If your child sneezes and coughs frequently, especially during seasonal transitions, or if he/she often has itchy rashes and raised rashes, or if he/she experiences abdominal pain, cramps, nausea and even vomiting after eating certain foods, your child may be allergic. Allergy can occur in any child, but such reactions are more common in children whose families have allergic diseases (asthma, allergic rhinitis, etc.). This is because the allergy is inherited in families. A family history of allergies is the most important factor determining a person's susceptibility to allergic disease. If one parent has an allergic disease, the child's risk of developing allergies is approximately 50%. If both parents have allergies, the child's risk increases to 70%.
What is allergy?
In summary, allergies are diseases that are very important for our health and protect us from infection, cancer etc. It is the result of our immune system, which protects against diseases such as diseases, misinterpreting a normally harmless substance (such as a food or pollen) and recognizing it as a potentially harmful substance.
Early diagnosis and treatment of childhood allergies will increase your child's quality of life, It will reduce the number of days of absence from school.
Allergy Symptoms in Children
- Skin rashes (atopic dermatitis, eczema)
- Dust, Coughing, shortness of breath, frequent breathing (asthma) after exposure to allergens such as cigarette smoke, pollen or during exertion
- Sneezing, runny nose or itching in the eyes (allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, etc.)
- Vomiting after feeding, abdominal pain, rashes, constant restlessness in the baby (food allergy)
Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever, Allergic Nasal Flu)
Allergic rhinitis is the most common childhood disease caused by allergies. Symptoms include runny and itchy nose, sneezing, postnasal drip (nasal drip), and nasal congestion. Especially in a child with seasonal (spring) allergic rhinitis, redness, discharge and itching in the eyes (allergic pink eye) are also often seen together.
Recurrent ear infections and impaired hearing due to constant nasal congestion. It can cause chronic ear problems or recurrent sinus infections, such as fluid buildup that can reduce ear function. Allergic rhinitis is the most common cause of chronic nasal congestion in children. A child with a blocked nose lies with his or her mouth open at night, which can sometimes lead to snoring. This problem also causes the child to sleep restlessly throughout the night, resulting in fatigue, irritability and distraction in the child the next day; Therefore, it may cause deterioration in school success in the long term. When left untreated, nasal congestion and mouth breathing can negatively affect the development of teeth and bones of the face. Treatment of allergies that cause nasal congestion prevents these problems.
Food Allergy
What a breastfeeding mother eats can cause allergic reactions in a sensitive baby. When these foods are removed from the mother's diet, allergic disorders in the baby significantly regress or disappear.
Most food allergies begin in infancy and early childhood. During this period, milk and egg allergy is most common and tends to disappear in childhood, after about one and a half to two years of age. Apart from these, foods such as fish, shellfish (crab, lobster, crayfish and shrimp), soy, tree nuts (e.g. walnuts, cashews, pistachios, hazelnuts), fruits (especially red ones) and wheat most often cause allergic reactions. They open it. Those that cause the most severe reactions (such as intense allergic rash, angioedema, anaphylactic shock) are generally peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. Food allergens also vary depending on where you live. For example, peanut and tree nut allergies are common in the US, UK and Australia, but fish and seafood allergies are more common in South East Asia and Southern Europe. He/she should be aware of the possibility of a life-threatening reaction that prevents breathing by causing edema in the tube, causing a sudden drop in blood pressure and shock.
Asthma
In this case, Children are often allergic to things they inhale. As a general rule, the child The more often and longer the patient is exposed to the allergen, the earlier it begins. For example, a child carrying allergy genes may begin to show respiratory symptoms at an early age when exposed to repeated, long-term exposure to plant allergens such as pollen, animal dander, dust mites, or cockroach allergens. These are complaints such as frequent and recurring cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, frequent breathing, cough during exercise (running, playing sports, etc.). When these complaints are detected, a doctor should be consulted and the necessary treatment should be started as soon as possible. The treatment given varies depending on the severity of asthma; While sometimes only oral allergy medications (antihistamines, montelukas, etc.) may be sufficient to keep asthma under control, sometimes it may be necessary to apply continuous inhaler therapy (administered through the respiratory tract) and corticosteroid therapy for a while in addition to these treatments. Timely initiation of treatment is very important in preventing asthma from becoming permanent due to the permanent change seen in the bronchial walls, which we call remodeling.
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