Viral And Bacterial Infections
Similar to parasites, bacterial and viral infections can attack your dogs gut and cause an upset stomach. Depending on the type of infection, your dog may be able to get over it on their own or they may need treatment by a vet.
Coronavirus is a very common viral infection in dogs that causes liquid, yellow-orange diarrhea as well as vomiting, lethargy, and, occasionally, fever. Most adult dogs wont show any symptoms at all and those that do usually get over them in a few days. Puppies, especially those already infected with other pathogens are most at risk for complications from this virus.
Rotavirus is another common virus that can cause loose stools in dogs. As with other common gut viruses, healthy adult dogs are unlikely to be affected. Young and stressed dogs will experience watery diarrhea and possible dehydration.
Puppies may be more severely affected by bacteria and viruses due to their immature immune systems.
Bacterial infections such as Campylobacter and Helicobacter are also common in dogs and can cause diarrhea in those with stressed immune systems. Most dogs also carry the salmonella bacteria in their gut but only those who are stressed or ill will show symptoms of infection.
If you suspect a viral or bacterial infection is the cause of your dogs upset stomach and they are also exhibiting other symptoms, it is best to get them to a vet right away.
Food Allergy And Eczema
People with eczema often have other allergic conditions, including food allergy, but food allergy does not cause eczema. Food allergy is more common in infants with eczema and a family history of allergy. Around 30% of infants in these groups develop food allergy compared to only 10% in the general population. There is some evidence that managing eczema well during infancy may reduce the chance of an infant developing food allergy.
When a child has eczema and food allergy, food allergy may trigger eczema, but it isn’t the cause of their eczema. Most food allergy causes hives, vomiting and irritability within 30 minutes of eating. Food allergy only occasionally results in delayed eczema flare ups.Skin tests
Results of skin tests or blood tests for food allergy do not predict food/s that are making the eczema worse. Allergy testing should only be done if it is recommended and interpreted by a clinical immunology/allergy specialist.
Excluding foods
Excluding some food from your childs diet should only be tried when eczema doesn’t improve with regular eczema treatments. Confirming that food allergy is causing delayed eczema only requires excluding food for a short term. This trial should always be supervised by a clinical immunology/allergy specialist. If the specialist recommends continuing food exclusion longer term, children should also see a paediatric dietitian with specialised knowledge of food allergies.
Food Allergy Is Increasing
Allergies in general are on the increase worldwide and food allergies have also become more common, particularly peanut allergy in preschool children. About 60 per cent of allergies appear during the first year of life. Cows milk allergy is one of the most common in early childhood. Most children grow out of it before they start school.
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How Are Food Allergy And Food Intolerance Diagnosed
Your GP will ask questions about your symptoms, including when and how often they occur. If the symptoms are consistent with being a food allergic reaction and appear within a few minutes the first time of eating a particular food, then diagnosis of a food allergy is likely to be straightforward. However, your GP may refer you for a skin prick or blood tests to confirm the allergen concerned. If a food allergy is suspected or confirmed, you should be referred to a specialist for further tests and ongoing monitoring. This may include an oral food challenge. If a particular food allergy is suspected or confirmed, you should not eat the food until cleared by your specialist to re-introduce it to your diet.
Food intolerance is more difficult to diagnose as there are no tests. You may be asked to keep a food and symptoms diary to check for patterns. You may also be referred to a dietitian. The dietitian may suggest a short-term elimination diet.
Referral To A Dietician
Dieticians are qualified health professionals. They can assess, diagnose and treat diet and nutrition problems. Nutritionists and therapists are voluntarily registered and anyone can use the title. For therapists in particular, this can mean unproven ‘treatments’ based on personal opinion and belief.
If you have a food allergy or intolerance, after seeking medical advice, a dietician can be a useful person to see for further help and advice. You can be referred to an NHS dietician. The advice can be particularly useful for children with food allergies, as it is vital they maintain a balanced diet for growth and development.
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Common Gi Allergy Symptom Questions Plus Answers
What foods are associated with allergies?
Six food groups cause approximately 90% of food-related allergic reactions: milk, wheat, egg, soy, fish/shellfish, and peanuts/tree nuts. Children often outgrow milk and egg allergies by the time they enter kindergarten. Fish, wheat, soy, and nut allergies are more likely to be lifelong and tend to cause more severe reactions.
What are common GI symptoms of food allergies?
Kids and adults with food-related allergies might experience:
- Vomiting
- Irritation of the throat, stomach, or rectal area
- Stomach cramping
- Mucus or blood in the stools
Children with food allergies and GI symptoms often also have eczema, atopic dermatitis, asthma, or another of the many types of allergy conditions.
Management Of Food Intolerances May Involve Elimination Diets
Once a diagnosis is made, a clinical history may help identify the role of diet or other factors that make symptoms worse.
The only reliable way to determine if diet is playing a role is by people being placed on a temporary elimination diet, under the supervision of a dietitian and medical practitioner.
If removing the food from the diet helps, this is followed by challenges under controlled conditions to identify food triggers which may need to be avoided in the future.
It is important that elimination diets are temporary, so they should only be undertaken for a short term trial period, under strict medical supervision, as a diagnostic tool. Prolonged restricted diets can lead to problems with adequate nutrition, particularly in children.
It is important to note that low salicylate and low amine diets should not be used for investigation of food intolerance until other potential causes for reactions are explored.
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Unproven Ways To Diagnose Food Allergies
Some techniques can’t effectively identify food allergies. These include:
Cytotoxicity testing. A food allergen is added to your blood sample. A technician then checks the sample under the microscope to see if white cells in the blood “die.”
Sublingual or subcutaneous provocative challenge. It’s similar to a skin test, but the sample of food allergen goes under your tongue or gets injected under your skin.
Immune complex assay. This blood test looks for groups of certain antibodies bound to the food allergen. But these clusters normally form as part of food digestion, and everyone, if tested with a sensitive enough measurement, has them.
IgG subclass assay. This blood test looks specifically for certain kinds of IgG antibodies, but they’re part of a normal immune response.
Diagnosis Of Food Intolerances
Food intolerances can often be difficult to diagnose. Some substances within foods, and the quantity of foods eaten, can increase the frequency and severity of symptoms. These include stomach pain, bloating, gas/flatulence, diarrhoea, IBS, rashes, hives or headaches,
Diagnosis of adverse reactions to foods should be based on clinical history, response to treatment and testing. Skin prick tests or blood tests for allergen specific IgE are negative for food intolerances. However, they are useful if the history suggests that food allergy , is the problem.
The best approach is to first see your doctor to:
- Make a diagnosis, such as migraine headaches, hives, IBS, recurrent mouth ulcers.
- Check for other conditions that may be causing symptoms.
- Determine if diet or other factors play a role in causing symptoms.
- Identify individual triggers to be avoided.
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What Can You Do To Restore Balance
Consume foods that are mostly alkaline in nature. They include:
- vegetables
- plant based proteins
- filtered water
As I always speak about with my clients, we want to eliminate the root cause of a condition. If you have back pain continuously you could get a massage every so often for pain relief but wouldnt you want to reduce it completely? A German study with 82 participants suffering chronic lower back pain supplemented with alkalising minerals and found after 4 weeks, 92% had a reduction in pain . For anyone suffering chronic pain, this sounds pretty good!
If you have tried everything but fixing up your diet maybe now is the time? A blood test alongside your symptoms can determine if you are acidic. Alongside fixing up your diet it may be necessary to do some gut healing and detox work as well. If you would like a specific plan for you, please contact me.
With the help of a balanced diet, therapeutic supplements and lifestyle changes it is possible to get your body in balance again.
By elizp
Easter eggs and hot cross buns have been in the supermarkets since Christmas. Its crazy! There is always an occasion or excuse for us to overeat it seems these days. If it isnt Easter, it is a birthday, or a work function, or a wedding, or a holiday, there is always something. if you let there be.
Peanut Allergy Pregnancy Breastfeeding And Weaning
The latest research shows that there is no clear evidence to say that eating, or not eating, peanuts during pregnancy affects the chances of your baby developing a peanut allergy. Pregnant women need not avoid eating peanuts.
If you are breastfeeding and enjoy eating peanuts or other nuts there is no reason to avoid them, unless you are allergic to them. They can be eaten as part of a healthy balanced diet.
Nuts are a choking hazard for children so great care must be taken. World Health Organization advice is that babies should be fed only breast milk for their first six months. However, if weaning on to solid food occurs before 6 months of age, peanuts and nut-containing foods should be avoided in case a food allergy is triggered. The same advice is also true for seeds, cow’s milk, eggs, wheat, fish and shellfish. In general terms, when weaning, it is best to introduce one new food at a time. That way, if there is a problem, such as an allergy, it is easier to tell which food could be the culprit.
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Sugar And Artificial Sweeteners
Some sugars and artificial sweeteners can have a laxative effect.
Fructose is a component of table sugar and occurs naturally in fruits. The body can only digest a certain amount of fructose at one time. Consuming more fructose than the body may cause diarrhea.
One source estimates that approximately 3040% of people have trouble absorbing significant amounts of fructose.
Some fruits contain more fructose than others. Some examples of foods high in fructose include:
How To Manage Your Bodys Reactions To Food
Figuring out the source of your symptoms and preventing them in the future can be tricky. But once youve identified the culprit of your issues, heres how to prevent and manage your symptoms:
- Cut out the offending foods: Avoidance is the best prevention method for keeping most allergies and intolerances in check, Jaeger says. In other words, steer clear of the substances that bother you.
- Try an over-the-counter medication: In some cases, medication can help with subtle cases of food intolerance. For lactose intolerance, over-the-counter options like Lactaid® can allow you to occasionally enjoy dairy foods like milk, cheese and ice cream without the negative side effects.
- Carry an epinephrine auto-injector: If you know you have an allergy to a specific food, carry an epinephrine auto-injector such as AUVI-Q® or EpiPen® with you at all times, Jaeger advises, and be sure that both you and the people closest to you know how to use it.
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How To Spot A Food Allergy
Reactions to a food allergen typically occur immediately or shortly after the ingredient/food is eaten, and the symptoms are often severe.
The primary dog food allergy symptom is itchy skin. In fact, food-related skin irritation is the cause of about 20% of the itching and scratching in dogs. Their scratching and chewing may be limited to a single hot-spot or a full body irritation.
You may notice your pup chewing or scratching excessively, rubbing their face with their paws or against furniture, or excessive licking and chewing their paws till theyre swollen.
However, there are a few additional signs that could point to dog food allergies.
One is that your dog has recurrent ear problems, particularly yeast infections. Another tip-off is if their itchy skin doesnt respond to steroid treatment, or they have skin infections that respond to antibiotics but reoccur after antibiotics are discontinued.
Other dog food allergy symptoms include:
Red, itchy, inflamed ears, frequent head shakingHair lossHives, skin rash, or inflamed skinOpen sores or hot spotsCoughing, wheezing, shortness of breathRunny, red, or itchy eyesRunny or stuffy nose, sneezingOdor from feet or ears Stomach upset, gas, vomiting, diarrhea
Some pups may have an increase in bowel movementsup to 3 or more times per day, though this is a less common symptom.
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Treatment For Asthma From Pollen Allergies
If you have asthma caused by pollens, your doctor will prescribe the correct medication and help you to develop a plan to manage your asthma. Make sure you follow your asthma action plan.Asthma can be well controlled with the appropriate medication in almost all people. The main types of medication are:
- relievers that act quickly to relax the muscles around the airways this is the medication used during an asthma attack
- preventers that slowly make the airways less sensitive to allergy triggers and reduce inflammation inside the airways these are taken daily
- combination therapies with preventers containing two different medications.
If you have an asthma attack, follow your asthma action plan. In case of emergency, call triple zero and ask for an ambulance. Tell the operator that someone is having an asthma attack.The signs of an emergency include when the person:
- finds it very difficult to breathe
- is unable to speak comfortably or if their lips are turning blue
- has symptoms that get worse very quickly
- is getting little or no relief from their reliever inhaler.
While waiting for the ambulance, give four puffs of reliever medication every four minutes.
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Allergy Can Be Inherited
Children who have one family member with allergic diseases have a 20 to 40 per cent higher risk of developing allergy. If there are two or more family members with allergic diseases, the risk increases to 50 to 80 per cent.
Most of the time, children with food allergy do not have parents with food allergy. However, if a family has one child with food allergy, their brothers and sisters are at a slightly higher risk of having food allergy themselves, although that risk is still relatively low.
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Food Allergies In Infants And Children
Milk and soy allergies are particularly common in infants and young children, probably because their immune and digestive systems are still developing. These allergies can appear within days to months of birth. They may not show up as hives and asthma, but rather lead to colic and perhaps blood in poop or poor growth.
Typically, the doctor sees a very unhappy colicky child who may not sleep well at night and diagnoses a food allergy partly by changing their diet, like switching from cow’s milk to soy formula. This type of allergy tends to disappear within a few years.
Doctors recommend only breastfeeding infants for the first 4-6 months, if possible, for many reasons, but there’s no proof that it prevents food allergies later in life. While some pregnant women may hope limiting their diets while they’re pregnant or breastfeeding may help their children avoid allergies, the experts disagree and don’t suggest it. Soy formula isn’t a good way to prevent allergies either.
Treating Food Allergy Or Intolerance
The easiest way to treat a food allergy or intolerance is to eliminate the offending food/s from the diet. Sometimes, the body can tolerate the food if it is avoided for a time, then reintroduced in small doses, particularly for food intolerances. Before you eliminate or reintroduce foods, seek advice from a specialist doctor and dietitian.
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