Although people with peanut allergy often are also allergic to nuts and vice versa, it is important to know the difference between both.
Below, some differences between nuts and peanuts are highlighted. Nuts are dry fruits with a hard or woody wall. Examples are hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, paranuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios and cashew nuts. In this context, peanuts are often mentioned, while in fact they are legumes. After the flowers of the peanut plant above the ground are fertilized, a pod, mostly containing two seeds, arises. The stalk to which the pod hangs then grows longer and into the ground again.
The pod ripens under the ground where the fruit germinates to create a new plant. The peanut plant is a one-year plant. After harvesting, the peanuts are laid above the ground to dry. Nuts grow on trees high above the ground, for example, think of a walnut chestnut tree. If it isn't treated, anaphylaxis can be life-threatening. If your child has a peanut or tree nut allergy or any kind of serious food allergy , the doctor will want him or her to carry an epinephrine auto-injector in case of an emergency.
An epinephrine auto-injector is a prescription medicine that comes in a small, easy-to-carry container. It's easy to use. Your doctor will show you how. Kids who are old enough can be taught how to give themselves the injection. If they carry the epinephrine, it should be nearby, not left in a locker or in the nurse's office. Wherever your child is, caregivers should always know where the epinephrine is, have easy access to it, and know how to give the shot.
Staff at your child's school should know about the allergy and have an action plan in place. Your child's medicines should be accessible at all times. Every second counts in an allergic reaction. If your child starts having serious allergic symptoms, like swelling of the mouth or throat or difficulty breathing, give the epinephrine auto-injector right away.
Also give it right away if the symptoms involve two different parts of the body, like hives with vomiting. Then call and take your child to the emergency room.
Your child needs to be under medical supervision because even if the worst seems to have passed, a second wave of serious symptoms can happen.
If allergy skin testing shows that your child has a peanut or tree nut allergy, an allergist will provide guidelines on what to do. The best way to prevent a reaction is to avoid peanuts and tree nuts. Avoiding these nuts means more than just not eating them. It also means not eating any foods that might contain tree nuts or peanuts as ingredients. The best way to be sure a food is nut-free is to read the food label.
Manufacturers of foods sold in the United States must state on their labels whether the foods contain peanuts or tree nuts. Check the ingredients list first. Although these foods might not use nut ingredients, the warnings are there to let people know they might contain traces of nuts. That can happen through "cross-contamination," when nuts get into a food product because it is made or served in a place that uses nuts in other foods.
Manufacturers are not required to list peanuts or tree nuts on the label when there might be accidental cross-contamination, but many do. Always be cautious. Even if your child has eaten a food in the past, manufacturers sometimes change their processes — for example, switching suppliers to a company that uses shared equipment with nuts. If the person eats something that contains the nut, the body thinks these proteins are harmful invaders and responds by working very hard to fight off the invader.
This causes an allergic reaction. When someone with a peanut or tree nut allergy has something with nuts in it, the body releases chemicals like histamine pronounced: HISS-tuh-meen. Reactions to foods, like peanuts and tree nuts, can be different. It all depends on the person — and sometimes the same person can react differently at different times. In the most serious cases, a nut or peanut allergy can cause anaphylaxis say: an-uh-fuh-LAK-sis.
Anaphylaxis is a sudden, life-threatening allergic reaction. A person's blood pressure can drop, breathing tubes can narrow, and the tongue can swell. People at risk for this kind of a reaction have to be very careful and need a plan for handling emergencies, when they might need to use special medicine to stop these symptoms from getting worse.
If your doctor thinks you might have a nut or peanut allergy, he or she will probably send you to see a doctor who specializes in allergies. The allergist allergy specialist will ask you about past reactions and how long it takes between eating the nut or peanut and getting the symptoms, such as hives. The allergist may also ask whether anyone else in your family has allergies or other allergy conditions, such as eczema or asthma.
Researchers aren't sure why some people have food allergies and others don't, but they sometimes run in families. The allergist may also want to do a skin test. This is a way of seeing how your body reacts to a very small amount of the nut that is giving you trouble.
The allergist will use a liquid extract of the nut that seems to be causing you symptoms. During skin testing, a little scratch on your skin is made it will be a quick pinch, but there are no needles!
That's how just a little of the liquid nut gets into your skin. If you get a reddish, itchy, raised spot, it shows that you may be allergic to that food or substance. Skin tests are the best test for food allergies, but if more information is needed, the doctor may also order a blood test.
At the lab, the blood will be mixed with some of the food or substance you may be allergic to and checked for antibodies. It's important to remember that even though the doctor tests for food allergies by carefully exposing you to a very small amount of the food, you should not try this at home! The only place for an allergy test is at the allergist's office, where they are specially trained and could give you medicine right away if you had a reaction.
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