For breakfast today, you had your usual bowl of cereal and piece of toast spread with almond butter. In a perplexing turn of events, you found yourself a while later in the hospital emergency room, getting treated for a sudden outbreak of hives.
It turns that as of this morning, you’re suddenly allergic to the almond butter you’ve eaten nearly every day for years.
How does that even happen?
What does it mean to have an allergic reaction
According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, an allergen is a substance, usually harmless, that triggers a defensive response from your immune system. This response is called an allergic reaction.
Your immune system is made up of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to fight off infections and diseases. If your immune system identifies a substance as a threat to your health, it will attempt to expel the allergen from your body through sneezing, wheezing, watery discharge from the eyes and nose, and in severe cases, anaphylactic shock.
Common allergens include pollen, animal dander, mold spores, insect stings and bites, certain proteins in food products, and medicines. Synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon can cause allergic contact dermatitis, which often shows up as a rash on the skin.
Can you develop allergies as you get older
Most allergies, especially food allergies, are identified in childhood, but the incidence among senior adults is on the rise. This may be because of several factors, including:
- Immunosenescence
With age, your immune system undergoes a remodeling of sorts, in a process called immunosenescence. As a result of this remodeling, it is possible that while your body becomes weaker at fighting off bacterial infections and viral diseases, it grows hypersensitive to allergens.
When the immune system goes into overdrive to protect your body, it may start identifying any random substance as a potential allergen. Because of this, foods that you have been eating for years may suddenly leave you feeling nauseated, cause vomiting or diarrhea, or cause your face to swell and your throat to close up.
- Weakened digestive system
The digestive system inevitably weakens from decades of normal wear and tear on internal organs, and years of eating an unhealthy diet.
The problem becomes worse after taking into account the fact that most senior adults are dealing with multiple chronic illnesses at the same time, and 2 out of 5 senior adults have at least 5 or more prescription drugs in their regular medication schedule. The effect of multiple drugs on an already weakened gut may contribute significantly to the development of food allergies in people of advanced age.
The most common food allergies in older adults
It’s surprising how just a few foods are responsible for 90% of food allergies among all age groups. These 8 foods are:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Fish (including tuna, anchovies, salmon, and trout)
- Shellfish (shrimp, crabs, lobster, crayfish)
- Tree nuts (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews, pistachios)
- Peanuts
- Wheat
- Soybeans
- Changes in skin
Skin grows thinner, drier, and more delicate with age. When it comes into contact with an allergen, skin may react by becoming itchy, red, dry, scaly, or develop a discolored patch that looks and feels like cracked leather.
Common allergens that cause allergic contact dermatitis include ingredients in makeup, perfumes, soaps, shampoos, and skin lotions; laundry and dish detergents; certain plants such as chrysanthemums and poison oak; and jewelry made with nickel. Allergic contact dermatitis is common with synthetic fabrics processed from petroleum, but it is possible to be allergic to natural fibers like wool and even cotton.
How to manage allergies as a senior adult
Treatments and practices for managing allergies include:
- Medications: These can be either prescription or over-the-counter. Allergy medications include antihistamines, decongestants, and corticosteroids.
- Allergen immunotherapy: This treatment method works by introducing tiny amounts of the allergen into the patient’s immune system. The amount of allergen is increased gradually, at regular intervals of once or twice a week, to allow the patient to slowly build a tolerance. Allergen immunotherapy has proved to be successful in treating allergies to pollen, mold, animal dander, and insect venom.
- Preventative care: Depending on how many kinds of allergies you have, avoiding allergens can be either the easiest, or the hardest way to prevent allergic reactions. If you are allergic to just a few things, such as prawns or rayon clothing, avoiding them is relatively easy.
Allergies to food products such as fish may be a tricker to manage, since fish may be an ingredient in many sauces and flavorings. Gelatin extracted from fish scales, skin, and bones is widely used to make gummy candy, making them a potential health risk.
Speak to your doctor
Even if an allergic reaction is extremely mild, the correct approach is to treat it as highly serious. If you find your allergies, especially food allergies getting worse with age, set up an appointment with your doctor at the earliest to discuss them.