Rice Allergy – Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

Rice allergy has become more common across the world, although rice is the most important staple food for a large part of the world’s human population.  Rice is also found in other foods and most people don’t always know this and if they have a rice allergy they can be affected.

The body’s immune system produces immunoglobulin E (IgE – an antibody) and histamine in response to contact with the allergen. Symptoms can be mild or severe. There are many rice allergy symptoms that can occur and the treatments may vary to how severe the symptoms are and what the symptoms are.

If you have shown minor signs of being allergic to rice try to avoid the intake of rice or any food/products that contains rice. First make sure to diagnose yourself or be diagnosed to be certain if you have rice allergy.

Common Allergies and Symptoms that Strike During Allergy Season

At any given time period, allergy season can be upon you. Depending on what causes your particular allergy, will determine if it will be making you miserable this year during allergy season.

Whether you suffer from common allergies and symptoms at the present time or not, educating yourself about what causes allergies can be helpful to you.  Some allergies may strike when you are well into adulthood and without warning.
 
Being prepared can make the difference in a trip to the emergency room and in a select few cases may save you or a loved one from death.  Allergies are one of the leading causes of illness and reasons cited for patients seeking medical attention from a physician. Taking charge of treating your symptoms can be the first step in taking control of your allergies and reducing their effect on your well-being.

Allergy season generally refers to the time of year when the air is full of what causes allergies.  These substances that cause allergic reactions are called allergens. Allergies occur when an allergen enters the body.  Many times these allergens enter during the season when pollens, dust and others are at elevated levels and spread readily by winds.

In order for the symptoms to occur an allergen must not only enter the body; but also cause an abnormal response.  The typical abnormal response is for the body to release histamine.  The histamine causes the body to produce many of the symptoms.

Common Allergy Causes:

Commonly referred to as “hay fever” or “seasonal allergies”; these symptoms of allergies are caused by one or several of the following:
Pollen from:
• Ragweed
• Grass
• Trees
• Dust that is carried on the wind
• Mold spores from leaf mold.  Leaf mold occurs when leaves from deciduous trees (such as oak, maple or other shade type tree) get wet and lay over time.  Mold forms and spores are released into the air.  The spores travel on the air until you breathe them or they land on you.
Common Symptoms:
• Itching skin
• Itchy watery eyes
• Redness of the eye
• Runny nose
• Sneezing
• Coughing
• Wheezing (difficulty breathing that cause a noise to be made when a person breathes.  The wheezing is primarily due to swelling in the air passages along with additional mucus production.
• Hives or rash on the skin

Allergies can come on suddenly, even if you have never had symptoms before.  The severity depends on the amount of allergen you are expose to and how much reaction an individual’s body produces. 

Some people have minor symptoms that cause a person to feel miserable; but generally they do not pose a life threatening event.  This mild to moderate reaction is usually treated with over the counter medications or your physician may give you a prescription medication.

Others allergy sufferers may have a severe reaction that requires immediate medical attention when it occurs.  A person who has severe symptoms of allergies may require additional monitoring by their doctor during allergy season.

Knowing More about Allergy Induced Asthma

Now, most people know that asthma is a disease that affects the lower respiratory system, but what is allergy induced asthma? For those of you who do not know, asthma is caused by the narrowing of the airways. This narrowing is irreversible and starts in the bronchi and ends up as inflammation in the lungs. This start to make it hard for the person to breath, but unlike emphysema, asthma can be controlled and your can live with it, as long as you keep taking your medication, even allergy induced asthma.

With emphysema you will find that the narrowing or the airway is a tad reversible, the only problem is that it will keep on getting worse, to the point where the patient suffering from it will no longer be able to breathe on his or her own.  You will find that both asthma and emphysema are treatment with steroid, although there are alternatives that you can research and speak to your doctor about it.

Now, if you have an allergy, you will find that you are at great risk of contracting asthma. There are a number of cases where people, with mere allergies, were diagnoses with asthma. We are going to go into a bit more detail about allergy induced asthma in a the next few paragraphs. What you need to know before we do is that you need to speak to your doctor about things that can prevent this from happening.

Allergy induced asthma is what the name suggests. It is asthma that has been brought on by an allergy the patient may have had or maybe even exercise. When you are allergic to something or have a common cold, you will find that your body will produce what is called a histamine. This is a natural substance that occurs when you body is trying to get rid of something. The only problem is that the histamine causes inflammation in your body, which is why; when you have an allergic reaction to something you will get an antihistamine.

What you need to know is that this type of asthma is not permanent, well in most cases it is not. because of the histamine being produced in your body your airway will swell, or become inflamed and you will become short of breath, this then is diagnosed as allergy asthma. This is not the same as traditional asthma, because you will only suffer from an attack when you have an allergic reaction to something, most of the time pollen.

You will also find that the diagnoses for any type of asthma will different from patient to patient, and most of the time it depends on the age of the patient in question.

If you want to learn more about the allergy induced asthma that we have spoken of in the above article, you should visit your doctor and find out more from him or her. They will be able to give you all the information you need, otherwise you will find quite a few articles online on the subject at hand.

Living with Asthma

Millions of people worldwide suffer from asthma.  Although this condition is well understood and treatments are generally available, it remains a topic about which most are poorly informed.    What are the asthma signs and symptoms?  What causes asthma?  What about asthma emergency treatment?

Finding a reliable source of information about asthma may be the key to a better quality of  life.  So do not hesitate to start doing some online research and learning more about asthma.  And as always, if you’re not sure how to discern fact from fiction, consult your physician.