WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: How Many People Really Have Food Allergies?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vogelbomb here with a classic episode of the podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>In this one, we get into the science of food allergies,

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<v Speaker 1>including how common they really are and why they're often

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<v Speaker 1>confused with other conditions. Hey brain Stuff Lauren vocal bomb here.

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<v Speaker 1>A lot of attention has been given to the increasing

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<v Speaker 1>number of American kids with serious food allergies, now believed

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<v Speaker 1>to be one in every thirteen children, that's about eight percent.

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<v Speaker 1>School cafeterias have largely banned peanut butter, peanuts being one

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<v Speaker 1>of the top triggers, and savvy parents note a quiz

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<v Speaker 1>sleepover guests on allergies to other common foods like milk, eggs,

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<v Speaker 1>and wheat. Childhood food allergies are a big deal because

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<v Speaker 1>a bad reaction could lead to anaphylactic shock, which, if

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<v Speaker 1>untreated by an epinephrine shot, could be fatal. But kids

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<v Speaker 1>and their parents aren't the only ones who need to

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<v Speaker 1>be educated about food allergies and how to respond to

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<v Speaker 1>a severe allergic reaction. According to a new study, adults

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<v Speaker 1>have it even worse. More than ten percent of American

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<v Speaker 1>adults now have one or more food allergies, according to

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<v Speaker 1>the largest in depth survey of the prevalence of food

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<v Speaker 1>allergies among adults. Of the forty thousand adults surveyed, ten

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<v Speaker 1>point eight percent were determined to have a legitimate food

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<v Speaker 1>allergy to things like shellfish, milk, and peanuts. Of the

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<v Speaker 1>top three allergies severe enough to cause telltale symptoms of

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<v Speaker 1>anaphylaxis like hives, swelling, throat tightening, and trouble breathing, and

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<v Speaker 1>nearly half of the allergies developed as adults. What worries

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<v Speaker 1>doctor Ruci Gupta, the lead author of the study and

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<v Speaker 1>a pediatrician and researcher who previously focused on childhood food allergies,

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<v Speaker 1>is not only these surprisingly high prevalence of food allergies

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<v Speaker 1>among adults, but the fact that only half of the

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<v Speaker 1>adult food allergies identified by the survey had been diagnosed

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<v Speaker 1>by a doctor. Even more alarming, less than a quarter

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<v Speaker 1>of adults with a bonafide food allergy carried an epinephrine

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<v Speaker 1>pen the only way to halt a deadly reaction. Clearly,

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<v Speaker 1>more Americans need to take food allergies seriously by talking

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<v Speaker 1>with their doctors about avoiding certain foods and having an

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<v Speaker 1>emergency response plan in place. But a second surprising finding

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<v Speaker 1>that came out of gup to study is that a

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<v Speaker 1>separate and nearly equal cohort of American adults believe they

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<v Speaker 1>have a legitimate food allergy but actually don't. When asked

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<v Speaker 1>if they were allergic to any foods, a full nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>percent of survey respondents said yes, but when prompted to

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<v Speaker 1>list the symptoms of their most severe reactions, only ten

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<v Speaker 1>point eight percent met the standards of a convincing food allergy,

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<v Speaker 1>like difficulty swallowing, chest tightening, or vomiting. The rest of

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<v Speaker 1>the respondent cited symptoms like diarrhea, belly pain, and itching,

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<v Speaker 1>which are signs of a food intolerance or other conditions,

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<v Speaker 1>but not a true allergy. The confusion stems from a

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<v Speaker 1>general misunderstanding of what is and is not a food allergy.

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<v Speaker 1>For example, many Americans thirty one percent according to a

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<v Speaker 1>twenty fifteen survey, believe that the only difference between a

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<v Speaker 1>food allergy and a food intolerance is the severity of

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<v Speaker 1>the reaction, or that people with food allergies can eat

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<v Speaker 1>small amounts of the offending food without triggering a reaction.

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<v Speaker 1>A true food allergy means that consuming any amount of

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<v Speaker 1>the allergen, even a tiny sip or crumb, will trigger

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<v Speaker 1>the immediate and overactive immune response known as anaphylaxis. The

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<v Speaker 1>severity of the reaction depends on the severity of the allergy.

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<v Speaker 1>A People with a food intolerance, on the other hand,

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<v Speaker 1>can sometimes eat or drink small amounts of the troublesome

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<v Speaker 1>food without triggering any symptoms, and even when the symptoms

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<v Speaker 1>are at their worst, they are usually confined to the

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<v Speaker 1>gastrointestinal tract. GOUPDA doesn't blame the nearly nine percent of

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<v Speaker 1>Americans who falsely believe that they have a food allergy.

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<v Speaker 1>In addition to food intolerances, which, to be fair, can

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<v Speaker 1>make people feel absolutely lousy, there are a host of

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<v Speaker 1>other conditions with symptoms that overlap with true food allergies.

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<v Speaker 1>A common one is oral allergy syndrome, in which certain

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<v Speaker 1>fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts trigger an itching sensation in

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<v Speaker 1>the mouth and throat and swollen lips. It looks like

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<v Speaker 1>a food allergy, but the reaction is actually triggered by

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<v Speaker 1>common pollen allergies, and the symptoms go away quickly. But

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<v Speaker 1>if your throat burns and your lips blow up like

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<v Speaker 1>balloons every time you eat a peach. You could be

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<v Speaker 1>forgiven for thinking that you had a food allergy. A

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<v Speaker 1>celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder and marked by severe intolerance

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<v Speaker 1>to gluten, is also not a true food allergy, since

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<v Speaker 1>the autoimmune response does not result in anaphylaxis. It still sucks, though.

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<v Speaker 1>In the food Allergy survey, Gupta and a panel of

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<v Speaker 1>allergists were trying to be as conservative as possible when

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<v Speaker 1>deciding if a certain bundle of symptoms qualified as an allergy,

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<v Speaker 1>which means that their figure of ten point eight percent

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<v Speaker 1>of adults with food allergies could be low. The only

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<v Speaker 1>way to know for sure would be to test each

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<v Speaker 1>and every person who reported a food allergy, either through

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<v Speaker 1>a skin prick test or the more dramatic food challenge,

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<v Speaker 1>in which an individual ingests a potential allergen in a

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<v Speaker 1>doctor's office to gauge their immune response. But with the

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<v Speaker 1>sample size of forty thousand, that's not practical. Gouped to

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<v Speaker 1>things that The key takeaway from the food Allergy survey

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<v Speaker 1>is the importance of talking to a doctor to figure

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<v Speaker 1>out if your specific set of food related symptoms is

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<v Speaker 1>a true allergy or something else, Goupta said, because some

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<v Speaker 1>of these conditions are treatable and some of them are

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<v Speaker 1>life threatening, it's important to know what you're dealing with,

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<v Speaker 1>and if it turns out that you don't have a

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<v Speaker 1>true food allergy, that's great news. Instead of anxiously avoiding

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<v Speaker 1>all contact with certain foods, you can take steps to

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<v Speaker 1>avoid a reaction. For example, oral allergy syndrome can often

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<v Speaker 1>be avoided by cooking the offending fruit or vegetable instead

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<v Speaker 1>of eating it raw. And people with lactose intolerance rather

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<v Speaker 1>than a true milk allergy, can enjoy lactose free dairy

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<v Speaker 1>products without giving up the pure joy of an ice

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<v Speaker 1>cream cone on a hot summer day. So if you've

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<v Speaker 1>experienced unpleasant reactions to certain foods, don't suffer in silence.

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<v Speaker 1>Talk to your doctor or make an appointment with an

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<v Speaker 1>allergist to get tested. Knowledge. After all is power. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on the article why is there so

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<v Speaker 1>much confusion about who has food allergies? On HowStuffWorks dot Com?

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<v Speaker 1>Written by Dave Ruse. Brain Stuff is production by Heart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and is

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Klang. Before more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen

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