Is Your Child Allergic?

If your child has a “cold” every few weeks; morning sniffles, sneezing and stuffy nose; wheezing, chronic eczema or hives; or just lack of energy, finicky appetite and failure to gain weight, an allergic condition should be suspected.

Many people, including some physicians, make light of allergic states. They feel the youngster will “outgrow” such childish things and that these symptoms are primarily a nuisance. Such an attitude Is a mistake! While some children may lose their allergic reactions after the age of puberty they unfortunately are in the minority.

Dr. Norman Clein of Seattle, Washington, followed one hundred children from infancy to the age of twenty. Although eczema in early life might disappear spontaneously, or more quickly following treatment, it was later replaced by croup, hay fever or asthma. Only about ten per cent lost all evidence of major allergy. The condition therefore is of considerable importance.

What Is Allergy?

Scientific definitions are cumbersome. For all practical purposes allergy may be defined as altered reactivity–an abnormal reaction of the body cells to an ordinarily harmless substance. It is well described by the old adage “What is one man’s meat is another man’s poison.”

Whereas one child may, without harm, inhale house dust and the many pollens filling the air during certain parts of the year, another reacts with the misery of sneezes, wheezes and itches. While one may munch strawberries to his heart’s content, the unfortunate allergic may break out with a tormenting crop of hives after one bite of this luscious fruit.

Allergic individuals have the tendency to become sensitized upon repeated contact to one or many substances which have no effect on the normal body. Once sensitization has taken place exposure to enough of this allergen–be it food, drink, house dust or pollen–produces symptoms which depend upon the organs involved These reactions are markedly specific.

Histamine Theory

It is believed that when body cells come in contact with the particular protein fraction to which they have been sensitized, a substance called histamine is released. If this chemical is injected into the skin a hive is produced. This is accompanied by swelling, redness and itching. Thus, asthma may be thought of as hives in the bronchial tubes and hay fever as hives in the lining of the nose. The antihistaminic drugs tend to prevent or modify the release or action of histamine and are helpful in some cases. The fact that their efficacy is limited points to the presence of other factors in the allergic reaction.

Why Does Allergy Develop?

This is the $64 question and science does not have all the answers. However, some of them are known and others make interesting speculation.

1. Inheritance. The tendency to allergy definitely runs in families. Thus the child of one allergic and one normal parent may or may not develop allergy. When both parents suffer from allergy, the probability is much greater.
2. Diet. The influence of proper or improper food on the development of allergic states in the human being has not yet been scientifically evaluated. However, the cat experiments conducted by Dr. F. M. Pottenger, Jr. are certainly convincing as far as felines are concerned. He found that limiting the diet of healthy cats to cooked meat and pasteurized milk produced rapid physical degeneration. The adult animals became sickly in a few months, but the most marked effects appeared in the second and third generations of cats on this diet. Their bones became demineralized and weakened. They suffered from sinus trouble and arthritis. Many were stillborn and others were runts. Interestingly enough, the incidence of allergic reactions increased from about 5 per cent in the original cats to as high as 80 per cent of the third generation. And this group was frequently too sickly to reproduce its kind! While a change after birth to raw meat and raw milk brought about some improvement in the third generation kittens, it took on the average three more generations on this diet to restore normal health and bony structure. Because man consumes a mixed and varied diet and his body chemistry differs somewhat from that of cats, these experimental findings do not permit direct comparison. Nevertheless, they suggest that it might be wise to include plenty of fresh, raw foods in your child’s diet.
3. Stress. The nervous system and endocrine glands respond to stresses and strains of various sorts in a manner which enables the body to best cope with the situation. In the case of fright or anger the adrenal gland pours forth adrenalin. This increases the rate and strength of the heart beat and supplies the muscles with extra blood at the expense of the stomach and intestines. Digestion is much slowed. The body is ready for fight or flight. Other complex reactions also take place. This is known as the Alarm Reaction of Dr. Hans Selye. If the stress continues, the normal body adjusts and reaches a state of equilibrium during which there is increased resistance to stress. If the nervous and glandular system are functioning below par, or if the strain is too long continued, resistance decreases and exhaustion appears. Allergy may be one manifestation of poor adaption or exhaustion. Starvation, severe malnutrition, acute and chronic infection, fatigue, emotional tension, injuries, drugs and toxins of various sorts are examples of adequate stress factors which may so strain the adaptation mechanism that disease appears. In allergy there seems to be a deficiency of adrenal hormones, among which is cortisone.
4. Overexposure to Allergens. The first sign of allergy often follows contact with a large amount of an allergenic substance. Thus Johnny may develop hay fever or asthma for the first time after playing in a hay loft. Or he may break out with hives after gorging himself on chocolate fudge, when chocolate never before caused trouble. Sensitivity to foods is particularly likely to develop if large amounts of one food are forced following a gastrointestinal upset. At this time the intestines may be irritated and absorb too much unchanged food before adequate digestion renders it harmless. Do not urge an acutely ill child to eat.

Symptoms

1. Nasal Allergy. Stuffy nose, sniffles, watery discharge, frequent “colds,” itching eyes, the “allergic salute” (rubbing an itching nose).
2. Bronchial Asthma. This is preceded by a sense of “tightness” in the chest which is followed by labored breathing with noisy, prolonged expiration. The child is always more comfortable in a sitting position. The “wheezing” may be ushered in by an attack of nasal allergy. Both child and parents may be badly frightened by the first attack and fear increases wheezing. There is no real cause for alarm as death is practically unknown except in severe asthmatics of many years standing. The bronchial tubes are narrowed and there is more difficulty in expelling air from the lungs than in taking it in. Suffocation does not occur.
3. Gastrointestinal Allergy. This appears when the intestines or stomach have become sensitized to a food. Colicky pains, vomiting and diarrhea in infants are often due to allergy. Excessive gas or intractable constipation may be other signs. Appendicitis may be suspected in some cases. Hemorrhoids may be of allergic origin.
4. Skin Allergy. Hives are usually due to foods, but may be the result of a low grade infection or contact with some offending substance such as nylon, feathers or animal dander. Eczema often appears on the face and extremities. The hollow in the bend of the elbows and behind the knees are common sites for a reddened itching eruption.
5. Cerebral Allergy. In a few cases temper tantrums, surliness and even epilepsy have been traced to certain foods. Migraine and other recurrents headaches are often due to allergy.

The Effect of Uncontrolled Allergy

Allergic reactions, aside from the local manifestations, have a bad effect on general health. Allergic children often have difficulty in gaining weight. Their nervous systems are frequently adversely affected. They tend to be overactive, jittery, fearful, forgetful and below par generally. They fatigue easily. Unless urged to do so, asthmatics often feel they are “different” and refuse to take part in normal play.

An over-protective attitude on the part of parents may contribute to this reaction. Pampering and over-solicitousness should be avoided.

Successful treatment is followed by better social and scholastic accomplishments, gain in weight, appetite and energy. A seemingly retarded and listless child may rapidly develop into the cheerful extrovert that his parents always expected him to be.

One example will be given. A young woman of twenty, who for years had suffered from mild nasal obstruction and sniffles, suddenly developed such marked nasal obstruction that she had to breathe through her mouth most of the time. Because her dentist found six to eight new cavities every six months, he had recently asked her to drink six glasses of milk daily instead of three. She was allergic to milk. Without this beverage her nasal trouble disappeared in one week. Of more importance is the fact that, even without milk, she has had only four cavities in two years. This illustrates the harmful effect that allergy may have on general body metabolism.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Before allergy can be discovered and treated it must first be suspected by parents and brought to a physician’s attention. He will pay particular attention to the history and may sometimes suspect the offending substance from that alone.

Skin tests are usually necessary and are not as painful as they sound. Most children after their first experience with these soon take pride in showing how brave they can be. Incidentally, while tests to house dust and pollens are very reliable, positive tests to foods may mean only past, present or future clinical sensitivity. Foods that produce a hive or wheal on skin testing must be avoided only if they are found to be trouble makers by this criterion: Elimination from the diet relieves symptoms; eating the suspected food is followed by a recurrence of the original trouble.

A record of the pulse rate before and after meals is a new and important method of discovering food and inhalant allergies. A definite increase in the number of beats per minute after contact with an allergen suggests this type of allergy.

Treatment consists of the avoidance when possible of foods and other substances proven allergenic. Children sensitive to feathers may sleep without pillows or have them covered with dustproof material. Hay fever and house dust sensitivity respond nicely in most cases to treatment with injections of small amounts of these substances. Nutrition is important. A diet high in protein, vitamins (particularly C), fruits and vegetables, but low in refined carbohydrates, is helpful. However, diet alone is not enough. Children markedly allergic to certain foods will get worse until these are discovered and eliminated. Severe hay fever and dust allergies need injection treatment. Antihistaminic drugs should be used only for relief of temporary flareups and not as a substitute for more logical treatment. Some children exhibit toxic reactions to these chemicals. Adrenalin (epinephrine) by injection or inhalation is very helpful during asthmatic attacks. Other drugs have their place in treatment. Allergy must be differentiated from sinus infections, enlarged tonsils and adenoids and other conditions.

Conclusions

The allergic child labors under physical and emotional handicaps and should be given the benefit of modern medical help. This should be done before irreversible changes have taken place. The early asthmatic youngster can be greatly relieved. The chronic case that has developed resistant infection in the bronchial tubes is much more of a problem.

Since thirty per cent of untreated hay fever cases eventually develop asthma and very few under specific treatment do so, the answer is obvious. Allergic management has definite preventive aspects.