Search Results for: ask-the-allergist

Q. I’ve read differing views on whether it would be safe for a nut-allergic person to eat baked goods with coconut or coconut oil. What’s your view on coconut? Dr. Scott Sicherer: Despite its name, coconut is not actually a nut, but a fruit. Regardless, the Food and Drug Administration considers it a tree nut, [...]

Q. My younger child is allergic to peanuts and our family doctor recently said he should be avoid chickpeas (which he hasn’t tried) as well. She says there’s a high risk of reaction in peanut-allergic kids. Is this true? Dr. Scott Sicherer: It is true that there is a “higher” risk of a chickpea allergy [...]

Dr. Waserman shares her insight.

Q. I have a 5-year-old son who is allergic to dairy, egg, banana, peanuts and other tree nuts. At a recent party, I told him that he could not have a certain kind of cracker being served, as it would make him sick. He grabbed it anyway started to eat it. I made him spit [...]

Q. Is it safe for my child with milk allergies to have goat’s milk or goat’s cheese? Dr. Hemant Sharma: This is a great question, and one that many parents of children with cow’s milk allergy have as they search for a suitable substitute for cow’s milk. Unfortunately, because goat’s milk protein is similar in [...]

Dr. Sicherer advises on when to prepare a child to administer an auto-injector in an emergency.

Q. I’m 32 and just had my first anaphylaxis experience to shrimp. It was scary: I was wheezing and could hardly breathe. How can a grown woman suddenly develop a food allergy? Dr. Scott Sicherer: You are not alone in developing shrimp allergy as an adult. In our U.S. prevalence studies and studies in Canada [...]

Q. My husband has controlled moderate-to-severe asthma. We now have a four-month-old, and I’m concerned that he may develop asthma, too. Should we take any special precautions with the baby during spring allergy season? Dr. Watson: There are many factors that contribute to the development of asthma in children. Having a mother or father with [...]

Q. Last year while volunteering for the Cancer Society, my teenage daughter had a reaction to the daffodils she was handing out. She went completely red in the face, got itchy hives on her hands and arms and her throat felt tight. (The latter may have been anxiety.) As it seems she’s allergic to daffodils, [...]

Q. I have long wondered: Is eczema directly linked to cow’s milk allergy? Dr. Sicherer: The allergic form of eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is related to other allergic illnesses including asthma, allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and food allergies. These illnesses are inherited and often occur together in the same person. Infants and children [...]