This reaction could certainly represent an allergic reaction to tuna. Fish allergy, as noted in Which foods are patients most commonly allergic to, is one of the more common foods to which adults become allergic. Certainly, if you have experienced systemic reactions, including hives, flushing, gastrointestinal symptoms, wheezing, throat swelling, or dizziness after eating some [...]

Gelatin protein, which is found in Jell-O gelatin and pudding desserts, is normally added to many vaccines as a heat stabilizer. Routine childhood vaccines containing gelatin include MMR, varicella (chicken pox), influenza, and DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis). Allergic reactions to the MMR vaccine are most likely to be caused by an allergy to [...]

Vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and influenza are both raised in egg-based cell cultures, prompting concerns about the safety of these vaccines in children who are allergic to eggs. Careful analyses of the MMR vaccine have demonstrated that it does not contain egg proteins capable of causing a reaction in an egg-allergic individual. [...]

Most cooking oils that are commercially produced, including peanut oil, are highly refined using a hot solvent extraction method, causing the protein to be removed from the product. Since it is the proteins in foods that are responsible for food allergy, these highly refined oils are typically considered nonallergenic. Obser-vations made over many years have [...]

Food additives, including preservatives, flavor enhancers, and artificial colorings and sweeteners, are found in virtually all processed foods. As a general rule, food additives are unusual causes of food-related symptoms. However, in situations in which no food protein can be identified as the cause of a food reaction, additives should be considered. The additive most [...]

There are no medications or other treatments that increase the amount of lactase enzyme in the intestine. However, gastrointestinal symptoms can be prevented through a special diet. Most people with lactose intolerance do not have to avoid lactose completely, but people differ in the amounts and types of milk-containing foods they can handle. For example, [...]

Most reactions to milk, particularly those that occur primarily in the gastrointestinal tract, are not allergic in nature. The most common adverse reaction to milk, which usually starts around age 7 or 8 years, is lactose intolerance. Symptoms of lactose intolerance, which include abdominal cramping, gassiness, nausea, and diarrhea, occur between 30 minutes to 2 [...]

Peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts, eggs, cow’s milk, wheat, shellfish, and fish are the most commonly reported allergenic foods. Allergy to peanuts, soy, tree nuts, eggs, milk, or wheat often develop early in the first few years of life, while hypersensitivity to shellfish or fish more often manifests in adulthood. Allergy to milk or eggs frequently [...]

There are two main ways that a food can cause bother-some physical symptoms. The first category is what we call a food hypersensitivity. These reactions occur when your immune system responds abnormally to proteins in specific foods. These immunologic reactions may be caused by IgE antibodies, which we refer to as a food allergy, or [...]

Many studies have shown that people with allergic rhinitis have problems with mood and energy. In a survey of 2500 people with allergies, nearly 1 in 4 people felt embarrassed as a result of their allergy symptoms, more than one-third felt depressed, and over half felt irritable or miserable because of their allergies. In addition, [...]

Patients with seasonal or year-round allergies occasion-ally experience such difficulty with their nasal allergies that they consider moving to another geographic location to help reduce their symptoms. Patients with seasonal hay fever will often find that many of the seasonal pollens and/or molds that bother them in their current home will also be present in [...]

Patients with nasal allergies often have fatigue during the day. One of the main causes of this tiredness is poor sleep quality during the night. Sleep studies of patients with allergic rhinitis have shown that they repeatedly come out of the deepest phases of sleep and enter periods of lighter sleep; these periods of near-awakening [...]

A number of long-term studies of large populations have shown that patients who have allergic rhinitis frequently have subtle narrowing and inflammation of the bronchial tubes in the absence of any asthma symptoms. When patients with isolated seasonal or year-around nasal allergies are followed over time, they are found to have an increased risk of [...]

Headaches may be related to allergic rhinitis in a number of ways. First, patients with severe nasal congestion may have swelling of the openings to the paranasal sinuses, called “ostia.” This swelling may cause intermittent or persistent closure of the sinus, resulting in an inability to equalize pressure within the sinus cavity. Symptoms related to [...]

Nasal polyps are teardrop-shaped growths that usually start in the sinus cavity and extend into the nose. There is no relationship between nasal polyps and polyps in the colon. Small nasal polyps often cause no symptoms and go unnoticed, while larger ones can completely block the nasal passages. Although their origin is not really known, [...]

A general approach to patients with chronic sinusitis includes nasal saline flushes, intranasal steroids, and a prolonged course (at least 3 weeks) of a broad-spectrum antibiotic . In approximately half of patients with chronic sinusitis, patients are found to have positive skin tests to airborne allergens. Given this very high prevalence of allergy in chronic [...]

The paranasal sinuses are airfilled cavities located inside the bone of the human skull. While we are not entirely sure of their function, we do know that air pockets within solid structures provide increased strength and reduced weight. The four principal sinuses include the maxillary sinuses (in the cheeks), the frontal sinuses (in the forehead), [...]

Children may experience chronic blockage of the nose for a variety of reasons, including allergic rhinitis, nonallergic rhinitis, or enlargement of the adenoid gland. When the child lies down to sleep, the blockage often becomes worse because of increased blood flow through the nasal mucosal tissue due to gravity, which causes the membranes to swell. [...]

Does She Need To Be Evaluated For Allergies? Acute middle ear infections (acute otitis media) usually follow colds, and occasionally the fluid in the middle ear space persists for long periods of time. Chronic middle ear fluid, referred to as  otitis media with effusion,is defined as mild middle ear inflammation with fluid but without symptoms [...]

The two biggest factors that cause allergy sufferers to experience problems on planes is the change in cabin pressure, particularly during descent, and the low humidity of the cabin. The change in pressure often leads to swelling of the sinus openings, with subsequent sinus headaches, and closure of the eustachian tubes, with secondary ear pain [...]