Doctor visits, hospital care and lost work days account for the price tag
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comFood allergies cost $500 million a year, says study
Seeded on Thu May 5, 2011 6:19 PM EDT (msnbc.com)
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OK, speaking from experience, here's the deal. You want your epi-pen, you have to go in for a visit. You have a food allergy, the same food allergy, for 18 years, you have to go back, every single year, to get the script refilled. If you are lucky enough to have a PCP write that script at a regular physical, that cuts down the extra costs. Otherwise, if you want a doctor's note to prove to a school that you need the epi, or to sign off on forms, co-pay plus office charge. Big, bad food allergies do not go away, nor does the treatment change...it's bad enough to have the allergy, we should not be chained to one way of getting routine meds refilled. So that's the doctor's office cost. (Nobody really goes to a doc office with acute reaction, that's right to the ER.)
A food allergy (or something) sent me to the ER, by way of an ambulance about 5 years ago.
I am a very healthy person, no allergies, sicknesses, I take no medications for anything. One evening 5 years ago, I collapsed at home after eating oysters. My BP was 80/40, heart rate about 40. I couldn't pick up my head 3 inches off the bed without losing consciousness. They tested me on a heart (Holter?) monitor, did brain scans, tested the blood flow in the arteries going into the brain, but totally ignored me when I told them (and showed them) the BRIGHT RED RASH across my chest and from my ankles to my calves.
One doctor tried to blame it on anemia.
In the end, it all went away, I left the hospital and went straight to a local seafood bar, ate oysters again, and all was again just perfect.
I guess what offends me the most is that when I pointed out to them the obvious, they ignored it.
Food Allergies... Google GMO food side effects and learn.
An allergist is not just a "doctor." He/she is a specialist. A first visit to the office incudes a private room with a cot/bed where you undress and lie face down with a hospital gown on, open in the back.
A nurse makes a series of shallow cuts and swabs them with various allergens, then gives them time to react with your immune system to see what you may be allergic to. It isn't a simple "Stick out your tongue and say aah."
Emergency room visits are really quite rare except in unusual circumstances, if you follow your diet and routine properly.
They don't just test for food allergies in the initial test, they also test for environmental allergies as well.
The Obamas spend that on a weekend jaunt to Spain.
What about MSG allergies? My wife is allergic and the substance has no nutritional value. What a waste. We need to ban this forever.
The bigger issue is that insurance companies in their infinite wisdom will not cover food allergy testing. They are deemed "not medically necessary". I know this from experience as I work for a lab that has the most advanced testing in the country and we cannot get our services covered. Consequently, most patients go undiagnosed and continue consuming foods they are allergic to and continue going to the ER.
the title should read "Food Allergies Make Corporations $500 million."
no maybe it should read "Making People Sick Is Big Business."
no maybe it should read "We Use Materials That Make It Easy For Us Regardless Of Your Health."
or maybe "Our Profits Are Our Primary Concern Not You."
I think the money would have been better spent determining what is causing this problem, genetics, chemicals added to foods etc. You know big business won't invest the money to find out because it maybe them.
I developed my nut allergy in my 20's. For 20 years I was able to enjoy EATING, especially chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. Big name companies SHOULD be more than happy to accomodate people with DEADLY allergies. I am scared of lables and word games. It should be MANDATORY for companies, grocery stores, restaurants etc and so on to inform potential consumers of this kind of thing. It sure would save alot of hassle and precious lives !. Companies SHOULD be PROUD of things they produce, shouldn't they ?.
This whole non issue is so easy to treat. My kids grew up in the country in a house that the windows opened, little use of air conditioning and many animals such as horses, rabbits, sheep etc. There was virtually no allergic immune reactions on our street. My kids friends that lived in the new housing developments had all of the food allergies, peanuts, dust, pollen and the list goes on. I think the reason for the majority of these allergies is that we protect people from the low level toxins that we need to develop immunities to. If we make our living environments nearly sterile we will never have the immunities that we need. Our kids will grow up invalids unable to handle cat dander, peanuts, pollin etc. Its time responsible parents made much better decisions about their kids.
Wow, William, pretty clueless there! While there is some evidence suggesting that more exposure to allergens helps build up an immunity in some cases, the fact is, some of us are born that way. My allergies to soy, eggs, and cow's milk at birth (50 yrs ago) were hardly environmental. And my family didn't live in a sealed environment, as we were exposed to many allergens -- no a/c and lots and lots of trees and plants. We had a rabbit, too, but I was really really allergic to it.
Good for your kids and good for you. You do not, however, speak for everyone.
A/C was rare when I was a kid. I slept with a cat every night and our dog was a house dog. I rode my bike through through fields, along a lake channel, and all over country roads. I cut grass and swam in a natural lake. I climbed trees and ate fruit right off the vine or tree.
My daughter had the same upbringing only more so with the addition of horses and poultry. She carried her bunnies around in the pouch of her hoodie.
We both have developed allergies and food intolerances.
We need to look at how many toxins surround us all the time everywhere. They are in our homes and at our jobs. The air is full of toxins and we have contaminated the soil with herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. All of which then enter our water.
Read labels and you'll not want to eat what's inside. Gak! Why the rise in celiac disease? How about because there is wheat in everything incl tomato soup.
I wonder if there's still time to turn back from this road to disaster.
Why are there so many more people with these allergies? We were discussing this several weeks ago at work and about schools. What has changed? Twenty-five years ago, you ocassionally heard of someone with a shellfish allergy, or particular berries . . . but never allergies to peanut butter, and other common things.
What changed?
I used to feel that way to, until we found out my daughter has allergies to milk, eggs, peanuts, dust mold and cats,(she also has asthma)
Our family is hog and grain farm. The kids have chickens, rabbits, dog, we are soon to add steers to their collection. We butcher our own meat, and put out a huge garden. We also can the extra from the garden. My daughter can't even carry in the eggs. One day she told me the only thing she wants in the world is to eat an egg. ( she is in kindergarten, when she told me that I cried)
The only thing the alergist told us is ours is probably inherited. Just when I thought I was doing everything right. God humbled me. Now it is a waiting game. Last time she got tested her numbers were down. So hopefully, she will outgrow the egg and milk. We were basically told not to hold our breath on the peanuts.
We fell into that category several years ago but by changing my daughter's diet, changing our caustic cleaning, laundry and personal care products to safer products and eliminating chlorine from our shower/bath water and boosting her immune system through healthy eating and supplements that absorb at the cellular level, we have overcome allergies except for one small break out due to being exposed to chlorine in my daughter's school. It has been 8 years since the hospital stay. No allergist bill, no hospital bill, no emergency room visits, no missing school! Eat healthy, find your triggers, build your immune system and eliminate things that cause harm to the immune system. It can be done!
It is interesting how they say the cost of special diets wasn't included. Having a son who is allergic to Corn, Wheat, Soy and Peanuts, I can say that food is our greatest cost. Insurance covers most if not all of his medical needs.
Food however is extrememly expensive. One loaf of bread (half the size of a normal loaf of wheat bread) is $5, Mac 'n Cheese is over $2! We live in a city that has natural food stores, but if we didn't we would have to drive 50 miles to the next closest store.
All I can say is thank God for popular gluten free diets, they have increased products in the market and driven the price on select things closer to their regular food equivilents.
I was thinking the same thing. My children and I all have food allergies - but each of us have different allergies. I'm allergic to eggs and citrus fruits. One of my sons is allergic to milk and the other is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. I;m thankful we don't have allergies to wheat, corn and soy. Even with the allergies we do have groceries are expensive.
Natural selection has been put out of business by our medical technology.
Ban all processed food with chemicals. Throw all the cleaning solutions out, except one or two all-around cleansers. Dust with a damp paper towel. Wash clothes in a generic liquid soap, if possible without fragrance. Use a simple liquid soap in the dishwasher. Overall, just get the junk out of your house and your kids.
People don't understand how allergies work. It's all about tolerance levels. Some people have no limits, others have those limits from birth, and others reach those limits over time, sometimes years, before they show any reaction to something. And some things aren't allergies at all but what are called food intolerance...doesn't have classic allergy symptoms, but does cause discomfort.
And as the population gets larger, so also will the reports of allergies, especially since we are learning that there are so many other things we can be allergic to.
And don't confuse things like celiac disease with allergies, it's something completely different.
Oh, and being a country raised, farm bred kid myself, there is really no proof that being exposed in youth will prevent you from developing an allergy in later years.
It's that whole 'tolerance' thing again. The more you are exposed, the greater your chances of possibly developing an allergy..to anything.
My intolerance- not allergy- has certainly cost me. It is a huge hassle but at least I don't have to fear Anaphylaxis.
It's about time that people started researching food allergies and their affects on children. My youngest daughter was always sick as a toddler, had rashes that wouldn't go away, and threw terrible temper tantrums. At 18 months, our pediatrician had bloodwork done on her, and found out she had severe food allergies. Just a few - wheat, corn, yeast, beef, turkey, peanuts, chocolate...... that was in almost everything she ate!
She was put on a strict diet of chicken, fish, rice and fresh fruits and vegetables only. The rashes cleared up, she wasn't getting sick anymore and - best of all - the temper tantrums stopped. We found out that her wheat allergy made her hyperactive. By controlling her diet, we were able to control her ADHD. There were no gluten-free products available at that time, so I made all her foods with spelt, rice and oat flour instead of wheat. No yeast either.
As she got older, we introduced one food she was allergic to into her diet to see if their was a reaction. By the time she was 5, she had outgrown most of her food allergies, except to wheat. When she was around 10 years old, she had also outgrown the wheat allergy. She is now in her early 20's and eats what ever she wants with no adverse reaction.
Her pediatric allergist did a double blind study on ADD, ADHD and food allergies. His findings were amazing. Almost 50% of children under the age of 10 who were put on Ritalin and other drugs for ADD/ADHD had food allergies. Once their diet was under control, they didn't need the medication and the children were fine.
It burns me up that doctors are so quick to diagnose ADD/ADHD and throw drugs at kids instead of really researching the problem and looking to things like food allergies.
My son used to eat bananas, avocados and popcorn shrimp with no problems. Once he hit puberty, however, that changed. One night at dinner, we had shrimp for dinner. Once he took a bite and swallowed, his demeanor changed. He started clearing his throat. He said his tongue felt like it was swelling. I took the plate away immediately. He said his throat felt itchy. I gave him Benadryl immediately and told him that if he had any problem breathing, we were going to the ER. After a few minutes, the symptoms began to lessen. I still watched him like a hawk for the next 2 hours. His dad is allergic to bananas, avocados and mangos. My son's mouth feels funny when he eats bananas or avocados, but he still eats them in moderation. He carries an epi-pen whenever he goes out to eat. Who knew that puberty could trigger food allergies?
This is an area that needs much more research.
I guess my biggest question is....why are there so many more food allergies these days than there was 30 yrs ago...it seems to me this is something that should really be looked into!
I will agree with post #1....half of the expense is all the ridiculous doctors appointments to do the same thing every year! My daughter is allergic to bees....what an act of congress for the school and the doctor!...grrrr
Well, there are numerous theories for this, but here are the main two:
1. The hygiene hypothesis claims that the increase in allergies and asthma is due to the oversanitation of our environments. Humans have been swept along the antibacterial train and are being consumed by a disinfection craze. As a result, the theory goes, our immune systems cannot distinguish between benign substances that should illicit no reaction and harmful substances that need to be wiped out. The immune system begins to overzealously attack any and all things that it encounters, causing allergic reactions.
2. The chemical theory states that the increase in allergies and asthma can be chalked up to the increase in chemical preservatives and substances in our environment. Preservatives are added to food to increase shelf life; pesticides and herbicides are used to limit pest and weed damage to crops. Supposedly, this increase in chemical exposure has caused some people to violently overreact to certain substances.
My theory, although it will seem cruel and heartless, is that before we had all of the medical technology that keeps everyone alive despite health problems, people with severe allergies and asthma died before they had the chance to reproduce and pass on their genes. Nature was cleaning out the weak genes from the gene pool. By artificially keeping everyone alive, we prevent the pruning of the genetic tree, so to speak, so genes that predispose us to things like food allergies or genetic diseases are maintained in the population. We have altered the path of natural selection and are seeing the results of our labors.
dom625, There is actually more to the hygiene hypothesis than just that - though that was a pretty good summary though. One thing to keep in mind with this is that the type of antibody associated with immediate allergic reactions - such as to foods - is an IgE. IgE's seem to have evolved as a way to combat parasitic infections. When the appropriate immune cell recognizes the IgE/Antigen complex, it releases histamine and other cytokines. These cytokines, in the presence of a parasitic infection help break down the parasite so that macrophages can better clear the parasite. But, in the absence of a parasite, these same cytokines generate the inflammatory response seen in an allergic reaction. That, in part, explains why 3rd world countries have less allergies - they have more parasitic infections.
The problem with your hypothesis is that it doesn't account for the multitude of later in life acquired allergies and asthma. I have asthma and allergies. I was diagnosed with asthma at 15. That is well past the onset of biological capability of having children (though I didn't have children until much later). I've been allergic to bees/wasps since I was just a kid (that one would fit with your hypothesis) and I've been severely allergic to citrus since I was a kid (also would fit with your hypothesis). However, I acquired the vast majority of my allergies when I spent 4 1/2 months in the hospital after having my oldest son - I had a severely complicated delivery and developed septic shock afterward. Anyway, it was then that I became allergic to latex, adhesive for bandages, beta-lactams (penicillin, etc.), contrast dye for CT scans, eggs, sulfa antibiotics, aspirin and ibuprofen (basically NSAIDs - though so far naproxen hasn't generated an allergic response). All of these would fit more in with an chemical exposure type acquired allergy.
My oldest son is allergic to milk - he has been since day one. My youngest son is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. Both are also allergic to penicillin. You state that people with severe allergies and asthma died before passing on their "weak"genes as part of your hypothesis. Well, the fact is some of these allergies aren't impossible to avoid - sometimes difficult, but not impossible (especially if you actually make your own food, rather than buying pre-packaged foods). Anaphylaxsis - which is the type of life threatening allergic reaction - is actually very rare even in allergic individuals. So, it's highly unlikely that may allergic people would die before they had kids.
Furthermore, there actually isn't very solid evidence that allergies and asthma are predominantly genetic disorders. Like many other things there seems to be a pre-disposition to get these disorders, but not truly a guarantee. It's not like some diseases that follow simple Mendelian genetics .
This is the kind of worthless crap that should be getting axed from budgets.
And? Perhaps, just perhaps this needs to fall on the people who have allergies. Home cooking where you know what ingredients are in your food.
I have Crohn's disease. There are certain types of food I need to avoid. It is up to me not anyone else whether I decide to eat at a restaurant or fast food joint.
It isn't some inalienable right to eat out. There was no processed foods back when The United States became a country.
Life isn't fair.
Then there is a problem for those who have environmental allergies. Allergic to petroleum products (in everything) perfume smells, etc. etc. People are sick, have diarrhea, nausea, stomach ache, lose weight, etc., all foods seem to causes these problems until you find out what you can tolerate.
Dr.'s do not understand serious allergies and usually comment, "they never heard of such a thing." There is a Dr. in Dallas, Dr. Wm. Rea at Environmental Health Center who works with these serious allergies and helps Veterans who've had agent orange and other damaging chemicals that is in all our products including food, but never raises an alarm.
Get food without preservatives, chemicals etc. I've decided if I can't read it, I don't eat it or put it on my skin or in my mouth. Eat as much un-sprayed food as possible, I try to eat meat & chicken that has no hormones & anti-biotics added, so most food is cooked at home and I eat out very limited. I don't have known allergies, but I have a mom who's immune system was damaged in WWII aircraft industry where she inhaled poison wet paint. She had been sick off & on for years, but after a serious accident it all became very apparent. She is in mid-90's now and as long as she follows Dr. Rea's treatment, she does well, although she is beginning to slow down considerable in last couple of years. Not a fun disease
P.S. I usually leery about getting shots, but last winter I let the Doc talk me into getting a pheumonia shot and it really did a number on me. My are swelled up about twice the size and was hard as a rock. My blood pressure went nuts and I felt so sick. Called Dr. next morning and was told to put ice on it. ha! I felt sick for about 3 weeks and haven't felt as good since. I'm a believer that medications do people more harm than they do good (with exceptions) And I'm glad I don't have to make decisions for young children getting all these shots to go to school. I know they have radicated many diseases, but think many children pay for many of the problems they have throughout life because of many of these shots.
When you mix vaccinations, chemicals in our homes, chemicals in our shampoos, laundry detergents, cleaners, foods....no wonder we have more issues.
Our bodies are overwhelmed with toxic chemicals and the different combinations that enter our bodies. How can one body rid itself of the overload?
I know when we eat healthy meaning no harmful chemicals, healthy foods, more fiber, use our safe cleaning, personal care and laundry products, etc. things go very well for our family.
I'm with you on the ADD/ADHD and diet. Too bad more people don't do some allergy testing or the food diet to find triggers. They might be quite surprised.
I'd like to some studies on the Amish and what their allergy rates are. They do everything naturally and eat foods "from the earth." I'll be there would be some findings the medical companies would not want us to know.
On another topic, has anyone found a good, homemade bread recipe that does not include wheat or gluten? We can tolerate spelt but I haven't found a good bread recipe. The tiny loaves for $5 are CRAZY!! I need to save money!