In part one of our Academic Blog Series for Food 过敏 Awareness week Béré马奥尼博士，来自 心理学院, leads a team of 太阳2注册登录中心 researchers who are exploring what is it like psychologically for adults living with the severest of allergic reactions or anaphylaxis. 这是马奥尼博士和他的团队成员 Eleanor Bradley教授, 健康和科学研究主任, 还有史蒂夫·奥希基医生, Honorary Professor 而且 Consultant Physician at Worcestershire Acute Hospital NHS Trust, 讨论 什么是食物过敏，和食物过敏生活在一起是什么感觉.
什么是食物过敏?
过敏 is a condition in which the immune system can be the body’s enemy rather than its ally. 这个词 过敏 was coined in 1906 by Viennese paediatrician Clemens von Pirquet, 现在被许多人视为现代免疫学的奠基人[1]. 那时, his ideas were at odds with dominant medical thinking that the body’s immune system is protective [2]. Pirquet 而且 colleagues’ clinical observations showed some individuals are in fact 高度敏感 他们身体的免疫反应. 他们用了这个词 过敏(源自希腊语 紧密相联的 意义 其他的，不同的，奇怪的) to describe this severe 而且 unusual immune reaction to what they termed 过敏原. 医学和大众对两者的关注 过敏 而且 过敏原 有着悠久的历史.
理查三世是被草莓毒死的吗?
Claims of severe 食物过敏 were described in the writings of the ancient Greeks 而且 Romans, 他的建议(备受争议)是 理查三世 是被草莓故意毒死的吗.
今天在英国和其他西方国家, much of the work in 过敏 clinics involves diagnosing 而且 treating individuals with 食物过敏, 还有其他形式的过敏，比如哮喘, 花粉热, 以及对药物或毒液的反应，比如蜜蜂或黄蜂蛰伤. In his work at the 过敏 Clinic run by Worcester Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, Professor O’Hickey has found that popular underst而且ing about 食物过敏 is not good. Here are some better 而且 lesser known facts about the condition:
众所周知的过敏事实:
- 食物过敏是一个深刻的问题 过敏反应 被一种或多种食物引起的
- the substance that triggers the allergic reaction is called an 过敏原 而且 often it is a small or specific part of a food that can cause this
- 其中最 常见的 过敏原 are milk, egg, peanuts, sesame seeds, kiwi fruit, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, wheat 而且 soy
鲜为人知的过敏事实:
- 在某些情况下 过敏原 可以通过 烹饪
- 任何食物都可以是 过敏原 并引发过敏反应
- food (而且 any) 过敏 can change as the individual ages - you can ‘grow out’ of a particular 过敏 although often this will be replaced by another 过敏
- 食物过敏的发病率因地域而异, 例如，花生过敏几乎是闻所未闻的 以色列
- the likelihood of having 食物过敏 depends on many factors but 遗传学 扮演一个角色
食物不耐受的区别是什么, 过敏和可能危及生命的过敏反应?
根据 英国过敏症 the UK has some of the highest prevalence rates for allergies in the world. 然而, greater public awareness around these issues is not matched by better public underst而且ing of the differences between 食物不耐受, 过敏, 以及严重的危及生命的过敏反应.
在美国，最近的一项调查显示超过40,000 adults found that among respondents around 19% claimed to have a 食物过敏 when in fact only 11% had what they called a ‘convincing’ 食物过敏 –one that had been diagnosed by a medical doctor [3]. 很明显, 确定食物过敏的普遍程度是有问题的, especially when we rely on individuals’ self-reports of having an 过敏.
Reports are often shaped by psychological factors such as 常见的-sense beliefs about health, 食物和术语的含义 灵敏度, 不宽容 而且 过敏.
Exploring psychological factors is central to current debates about whether the 食物过敏 ‘explosion’ is real or in part the result of greater public awareness 而且 (mis)underst而且ing of 过敏 [4]. 根据 英国过敏和临床免疫学会, 食物过敏 而且 食物不耐受 都是 食物过敏反应 但有重要的区别:
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食物不耐受 | 食物过敏 |
| 它有多普遍?? |
Around 20% of the population report altering their diet because they believe they are intolerant
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Around 4% of adults 而且 6 - 8% of children are diagnosed with some type of 过敏
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| 它与免疫系统有关吗? |
No
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是的
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| 症状是什么? |
不太严重
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Severe, 而且 potentially life-threatening for some at risk of anaphylaxis (severest reaction)
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| 一个人对食物过敏原的反应有多快? |
Typically, within hours 而且 up to several days after eating it
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通常是在吃完后1小时内
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结论
So, in Part One of our Food 过敏 Awareness blog posts we underst而且 what 食物过敏 is, how 不宽容s 而且 allergies differ 而且 that psychological factors can influence this. In 太阳2注册登录中心系列的第二部分 we will learn about our Psychological research into 食物过敏, how people can be diagnosed 而且 its effect on our lives 而且 how food allergies differ from those to wasp sting or prescription drugs.
太阳2注册登录中心的心理学研究 旨在解决职业生活中的一些主要问题, 个人经验, 太阳2注册登录中心的社区和社区之外. 研究机会提供给学生和太阳2注册登录中心的 心理学学士学位 可以让你发现研究方法， 使用太阳2注册登录中心的设施 而且 向太阳2注册登录中心的学者学习 支持他们的利益.
All views expressed in this blog are the Academic’s own 而且 do not represent the views, policies or opinions of the 太阳2注册登录中心 or any of its partners.