Today is July 8, 2014, the ninth World Allergy Day.
Allergies, have become a common disorder affecting children’s healthy growth today. Since allergies are more widespread in coverage and duration than other types of diseases, the shadow of allergies in children is almost everywhere. Liu Haiyan, Department of Pediatric Internal Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University School of Medicine
However, unlike adults, children cannot express their body’s feelings very well. Coupled with the fact that many parents do not have a stockpile of knowledge about allergies, many parents do not even think that their children are allergic. Today, I will briefly talk to parents about allergies.
Understanding the “allergy process”
Allergies in children are characterized by the fact that as children grow older, the manifestations of allergic diseases change in stages and all the systems of the child’s body develop allergic symptoms one after another, a phenomenon known as the “allergic process”. “Parents should be aware of the allergic process of childhood allergies. If they or their loved ones are allergic, they must pay attention to their children’s growth and see which age group their children belong to and whether they have the symptoms of childhood allergies that are prevalent in this age group.
Eczema should not be ignored
Some people call eczema asthma on the skin, so the allergic process usually starts with eczema. Allergy-induced eczema can occur from the time a baby is born until the age of 2, which is the time when “atopic dermatitis” is most prevalent. Not only are the symptoms of allergies more concentrated during this time, but the causes of allergies are also more concentrated, mostly through diet. As the saying goes, illness comes from the mouth, and this is true. Because this is the time when babies do not have much contact with the outside world and the main food is their mother’s milk or formula, food allergies account for a significant portion of the problem. Also striking at almost the same time as eczema is infantile diarrhea. The trigger is often a food allergy as well.
Unlike eczema, the incidence of food-triggered gastrointestinal allergies is not as high as skin disorders, peaking at 1 year of age, then tapering off and remaining with the child as he or she grows.
Inhalant allergies become more common after age 2
After the age of 2, children gradually start to be socially exposed and have more opportunities for contact with the outside world. As the digestive and immune systems improve, food-induced skin and digestive allergies begin to decrease and inhalant allergies become more common. At this time, children begin to experience a variety of allergy-induced respiratory problems, most commonly recurrent rhinitis and asthma.
Allergies are behind many diseases
The biggest problem encountered in the treatment of allergies is the misunderstanding of parents about allergic diseases and even the misguidance of some lay doctors. If your child is diagnosed elsewhere with recurrent colds or abdominal pain, or if it looks like pharyngitis or adenoid hypertrophy, why do you say your child has allergies when you are completely exaggerating the allergy diagnosis? In fact, the significance of allergies is not limited to certain diseases, but is more manifested in the child’s constitution.
In fact, there are many diseases that may be induced by allergies, and behind many diseases there are actually allergies. Some children are allergic, so as they grow older, they may suffer from a variety of diseases in the allergy process, manifesting as rashes in infancy, and then asthma and pharyngitis when they grow older. This is all because the child’s constitution is allergic, as long as it is in a certain condition, or stimulated by the outside world, it may appear the corresponding allergy symptoms. Therefore, for allergic children, many diseases are not just attacks, there are allergy problems behind.
What happens to allergies
Family history of allergies has a very strong influence on children. If both parents are allergic, the chances that the child is also allergic are as high as 80%. Since it is hereditary, why would a child have it even though neither parent has a particular allergic disease? This is because the inheritance of allergies is a genetic inheritance of the body type, not of a particular disease. It is possible that the father has skin allergies and the mother has allergic conjunctivitis, and as a result, the child inherits both of their allergies and may suffer from a certain allergic disease, which may be different from the parents, but the cause of the disease is highly inherited from the allergic body.
Neither parent has ever had allergies, so why would the child still have allergies? Allergies do not always develop, and many people do not have allergy symptoms until they are 20 or 30 years old, and as a result, one day when the external environment or body conditions change, they suddenly develop allergies. So the absence of allergy symptoms does not mean that there is no allergy, and this allergy may be inherited to the child. In addition, non-immediate relatives, such as uncles and aunts, can also have an impact on a child’s allergies, and the way in which allergies are inherited is not very clear at this time.
Can allergies be cured?
When they learn that their child is allergic, the first reaction of many parents is to ask if there is any cure. The truth is that allergies cannot be cured, and some do not require treatment. For people with allergies, if they suffer from the disease repeatedly, then they should be treated actively. There are also some childhood allergic diseases that can cure themselves after adolescence, such as allergic asthma.
There are several goals regarding allergy treatment.
First, to control the disease within a certain range and not to allow the disease to further damage the body. Some allergic rhinitis, for example, can be left behind in the adult stage if not treated properly;
Second, to allow the child to live a normal life. Normal life means that the disease is controlled and stable, and does not affect the child’s study, life and sports. The great characteristic of allergic diseases is that they are easy to repeat, so parents should also have patience and try to cooperate with the treatment so that their children can finish school normally and get through this allergy-prone time before puberty.