Posted by Susan on January 12, 1998 at 23:12:41:
In Reply to: Flour allergy posted by Thierry Dumouchel on January 12, 1998 at 18:33:00:
Here are some places to search on the Web:
1) Use the Yahoo! search engine (www.yahoo.com) to search for words like "flour allergy," "flour allergies," "allergic to flour," "bakers allergy,"
"bakers allergies," and "bakery allergies." When you get the search results, Yahoo! also gives you some highlighted links that let you look for the
same words on other search engines. You should use these links, too, since different search engines often give different results.
2) Search for "flour" at Revista Española de Alergología e Inmunología Clínica (http://www.seaic.es/revista/ingles/Busqueda.htm), where you can read the following abstracts:
“Diagnosis of bakers asthma and rhinitis”
“Occupational rhinitis and asthma induced by cereal flour”
“Occupational respiratory allergy to Lepidoglyphus destructor among farmers and bakers”
“Occupational baker's asthma due to sensitization to alpha-amylase”
“Occupational allergy due to inhalation of maize dust”
3) Go to the Current MEDICAL NEWS website (http://www.healer-inc.com/a079737a.htm) to read the article "Contaminated Flour Can Cause
Allergy" in bakery workers.
4) Go to the Occupational Medicine website (http://www.chapmanhall.com/oc/oc470104.abs.html) to read “Allergy to flour and fungal amylase in
bakery workers,” which is an abstract linked to a journal article. The full article is a PDF file, so you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.01 software to read it. (Download Acrobat Reader 3.01 free by clicking on the link below.)
What sort of allergic reaction is your friend having? If it's asthma (wheezing and breathing difficulties due to swelling or congestion of air passages in the lungs) or rhinitis (nasal congestion and inflammation), a dust mask may help a little. If it's a skin rash or hives, perhaps he can wear latex gloves. If it's headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, and/or abrupt mood swings or personality changes, he really ought to get into another line of work. Your friend needs to find a *good* doctor, but even the good ones don't always know exactly what causes an allergy. Some think that flour allergy is due to sensitivity to dust or the grain itself, while others believe that people react to flour which is infested with a fungus or mites.
No matter what's causing it, your friend's immune system becomes stressed when it encounters flour (or whatever's on the flour's back), which it has come to regard as an enemy. Over time, these high stress levels can lead to severe health problems (as Gerard found out in the intensive care unit), so it's not a small thing. Doctors can play tricks with your body chemistry if the culprits are petrochemicals or pollen. There's not much they can do if it's food. The classic advice is to avoid the culprit for 5 to 7 years, which gives your immune system time to "forget" about being sensitive to it. (Hope so, as I'm allergic to rice. Sashimi's not the same without rice as a side dish, and I miss sushi, too ... )
Good luck!
Susan