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 | Chronic hives can be a debilitating medical condition, and it is common for a person's hives to be due to an unknown cause. Many people are concerned that their hives may be caused by an unrecognized food or drug additive or preservative. Read about what a recent study found on food and drug additives and preservatives causing chronic hives. |
| Chronic Hives are Not Due to Preservatives in Foods and Medicines
A group of researchers in San Diego and New York recently performed a study, published in 2014, to determine how commonly food and drug additives and preservatives cause chronic urticaria. One hundred people with chronic hives were studied; forty-three of these people suspected that food or drug additives or preservatives were the cause of their symptoms. All patients were administered various additives and preservatives separately as an oral challenge to determine the cause of their urticaria. The following additives and preservatives were used...
| Reactions to Food Additives and Preservatives
A diagnosis of allergy to food additives is suspected when a person experiences various reactions to prepared foods or when eating at restaurants, but not from foods prepared at home. Various seemingly unrelated foods might in fact have common ingredients, such as food colorings or preservatives. Once a food or food additive is suspected, allergy testing (using skin testing or RAST) may be possible to certain natural substances such as annatto, carmine, and saffron. Testing for synthetic substances is not possible or reliable, and therefore a trial of a preservative-free diet may support a diagnosis of food additive reactions.
| Hives Symptoms and Treatment
Urticaria, commonly known as hives, is a disorder affecting up to 20% of the population at some point in their lives. The swelling that sometimes accompanies hives, called "angioedema," can lead to swelling of the face, hands and feet. Hives usually feel very itchy and burning (although angioedema is often painful) or cause a tingling sensation — and these symptoms often make people miserable. While people who suffer from hives are not alone, this isn’t much of a comfort to them when their lives are consumed with not knowing why they have their symptoms. Hives can literally turn a person’s life upside down: They’re uncomfortable. One often doesn’t know what’s causing their hives, why they can’t sleep and why they don’t want to leave their homes or go to work — all of this can lead to emotional distress. Yet, hives are often easily treated with medications.
| Immunotherapy for Food Allergies
Food allergies are becoming increasingly common around the world, with approximately 8% of all children and 5% of all adults having at least one food allergy. The most common food... Read more
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