Childhood Food Allergies Linked to Asthma and Environmental Allergies later in life

Category: Celiac and Food Allergy News

After testing 2 million children, Quest Laboratory finds that childhood food allergies are common

They also discovered these kids are at higher risk of developing environmental allergies and asthma later in life.

This information is available in the Quest Diagnostics Health Trends ™ Report. This was the largest ever national food allergy study released by Quest Diagnostics.

A Common CauseQuest's study proves that food allergies are more common among children than we think, and they lead to environmental allergies and asthma later in life.

Allergies are one of the most common health conditions in America, affecting 20% of the population. The Center for Disease Control has issued a recent report claiming that cases of asthma are increasing. Doctors are beginning to have a bigger interest in allergy science. Quest Diagnostics, a laboratory testing company, is the latest company to join in on allergy research. Quest has released the early results of their momentous study, "Allergies Across America" this week. The complete study will be released to the public at the end of this month, but the initial results are astounding.

The study reveals six key findings about eggs, milk, peanuts, and wheat:

The study also showed that children 5 and under enrolled in Medicaid, which is free public health care from the government, didn't get allergy testing. Quest said that they were 18% less likely to be tested for food allergies than children of the same age group covered by private insurance.

In an interview, study investigator Harvey W. Kaufman, M.D., senior medical director of Quest Diagnostics says:

"Allergy and asthma often go hand in hand, and the development of asthma is often linked to allergies in childhood via the allergy march. Given the growing incidence of asthma in the U.S., our study underscores the need for clinicians to evaluate and treat patients, particularly young children, suspected of having food allergies in order to minimize the prospect that more severe allergic conditions and asthma will develop with age. It also demonstrates that patients with asthma should minimize their exposure to allergens that could trigger a severe asthma response."

This article shows that without allergy testing and early treatment, kids with hidden food allergies run the risk of having problems with hay fever and asthma when they grow up.