Nowadays, amidst the changing weather, increasing air pollution and dust, asthma has become a very common but serious disease. Often whenever we talk about asthma attacks or its triggers, environmental factors come to our mind. But can our diet or allergy caused by eating any particular thing also directly trigger asthma? There is a lot of confusion and misconceptions among the general public and patients on this very sensitive and important topic. To remove this confusion, Dr. Jalil Parkar, consultant pulmonologist of Mumbai’s famous Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, has presented to the world in detail the real scientific and medical aspects behind this disease. Bronchial asthma is the biggest problem in Indian hospitals, but there is very little awareness on the effect of diet. According to Dr. Jalil Parkar, today a large number of patients who come for consultation in Indian hospitals and doctors’ clinics are people suffering from bronchial asthma. Generally, changing environment, dust-smoke, viral infections and dangerous air pollution are considered to be mainly responsible for sudden increase in asthma symptoms and worsening of lung condition. But even today the level of awareness among common patients about how much and what effect our everyday food allergies actually have on bronchial asthma is very low, due to which people unknowingly commit many serious mistakes. Why is this problem more common in childhood and what is the complex relationship between the two diseases? According to medical science, both food allergies and asthma are more common in young children than in adults. The main reason for this is that in both these physical conditions, our body’s immune system suddenly starts giving a hyper-active reaction as soon as it comes in contact with a specific protein. Citing medical literature, Dr. Parker explained that people who already have severe allergies to any food have a much higher risk of developing asthma in the future due to their body’s internal immune process. However, strong scientific evidence as to whether or not a particular food can directly trigger an asthma attack is still highly controversial in the medical world. Mere wheezing is not a food allergy, know what is the real danger of fatal ‘anaphylaxis’. The expert doctor clarified a very important thing and said that it is very rare and unusual for any patient to see asthma symptoms like shortness of breath or wheezing in the chest due to food allergy alone. In fact, if a food triggers asthma symptoms, it is not just a simple symptom, but is part of a very serious and systemic allergic reaction that occurs throughout the body, which is medically called ‘anaphylaxis’. They warned that people with severe underlying bronchial asthma or who do not keep their disease well controlled may be at significant risk of death from food-borne anaphylaxis. Therefore, every asthma patient should use their inhaler regularly and correctly, avoid the triggers prescribed by doctors and get the necessary vaccinations from time to time. From itching all over the body to swelling of the lips, these are the main symptoms and the responsible foods. The severity of the clinical symptoms of food allergy can vary greatly from person to person. Its mild symptoms include severe itching all over the body or sudden appearance of red rashes (urticaria or hives) on the hands and feet. At the same time, its serious and fatal symptoms include sudden massive swelling of the lips and tongue, complete loss of voice or severe difficulty in breathing (larynx edema), which can be fatal if not treated on time. The list of main food items that cause allergies in genetically sensitive people include egg white, cow’s milk, peanuts, soybean, wheat, nuts like walnuts, sea fish and prawns. For its treatment, antihistamine and steroid medicines are given under the supervision of a doctor, while in an emergency, it becomes mandatory to immediately inject epinephrine into the thigh muscles. The confusion of patients is increasing due to wrong reports of allergy test, get the test done only from a qualified doctor. Dr. Jalil Parker, while discussing the method of diagnosis, has given a very big and important warning to the patients of the country. He said that often people get scared after seeing ‘positive’ result of any food item in the report of Skin Prick Test or IgE test and automatically stop eating that thing forever. The doctor clarified that the test being positive only reflects your body’s sensitivity towards that substance, it does not mean that you are 100% allergic to it. Many times, due to cross-reactivity between dust particles present in our environment and food extracts, lab reports come out wrongly positive (false positive), which unnecessarily increases the mental distress and confusion of the patients. This is why instead of interpreting the results of any test report on your own, you should always consult a qualified pulmonologist or allergist so that they can decide on the right and accurate treatment based on your past medical history and actual symptoms.
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