2023-08-14 08:34:55
We consume a wide variety of food components in a single meal, not even in a single day. Like many westernized social phenomena, the number of patients who need to control their diet due to food allergies is gradually increasing in Korea. Children who eat group meals at school write down food allergies and specific information at the beginning of each school year and submit them to school, and large franchise restaurants indicate whether or not they contain allergens on their menus. This is because the food components that most people enjoy eating without allergic reactions can cause life-threatening phenomena to allergy sufferers with sensitive immune systems.
Director Bong Joon-ho’s movie ‘Parasite’ features a peach allergy patient. Kook Moon-gwang (played by Lee Jeong-eun), who works as a housekeeper in the house, has an allergy to peaches. Even a very small amount of scratched peach skins and blown into the air causes a severe reaction. Most cases of food allergy are caused by eating, but as Moon-gwang did in the play, sometimes systemic and life-threatening symptoms such as anaphylaxis appear in very small amounts that are difficult for others to notice.
Patients with various food allergies come to the allergist’s office, and even if we tell them exactly what causes them and how to avoid them, people around them will say, “Where is such a disease?” There are many things that we hear and can’t help but eat the cause food and fall into a life-threatening situation. It is true that Korea’s social awareness of food allergy is low, as it is regrettable that these phenomena are repeated over and over once more.
The causes of food allergy vary greatly by age. In children and adolescents, milk, eggs and nuts (peanuts, walnuts, almonds, etc.) are the main cause, whereas adult patients often react to seafood, including shellfish (crab, shrimp, etc.), grains (wheat flour, buckwheat, etc.), nuts and fruits. . Patients with fruit allergy, such as apples and peaches, eat well without any symptoms when they are young, but develop allergies as adults. I know how delicious peaches in summer or apples in fall are, but following developing an allergy, the discomfort from eating them outweighs the pleasure.
Shellfish and nuts are relatively common sources of food allergy. In addition, among the food allergies that appear in adulthood, there are several food allergies with very specific patterns. One of them is food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis. There is no reaction to this disease when only the causative food (flour is representative) is eaten, but a pattern of severe reactions such as anaphylaxis occurs when the food is eaten and exercised or consumed with alcohol. So I don’t think it’s very easy to inform people around you that you have food allergies or to explain them every time.
In addition, there is an allergy in which symptoms appear not immediately following eating, but following some time has passed following eating. This is an allergy to red meat (pork, beef, lamb, etc.) called Alphagal syndrome. Alphagal syndrome occurs several hours following eating the causative food, so anaphylaxis may occur while sleeping, which can lead to a more dangerous situation.
Food allergies can manifest in many different ways. So, if you are having a meal with someone for the first time, especially if you are in a situation where you have to score points with someone, ask ‘if there is any food you can’t eat’. If you ask and there is no food you can’t eat, you’re lucky, and if you have food you can’t eat, you can probably be a very considerate and respectful person. When this culture spreads, food allergy sufferers in Korea will be able to lead safe and healthy lives.
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