The stress of food allergy issues in daily life

Objective: Food allergies are a growing health concern, but their implications for daily psychological functioning are unknown. This micro-longitudinal study investigated the daily frequency of food allergy issues and how this related to experiences of stress, mood and physical energy.

Design: One hundred and eight adults with physician-diagnosed food allergies completed an initial Internet survey followed by a 2-week Internet daily diary survey.

Main outcome measures: The initial survey collected socio-demographic and food allergy information. The daily survey collected information about the participants’ experiences of stress, mood, physical energy and food allergy issues during that day.

Results: Commonly experienced allergy issues included negative physical symptoms, higher food prices, anxiety about safety of food, trouble maintaining a healthy diet and anxiety/stress at social occasions. Furthermore, multilevel modelling analyses showed that stress and negative mood were significantly higher on days with more allergy issues. Older adults experienced lower positive mood and physical energy on days with more issues.

Conclusion: This is the first study to incorporate near to real-time tracking to examine the frequency of food allergy issues and the implications for daily psychological functioning. Targeting the issues we identified could reduce stress in patients with food allergies and improve their overall quality of life.     

特应性皮炎与过敏进程

过敏性疾病已成为备受关注的社会问题,包括特应性皮炎、食物过敏、过敏性鼻炎、过敏性哮喘等,其发生和发展一直是学术界和社会公众高度关注的话题。变态反应症状可表现在皮肤、胃肠道、鼻腔、支气管等不同部位,流行病学研究发现各类过敏性疾病的出现呈现从儿童湿疹、食物过敏逐渐向过敏性鼻炎、过敏性哮喘发展的过程,婴儿或儿童早期出现的伴高IgE的特应性皮炎往往预示着未来会发生其他过敏性疾病,这种现象被称为变态反应性疾病的自然进程又称过敏进程,即“AllergyMarch”。本文就特应性皮炎与过敏进程的相关研究进行回顾与讨论,以期引起社会各界对特应性皮炎的重视。     

Temperamental Differences Between Healthy,Asthmatic, and Allergic Children Before Onset of Illness: A Longitudinal Prospective Study of Asthma Development

The authors investigated the link between children's temperament and the development of asthma and allergies. Prospective longitudinal data on children at the ages of 3-5 months, 3-5 years, and 7-9 years were collected. At age 7-9 years, analyses were performed on data for 3 groups of children (n = 42): those with asthma (no allergies), those with allergies (no asthma), and those with neither asthma nor allergies (the control group). Data for children who developed asthma or allergies prior to age 7-9 years were not analyzed. Differences were found in the premorbid period between the control group and the children who later developed asthma or allergies as well as between the asthma and allergy groups. After onset of illness, no temperamental differences were observed between the 3 groups. The study shows the importance of longitudinal design for asthma research.     

过敏调控--对过敏性疾病诊治的理性思考

在分析我国过敏性疾病诊治现状的基础上,结合我国和国际上过敏性疾病发病率逐年增高的发展趋势,建议对过敏性疾病的诊治和防范,应规范诊疗常规、加强科普宣教、普及环境预报、综合传统疗法、完善自我预警,实现群体抗敏等对策.     

Perceived History of Anaphylaxis and Parental Overprotection,Autonomy, Anxiety,and Depression in Food Allergic Young Adults

This study examined autonomy, anxiety, depression, and perceptions of parental behavior in 86 food allergic young adults and 344 healthy young adults between the ages of 18 and 22. Participants completed an online survey measuring self-reported autonomy, anxiety, depression, and perceptions of parental behavior. Results indicated that, as a group, food allergic young adults did not differ from healthy peers. However, food allergic young adults who reported having experienced an anaphylactic reaction described their disease as more severe, reported more worry about their disease, and rated their parents as more overprotective than food allergic young adults who reported never having experienced anaphylaxis. The experience of anaphylaxis may be a reliable indicator of food allergic individuals who are at risk for psychological distress. A portion of this research was presented at the National Conference on Child Health Psychology in Miami, Fl in April, 2008.