1 00:00:01,880 --> 00:00:07,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: Lauren vogelbomb here with a classic episode of the podcast. 3 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: In this one, we get into the science of food allergies, 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:19,279 Speaker 1: including how common they really are and why they're often 5 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: confused with other conditions. Hey brain Stuff Lauren vocal bomb here. 6 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: A lot of attention has been given to the increasing 7 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: number of American kids with serious food allergies, now believed 8 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: to be one in every thirteen children, that's about eight percent. 9 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,919 Speaker 1: School cafeterias have largely banned peanut butter, peanuts being one 10 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,520 Speaker 1: of the top triggers, and savvy parents note a quiz 11 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: sleepover guests on allergies to other common foods like milk, eggs, 12 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: and wheat. Childhood food allergies are a big deal because 13 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: a bad reaction could lead to anaphylactic shock, which, if 14 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: untreated by an epinephrine shot, could be fatal. But kids 15 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: and their parents aren't the only ones who need to 16 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: be educated about food allergies and how to respond to 17 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: a severe allergic reaction. According to a new study, adults 18 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,960 Speaker 1: have it even worse. More than ten percent of American 19 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: adults now have one or more food allergies, according to 20 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: the largest in depth survey of the prevalence of food 21 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: allergies among adults. Of the forty thousand adults surveyed, ten 22 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,479 Speaker 1: point eight percent were determined to have a legitimate food 23 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: allergy to things like shellfish, milk, and peanuts. Of the 24 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: top three allergies severe enough to cause telltale symptoms of 25 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: anaphylaxis like hives, swelling, throat tightening, and trouble breathing, and 26 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: nearly half of the allergies developed as adults. What worries 27 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: doctor Ruci Gupta, the lead author of the study and 28 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: a pediatrician and researcher who previously focused on childhood food allergies, 29 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: is not only these surprisingly high prevalence of food allergies 30 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: among adults, but the fact that only half of the 31 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: adult food allergies identified by the survey had been diagnosed 32 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: by a doctor. Even more alarming, less than a quarter 33 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: of adults with a bonafide food allergy carried an epinephrine 34 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: pen the only way to halt a deadly reaction. Clearly, 35 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,639 Speaker 1: more Americans need to take food allergies seriously by talking 36 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: with their doctors about avoiding certain foods and having an 37 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: emergency response plan in place. But a second surprising finding 38 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: that came out of gup to study is that a 39 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: separate and nearly equal cohort of American adults believe they 40 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: have a legitimate food allergy but actually don't. When asked 41 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,679 Speaker 1: if they were allergic to any foods, a full nineteen 42 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: percent of survey respondents said yes, but when prompted to 43 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,239 Speaker 1: list the symptoms of their most severe reactions, only ten 44 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: point eight percent met the standards of a convincing food allergy, 45 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: like difficulty swallowing, chest tightening, or vomiting. The rest of 46 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: the respondent cited symptoms like diarrhea, belly pain, and itching, 47 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: which are signs of a food intolerance or other conditions, 48 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: but not a true allergy. The confusion stems from a 49 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: general misunderstanding of what is and is not a food allergy. 50 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: For example, many Americans thirty one percent according to a 51 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: twenty fifteen survey, believe that the only difference between a 52 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: food allergy and a food intolerance is the severity of 53 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: the reaction, or that people with food allergies can eat 54 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: small amounts of the offending food without triggering a reaction. 55 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,519 Speaker 1: A true food allergy means that consuming any amount of 56 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: the allergen, even a tiny sip or crumb, will trigger 57 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: the immediate and overactive immune response known as anaphylaxis. The 58 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: severity of the reaction depends on the severity of the allergy. 59 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: A People with a food intolerance, on the other hand, 60 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: can sometimes eat or drink small amounts of the troublesome 61 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: food without triggering any symptoms, and even when the symptoms 62 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: are at their worst, they are usually confined to the 63 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: gastrointestinal tract. GOUPDA doesn't blame the nearly nine percent of 64 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: Americans who falsely believe that they have a food allergy. 65 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: In addition to food intolerances, which, to be fair, can 66 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: make people feel absolutely lousy, there are a host of 67 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: other conditions with symptoms that overlap with true food allergies. 68 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: A common one is oral allergy syndrome, in which certain 69 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts trigger an itching sensation in 70 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: the mouth and throat and swollen lips. It looks like 71 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: a food allergy, but the reaction is actually triggered by 72 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: common pollen allergies, and the symptoms go away quickly. But 73 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: if your throat burns and your lips blow up like 74 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: balloons every time you eat a peach. You could be 75 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: forgiven for thinking that you had a food allergy. A 76 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder and marked by severe intolerance 77 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: to gluten, is also not a true food allergy, since 78 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: the autoimmune response does not result in anaphylaxis. It still sucks, though. 79 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 1: In the food Allergy survey, Gupta and a panel of 80 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,840 Speaker 1: allergists were trying to be as conservative as possible when 81 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: deciding if a certain bundle of symptoms qualified as an allergy, 82 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:33,280 Speaker 1: which means that their figure of ten point eight percent 83 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: of adults with food allergies could be low. The only 84 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: way to know for sure would be to test each 85 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: and every person who reported a food allergy, either through 86 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: a skin prick test or the more dramatic food challenge, 87 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: in which an individual ingests a potential allergen in a 88 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,160 Speaker 1: doctor's office to gauge their immune response. But with the 89 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: sample size of forty thousand, that's not practical. Gouped to 90 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: things that The key takeaway from the food Allergy survey 91 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: is the importance of talking to a doctor to figure 92 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 1: out if your specific set of food related symptoms is 93 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: a true allergy or something else, Goupta said, because some 94 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: of these conditions are treatable and some of them are 95 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: life threatening, it's important to know what you're dealing with, 96 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: and if it turns out that you don't have a 97 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: true food allergy, that's great news. Instead of anxiously avoiding 98 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: all contact with certain foods, you can take steps to 99 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: avoid a reaction. For example, oral allergy syndrome can often 100 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,039 Speaker 1: be avoided by cooking the offending fruit or vegetable instead 101 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: of eating it raw. And people with lactose intolerance rather 102 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:31,119 Speaker 1: than a true milk allergy, can enjoy lactose free dairy 103 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: products without giving up the pure joy of an ice 104 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: cream cone on a hot summer day. So if you've 105 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: experienced unpleasant reactions to certain foods, don't suffer in silence. 106 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:41,599 Speaker 1: Talk to your doctor or make an appointment with an 107 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: allergist to get tested. Knowledge. After all is power. Today's 108 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: episode is based on the article why is there so 109 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,679 Speaker 1: much confusion about who has food allergies? On HowStuffWorks dot Com? 110 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: Written by Dave Ruse. Brain Stuff is production by Heart 111 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and is 112 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Klang. Before more podcasts from my heart Radio, 113 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen 114 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.