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Another man's poison: what is food allergy? ANOTHER MAN'S POISON: WHAT IS FOOD ALLERGY?
Jane's story
Jane's health problems began as a baby. She had colic and vomited often, and at the age of three months developed eczema on her face and arms. Her mother had hay-fever every summer and her father had suffered from asthma as a child - both complaints are common allergies. Even before Jane was born, their family doctor was well aware that they were an atopic family - in other words, they were prone to allergies. As Jane grew older she developed asthma and hay-fever, although only mildly. Her asthma seemed to get worse when there was a cat in the room. Using extracts of grass pollen and cat fur, and inserting minute amounts of them under her skin (a skin-prick test), the doctor found that she was indeed allergic to both these substances - her arm came up in a red, itchy bump where the extract had entered the skin.
Once or twice during her early years, Jane's mouth and tongue swelled up enormously after eating, and she had to be rushed to hospital. After thinking carefully about what she had eaten on these occasions, Jane's mother concluded that it was peanuts that had caused this alarming reaction. The doctor used skin-prick tests again, and they confirmed that Jane had a food allergy -she was extremely sensitive to peanuts. Other skin-prick tests were negative, so it seemed that she could eat most foods safely.
Even though Jane avoided peanuts carefully from then on, there were occasional problems. One day when Jane was about eight, and her parents were holding a party, she handed round a bowl of nuts to the guests. Later she rubbed her eyelids, and they soon began to swell and itch furiously. Although her hay-fever and asthma subsided as Jane grew older, her sensitivity to peanuts remained the same.
As an adult, Jane had a successful career which involved a great deal of travelling and eating out. Wherever she ate she had to be careful to avoid anything with peanuts - even the slightest trace of them. All was well until Jane now in her thirties, ordered some cheesecake in a restaurant. She had asked the waiter if the brown powder on the surface of the cheesecake contained any nuts, and he assured her that it was pure chocolate. Usually it was - but t he chef had run out of chocolate that day and had been forced to use something else. Unfortunately for Jane, that something else was finely grated nuts, including some peanuts.
Within seconds of taking her first mouthful of cheesecake, Jane's mouth itching. Her tongue began to swell and her breathing became difficult. She could no longer speak, and, as the swelling blocked her windpipe, she began to turn blue. Within minutes she had collapsed on the floor.
The colleagues she was dining with were horrified and had no idea what to do, but a stranger at the next table intervened. By an extraordinary, and lucky chance he was a doctor. Grabbing a spoon from the table, he pushed the handle over the edge of her tongue and managed to open up the blocked windpipe. As he did so, Jane gradually turned from blue to pink, but she was still in a state of collapse (known as anaphylactic shock) and her face still horribly swollen. Meanwhile, someone had telephoned the hospital, and another doctor arrived with the life-saving medicines that Jane needed. These were injected and she slowly regained consciousness.
Thereafter, Jane was even more careful about avoiding peanuts in her food. She realized that she could easily have died had it not been for the presence of a doctor. By scrupulously avoiding peanuts she has remained well.
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