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Self-reported adverse reactions to common foods higher in adults with asthma

Individuals with asthma more frequently report adverse reactions to foods than people without asthma, according to study results.

The researchers also reported patients with asthma more frequently showed immunoglobulin-E reactivity to common foods.

“We also show that asthmatics reported symptoms from the gastrointestinal-tract in a greater frequency compared to non-asthmatics and the most common foods causing self-reported symptoms were nuts, fruits, milk, dairy products, alcohol, peanuts and shellfish,” Georgios Rentzos, MD, allergist at the University Hospital of Sahlgrenska in Sweden, and colleagues wrote. “The non-asthmatic subjects seem to report adverse reaction to the same food items as asthmatics but at a significantly lower frequency.”

Rentzos and colleagues conducted a cross sectional study on 1,527 participants aged 18 to 75 years to determine the commonness of self-reported adverse reactions and immunoglobulin-E (IgE) sensitization to different foods as well as the occurrence of food-related gastrointestinal symptoms in adults with and without asthma.

Participants with asthma (n = 583) reported a significantly higher prevalence of adverse reactions to food (53.1%) than people without asthma (29.8%) (P < .001).

The most common foods participants with asthma experienced adverse reactions to included hazelnut (20.5%), apple (17.5%) and kiwi (14.3%).

The researchers reported that participants with asthma also expressed more gastrointestinal symptoms to foods including hazelnut (13% vs. 5.2%, P < .001), apple (11.4% vs. 6%, P < .001) and milk (10.4% vs. 5.7%, P < .01).

The researchers also noted participants with asthma are more frequently sensitized to the foods tested in the study than participants without asthma (38.2% vs. 13.9%, P < .001).

There are some limitations to the study, according to the researchers.

“It is well known that self-reported food intolerance yield a much higher prevalence compared to prevalence from performed food challenges and IgE data for food allergies,” the researchers wrote. – by Ryan McDonald

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.