients, and high titer of IgG antibodies to bovine casein were found in 90% of autistic and 93% of schizophrenic patients.”
Delayed-type allergy is also associated with many symptoms that are less extreme than autism and schizophrenia, yet are still very serious. Symptoms can vary widely. Here is a partial list: ADD/ADHD, depression, chronic headaches, migraine headache, chronic sinusitis, chronic indigestion or reflux, “irritable bowel syndrome”-abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation–canker sores, cold sores, asthma, bronchitis, eczema, psoriasis, recurrent ear or throat infection, swollen lymph glands, fatigue, failure to thrive, joint pain, restless leg syndrome, and bedwetting.
Both immediate and delayed type food allergies are becoming more and more common in children. No one is sure about the cause, but there is more and more evidence that food processing and handling may be a significant part of the problem. It is possible that the use of processing chemicals, additives, and dyes makes the foods more allergenic.
In the study of allergy and immunology, added items that make a food more likely to cause an allergic response are called “haptens.” My own current theory is that molds, antibiotics, pesticides, chemical additives and dyes may function as “haptens” for much of the food that is currently sold and consumed here in the United States, making it more allergenic.
For example, peanuts commonly have a type of toxic mold called aflatoxin mold, which is thought to increase their allergy potential, especially for children who are already allergic to molds. Non-organic dairy can contain residues of antibiotics fed to the cows-another allergy enhancer. Wheat is often sprayed with a chemical to retard growth of fungus, probably making it more allergenic. The commercial sugar refining process also uses chemicals. Many chemicals and allergens are hidden within prepared foods. Unfortunately, when a child’s system has begun to react violently to the food, there is generally “no going back.” For example, if a child has begun to react to peanuts, even if uncontaminated, organic peanuts, free from sugar, added hydrogenated oils and molds, were given to the child, there would still be a reaction, because the immune system has “learned” to respond allergically. That said, it is still important to feed children organic and unprocessed food as much as possible to prevent the onset of new allergies.
The most common allergenic foods are wheat, rye, barley (gluten containing grains), oats, soy, yeast, dairy, egg, tree nuts, peanuts, shellfish, citrus, chocolate, tomatoes and strawberries, and increasingly-cane sugar. The most common allergenic additives are aspartame, MSG, sulfites, and food dyes.
If you suspect that your child has delayed type reactions to foods, it is important to seek out a practitioner who has education and experience regarding this type of allergy and its symptoms. Remember that skin tests only show one type of response-the immediate, Type I allergy. Any allergist who says that the skin (“scratch”) tests are the final word on food allergy, and who insists that if these tests are negative the child is not allergic to foods, is obviously not well informed on this problem. Any allergist who dismisses delayed type allergies as “not real allergies” is disregarding what it says in his or her own medical textbooks about the four types of allergic response. It is important to find allergists and internists who have the clinical experience to help you with this problem. In addition, it’s important to read a lot, discuss things with other parents of allergic children, and to develop your own knowledge and expertise.
One of the best types of testing for delayed-type allergies is ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunoabsorbent Assay) testing. A good, reliable lab for this is Meridian Valley Lab in Kent, Washington. They can also help you find a practitioner in your area who uses ELISA testing. ELISA testing uses a tiny wand with a food sample on in, immerses it in a small sample of the patient’s blood, and counts the number of “hits” of IgG 4 antibody on the wand. Another form of testing is computer based, and uses responses read at acupuncture points to determine reactivity for foods. This form of testing is regarded as scientific in Germany, and is widely used by MD’s.
In the United States at the present time, the science behind this type of testing is not acknowledged. You may even find it mentioned on some web sites as a “worthless” or “quack” method. At best it must be currently classified as non medical and non diagnostic, no matter how much clinical evidence exists regarding its accuracy. Results of the testing are based on responses read at acupuncture points. However, the science behind the electronics of the body system upon which acupuncture is based has not yet been acknowledged. The preliminary scientific studies that best explain the electrical system of the body, were done by an MD, Robert O. Becker in the mid 1970′s. He was given an NIH grant to find out whether there was any scientific basis for acupuncture. When he found out that there was a scientific basis-a network of DC current that could be measured, at the exact locations of the traditionally identified acupuncture channels, he lost the last half of his grant money. In addition, his scientific results were buried in the 1976 journal of electrical engineering, because the medical journals at the time refused to publish his work. In my view, he is the Galileo of the “electric anatomy” of the body-a DC current network that the electrical testing taps to determine the body’s response to various foods and substances.
A good clinical example from our center, Wellness Associates of Chicago, is the case of a seven year old girl who came last year. She had been in “medical hell” for five years. It all began when she started to eat mainly solid foods, along with quite a lot of dairy, at the age of two. Her mother said she was at the doctor’s office two to four times a month for the whole five years, and sick all the time. When I first saw her, she had open sores all over her body from eczema, gum disease, recurrent ear infections, recurrent strep, and ADD. None of the practitioners who saw her suspected that the cause of her problems might be food allergies. She was given various prescriptions to address her symptoms. According to our testing, she was reactive to wheat, gluten, buckwheat, dairy, chocolate, peanut, shrimp, corn, rice, oat, egg, soy, honey, maple sugar, cane sugar, baker’s yeast, red potato; food dyes, MSG, aspartame, sulfites; weeds, grass, trees, mold, dust, cat and dog hair. She was taken off all the offending foods, dust allergy precautions were done in her home, and her parents purchased air filters. When I saw her about a month later for follow-up, she was about 80% better, not having infections, her skin was healing, and she was able to pay better attention.
After that the family didn’t return, and I wondered what had happened. A year later I heard from her mother who wanted to come in for testing too. They had carefully followed the diet for the little girl, and her mother said that she had been in perfect health all year. She had only seen the doctor once that year, when she hurt her hand on the playground. Her mother also said that they went to a large family reunion, and many of her relatives didn’t recognize her because she looked so different. The bottom line here is that if the testing had not been accurate, avoiding all the reactive items would not have relieved all her symptoms.
Of course, not all results are quite that spectacular, but we have seen hundreds of adults and children make significant improvements in their health over the last five years. The results of the computer testing have, in a number of cases, compared accurately with ELISA testing. Generally if both parents and child are willing to find a diet that is free from the tested allergens, there is at least a 75 to 80 percent improvement. If you suspect that your child has food allergies, it might be advisable to get some testing done that can reveal delayed as well as immediate type allergies, and serve as a guide to positive changes in your child’s health.
For more information about Food Allergies in Children, call 773-935-6377