Maybe you had milk allergy as a child and have some health condition not easily diagnosed. Milk allergy involves the immune system, but lactose intolerance involves the digestive system. It is important not to confuse them.
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e approximation is that some 2.5 percent of children under three year of age are allergic to milk. That number is different in different societies and it seems small, but for affected babies and children it is a real problem.
In most cases a kid outgrow the condition in the first three years, but there are adult who can't stand milk for their whole life.
Another often overlooked fact is that some people can look like they have no milk problems, but if they have developed chronic symptoms - the condition is just reduced - that can confuse their doctors a lot.
So, if you had milk allergy as a child and have some health condition not easily diagnosed, it is wise to do a milk test.
When talking about milk, we are talking about cow's milk because it is most used and other types of milk are in minority.
Milk has two parts: "curd", that contains 80% of milk's proteins, including several called caseins, and "whe", the watery part, that holds the other 20% of proteins. You child may be allergic to proteins in either or both parts of milk.
When a child is allergic to milk its body sees the milk proteins as dangerous invaders, produces antibodies that release, among other, histamine, which in turn causes symptoms like wheezing, nausea, headache, stomachache, and itchy hives.
The allergy reactions usually happens within minutes to hours after eating foods that contain milk proteins and they last less than a day.
The allergy affects three systems: the skin (red, bumpy rashes, eczema, redness and swelling around the mouth), the gastrointestinal tract (belly cramps, diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting), and the respiratory tract (runny nose, itchy, watery eyes, sneezing, coughing and wheezing).
Most people have some of the reactions listed above, but a few people may have a very strong reaction called anaphylaxis.
That's bad: that severe reaction causes swelling of the mouth, throat, and airways leading to the lungs, resulting in an inability to breathe. There is also a dangerous drop in blood pressure which can make someone to pass out and may quickly lead to shock.
It is important not to confuse milk allergy with lactose intolerance: Milk allergy is a problem involving the immune system, but lactose intolerance involves the digestive system. If your doctor suspects that you have milk allergy he will do a simple skin test to prove it.
So, what affected people can do? It seems easy: the patient should avoid milk and cheese. However, things are not that simple. If you are allergic to milk, you need to read food labels carefully and not eat anything that you're not sure about.
Now, you should learn that you should not eat: yogurt, milk, pudding, margarine, butter, butter flavouring, butter fat, and creamers of any kind. You also should not eat any food that contains: lactalbumin, lactoalbumin phosphate, lactaglobulin, lactose, casein, calcium casein, casein hydrolysate, magnesium casein, potassium casein, rennet casein, and sodium casein.
Here there's no easy way: you simple must learn all that and read food labels carefully. Another advice: be careful if you eat soy cheese: the label may say "milk-free," but sometimes it contains milk protein and it's better to avoid it.
Label reading is enough in most cases, but if you have a severe case of milk allergy your doctor will give you shot of epinephrine and you will carry it with you all the time.
It looks like an injection and if you accidentally eat something with milk you will immediately give yourself a shot and call emergency rescue.
After the shot you must stay in the hospital for four to eight hours and if everything's fine then you can go home. ■