When you go to your doctor to get rest results, you know that you can work hard and get fit, slim down a few sizes, and also have all sorts of positive changes on your body’s health as well, such as heart rate, cholesterol levels, etc. But what about when it comes to a diagnosis of food allergies? How do you better yourself to deal with them? Can they go away if you work hard at exposing yourself to them in safe amounts?
How long do food allergies last?
The reality is that food allergies and their longevity in your life can depend on a lot of factors. The best way to understand what’s going on with food allergies in your life is to figure out what factors go into play.
- Childhood allergies vs adult allergies: A lot of infants can outgrow their allergies by the time that they’re teens or adults. This is most common children who have egg or milk allergies. A child who is allergic to eggs, for example, could work on desensitising themselves to eggs by eating them in small servings, sparingly, and cooked thoroughly. In this example, they’d be essentially reconditioning their body to the allergen. In this case, the allergies are mild. Adult allergies, when diagnosed, are most commonly lifelong conditions that will follow them throughout the years, unchanged.
- The levels of IgE in the blood: In most cases, allergies that have lower levels of IgE in the blood can attempt desensitisation (with a doctor’s watchful eye) because the reactions tend to be milder with stomach upset. Those with higher levels of IgE have most likely have severe reactions, including wheezing and a racing heart. The higher the levels, the more likely it is that these allergies will follow you throughout life. As well, since you have stronger reactions, most doctors will feel that a desensitisation diet will not be helpful and won’t recommend it as a treatment over time.
- Family history of allergies: If a sibling or parent has a food allergy that has followed them throughout life, it’s more likely that you will also have the same lifelong fate of food allergies as well. Genetics do play a role in allergies as well as their severity. This also can work in your favour, however, because if a sibling outgrew his or her childhood allergy to milk, it means that you could also have the same positive change by the time you reach adulthood.
The bottom line is that there are a lot of factors that go into food allergies and how prominent a role they are going to play in your life. Regardless of your age, allergy kind or family history, it’s important that you talk to an allergy specialist about your allergies in particular and ask them about possible desensitisation techniques that could work with your food allergies in particular. Knowing what kind of allergy you have will give you the possible support to overcome it if possible with your allergy in particular.
