[Food allergy in adulthood]

[Frequency of food allergy in students of human medicine of a private university]

OBJECTIVE

Determine the frequency of total food allergy, and to Peruvian products, in Human Medicine students.

METHODS

A study design is observational, descriptive and retrospective was made. Human medicine students, aged 18-25 from a private Peruvian university were included in a type of snowball sampling via electronic messaging. The sample size was calculated using the OpenEpi v3.0 program and the prevalence formula.

RESULTS

We registered 355 students, with a mean age of 20.87 years (SD ± 5.01). A frequency of food allergy was also found in 9.3% of the total participants in terms of native products and common in other countries, the highest percentage are seafood 2.24%, spices and condiments 2.24%, allergy to fruits 1.4%, milk 1.4%, red meat 0.84%.

CONCLUSIONS

The frequencies of self-reported food allergy produced was 9.3% by native Peruvian products and commonly consumed nationwide.

Food Allergy

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The goal of this review is to present an updated summary of the natural history of major childhood and adult food allergies and report recent advances in potential treatments for food allergy.

RECENT FINDINGS

The most common childhood food allergies are typically outgrown by adolescence or adulthood. However, peanut/tree nut allergies appear to more commonly persist into adulthood. Adults can develop new IgE-mediated food allergies; the most common is oral allergy syndrome. There are multiple different approaches being tried as possible treatments for food allergy. The prevalence of food allergy appears to be increasing but the varied approaches to treatment are being actively pursued such that an approved modality may not be too far in the future.

Food Allergy

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The goal of this review is to present an updated summary of the natural history of major childhood and adult food allergies and report recent advances in potential treatments for food allergy.

RECENT FINDINGS

The most common childhood food allergies are typically outgrown by adolescence or adulthood. However, peanut/tree nut allergies appear to more commonly persist into adulthood. Adults can develop new IgE-mediated food allergies; the most common is oral allergy syndrome. There are multiple different approaches being tried as possible treatments for food allergy. The prevalence of food allergy appears to be increasing but the varied approaches to treatment are being actively pursued such that an approved modality may not be too far in the future.