Causes of pediatric food allergies

  Infants and young children are vulnerable to food allergy. The intestinal immune system of newborn infants is immature and the mucosal barrier function of the intestine is not well developed making them susceptible to allergic reactions to foreign foods (e.g. proteins). According to the data, half of the allergic children attending the clinic do not have a family history. So to some extent, a large proportion of these visits are due to growth and developmental problems. Of course, one also needs to be alert for the presence of certain infections, allergic diseases or a combination of autoimmune diseases, metabolic genetic or congenital anatomical abnormalities.  The causes of pediatric food allergy/intolerance are often multifactorial, i.e., environmental (e.g., seasonal factors), body immune status (e.g., vaccinations, other endogenous factors: e.g., normal gut flora), allergen exposure (feeding), and genetic factors (allergic and other disease gene polymorphisms). However, each child seen has different major factors and major conflicting aspects.  Do not consider the type of formula fed as the only factor, and do not consider the rash (eczema, acute/chronic urticaria) or the appearance of the stool (sticky, bloody and constipated stool) or the results of routine stool tests (white blood cells, red blood cells or occult blood) as the main basis for the choice of feeding method and formula, or even normal stool as the goal, while ignoring the advantages of breast milk and the mother’s goal of raising her baby “successfully”. The goal of “successful birth education” (healthy development of mind and body: physical growth, mental, intellectual and behavioral development).  Types of pediatric food allergy and intolerance 1, rapid-onset: <1h, IgE-mediated; triggered by small measurements, with heavy allergic reactions, skin symptoms and blood-stained stools are common.  2.Late onset: >24h – several days, T cell mediated (IgG), able to tolerate normal doses, skin, gastrointestinal or respiratory symptoms are common.  3, Mixed or alternating type: typical symptoms may appear after 6-8 hours, gastrointestinal symptoms are common.  Current awareness bias or misconceptions 1. Parents and physicians are unclear about the overall, dynamic status of the child attending the clinic. It is not clear whether the child is healthy, subhealthy (or has problems during growth and development) or sick. Rushing to conclusions, resulting in excessive consultation, over-diagnosis and over-treatment.  2.Lack of integrated medicine and systemic medicine view of disease. The rush to seek authoritative diagnosis, excessive attention to laboratory tests (repeated stool routine culture, the pursuit of colonoscopy, allergens, molecular biological indicators of Western medicine disease diagnosis), only focus on drug treatment, milk powder product selection, how to avoid food mother.  Reflections and suggestions 1, promote the modern medical view of disease.  2. Update the concept of parents: establish a record of the overall performance of food allergy and dynamic laboratory observation, (as mothers in developed countries do, carefully write the baby’s growth log, recipes I; organize records of dynamic experiments and test results; carefully choose to deal with breastfeeding and formula feeding, vaccination and various antibiotics, probiotics and other choices.  3, professional and general practitioners need to follow the principles of standardized and individualized diagnosis and treatment of diseases (both to follow the current “guidelines” and to make specific analysis of the specific children seen) from the “era” point of view, whether it is Western medicine The basic concepts of disease, infection, allergy, immunity, etc. are being revised and updated. In addition, in the face of China’s long-standing Chinese culture and large population, the road of integration of Chinese and Western medicine can solve the problem of difficult and expensive medical care and increasingly complex disease diagnosis and treatment.  4.Improve the management of food allergy and intolerant pediatric patients and the promotion of scientific knowledge through Internet medical means.