Food may cause allergic in babies
Dear Dr. Betancourt,
First of all, allow me to introduce myself: my name is Laila Meryana. I am a mother of a 14-month-old baby girl who is now the favorite of our family and grows well, except with her skin. She had been breast-fed for only about 100 days after her birth and then my milk slowly stopped and her pediatrician recommended her to take milk called "Bebelac" -- based on cows' milk. It happened when she was 4 months and then a few weeks later came some pimples on her skin, some of these were so big that each time I took her to visit the pediatrician who advised us to break it with a needle.
Then the pediatrician changed the milk to soy based called isomil and for the time being it stopped. In the meantime she started to eat some other stuff such as chicken porridge and then it happened again, and then again for this purpose she is recommended to take fish (white and red flesh), pork and meat. Now, almost once a month I have to take her to the pediatrician due to this skin sensitivity and she needs to take some medicine from the prescription.
For your info, I also have sensitive skin. I have regularly been visiting my skin doctor since senior high school (now I am 37 years old). I have problems with pimples, my skin type is oily on so called "T Zone" (chin, nose, cheek). I had also a lot of pimples during my pregnancy am now on medical treatment to treat this matter. There is no indication of the same problem from the father of my daughter.
I am afraid that she will get addicted to this medicine or the medicine may cause some other problem in her body. Therefore, I write to you to get some advice: 1. Is skin sensitivity a common problem for babies? 2. What is the cause of this problem? Genetic or non-genetic? 3. Will it be a permanent problem like mine? Or will it disappear slowly following the time of her growth?
While waiting for your immediate response into this message, I would like to thank you very much for your kindness to reply this e-mail.
Sincerely Yours,
Laila
Dear Laila,
I apologize for taking so long to answer your question. A food allergy or food intolerance is most likely the diagnosis in your daughter's case and it is a better prognosis than other kinds of allergies as her symptoms are not life threatening.
It is not genetic and it will probably disappear when she grows up. A true food allergy involves a body's immune system response to a specific food or component of a food.
The immune system produces immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to fight against even a tiny amount of the food component (the allergen). This in turn releases histamine and other chemicals that cause the distressing signs and symptoms that may be a threat to life.
Histamine is partly responsible for most allergic responses, including dripping nose, itchy eyes, dry throat, rashes and hives, nausea, diarrhea, labored breathing and even anaphylactic shock.
The majority of food allergies are triggered by certain proteins in cow's milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, fish, shellfish, bean and corn, which commonly cause food allergies.
Other reactions to food don't involve your immune system or, the release of histamine. These reactions aren't true food allergies. Instead, they may be food intolerances. Because food intolerances may involve many of the same signs and symptoms as food allergies such as nausea, vomiting, cramping and diarrhea, people often confuse the two.
If your daughter has food intolerance, she can usually eat small amounts of problem foods without a reaction. By contrast, if she has a true food allergy, even a tiny amount of food may trigger an allergic reaction.
One of the tricky aspects of diagnosing food intolerance is that some people are sensitive not to the food itself but to a substance or ingredient used in the preparation of the food. This is especially true of foods containing lactose, wheat or sulfites.
If a reaction to certain foods is an annoyance, but not life- threatening, your doctor may prescribe antihistamines to block the symptom-producing release of histamine by your immune system. Creams may relieve skin reactions. Thank you for writing and I hope this helps ease your stress.
Dr. Donya