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Teens with Food Allergies Often Take Life-Threatening Risks

(HealthCentersOnline) - An alarming number of teenagers with food allergies admit to purposefully ingesting problem foods, according to a new survey. Many teens also fail to carry life-saving medication with them, depending on the circumstances and perceived risks.

A food allergy is a potentially fatal response by a person's immune system to a food or food component. After a susceptible person ingests a problem food, the immune system reacts with the release of histamines and other chemicals that trigger symptoms ranging from mild to severe.

There is no way to know whether a person with a food allergy is likely to have a mild or life-threatening reaction, called anaphylaxis, after eating the problem food. Therefore, individuals with a food allergy are advised to completely avoid all foods to which they are allergic. Since accidental ingestion is also a possibility, people with food allergies may also be advised to carry an allergy kit containing epinephrine, a life-saving medication used to treat severe allergic reactions, with them at all times.

Although there are steps people with food allergies can take to lower their risk for a serious reaction, fatal food reactions still occur. These reactions are most common among adolescents and young adults. According to new research, this may be due to members of this age group using poor judgment, particularly when they are out with friends.

Researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) used an anonymous Internet questionnaire to survey 174 food allergy patients between the ages of 13 and 21.

The survey data revealed that more than half of the respondents admitted to knowingly consuming a potentially unsafe food. Only 61 percent of subjects always carried their epinephrine, and the carrying rates varied by activities or circumstances. Activities such as traveling and going to restaurants had high carrying rates. However, the rates were much lower for certain peer-related social activities, such as going to a friend's home, participating in sports activities, wearing tight clothing or attending a school dance.

"For a teen or young adult with a food allergy, risk taking while eating certain foods can be deadly. In a previous study of fatal reactions, we found that 69 percent of those that died were between age 12 and 21," Anne Muñoz-Furlong, founder of FAAN and one of the authors of the study, said in a press release.

The majority of respondents also indicated that education of their friends would make living with a food allergy easier. However, they did not want to educate their peers themselves.

After reviewing the study data, the researchers also concluded that patients who take the most risks by eating problem foods and not carrying epinephrine are the ones who are likely to feel "different" because of their food allergies.

These findings are significant because they suggest that the education of teenage food allergy patients and their peers may reduce risk taking behavior and its consequences.

Details of the study were provided by the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) in a press release. The full study appears in the June issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

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