What's Up With Soy ?

SOY ALLERGY SYMPTOMS

Allergy is an abnormal reaction of the body to normally harmless substances, such as pollen, dust, certain foods (like soybeans), drugs, and insect stings. The term allergy comes from the Greeks and means "abnormal response." Millions of people in the United States suffer from allergies, some of which are mistaken for the common cold.

The symptoms of allergy vary with the allergen (or antigen), and with the part of the body affected. The symptoms, or allergic reactions, may include headache, sneezing, watery eyes, and nasal congestion, as in hay fever and allergic rhinitis; a rash, stomach upset, and itchy swellings on the skin (hives ar blisters); spasms within the lungs that interfere with breathing, as in asthma. Rarely, a person may have an extreme allergic reaction to soy. This is called anaphylactic shock. Characterized by a severe drop in blood pressure, an itchy rash or hives, trouble breathing, pain in the abdomen, swelling of the tongue or throat, and diarrhea, it can lead to asphyxiation and death.

Allergens may act following inhalation, injection, ingestion, or contact with the skin.

ALLERGIC REACTIONS

An allergic reaction occurs when the immune system, which is the body's normal defense against dangerous foreign substances, "mistakes" a normally harmless substance for an invader, such as a virus. No one knows why this abnormal reaction occurs in some people and not others. People who have this type of unusual immune system are said to be hypersensitive, and medical scientists often use the term hypersensitivity instead of allergy.

The body's immune system reacts to an allergen in many different ways to cause the discomforting symptoms of an allergy. The process begins when the allergen stimulates the immune system to manufacture certain antibody molecules called immunoglobulin E (IgE). The antibody molecules then combine with the allergen molecules and bind to mast cells and basophils, causing the release of histamine and other active compounds. The histamine in turn affects the blood vessels and mucous membranes, leading to swelling, congestion, and leakage.

DEVELOPING AN ALLERGY

Allergies characteristically are not symptomatic with the first exposure to the allergen, and the symptoms occur only upon reexposure to the same agent. A person is said to have been sensitized by the first contact. That is, the immune system somehow "learns" to respond to the agent with an allergic reaction, but it reacts only at contacts that occur later.

Heredity may be responsible for the tendency to be allergic to soy in some infants but since many people develop the allergy late in life with no family history of soy allergy, there are other elements in developing a soy allergy. Those persons with such inherited tendencies are called atopic. Adult development of a soy allergy can be caused by overexposure during stressful periods in your life. In Barceleona Spain, hundreds of people started having asthma attacks which was traced (because they have free public health an investigation was done) to a ship in the harbor loaded with soybeans. The wind was carrying the bean particles through the air and making people sick. The ship was removed and the symptoms abated although once an allergy has been triggered, it does not go away.

DIAGNOSIS

An allergy is diagnosed from your medical history; symptoms; skin (or patch) tests, and blood tests which help to identify the allergen.

The minor discomforting symptoms of allergy are sometimes relieved by three types of medication: antihistamines, which block release of the histamines that cause congestion of mucous membranes and swelling; antiinflammatory agents, such as corticosteroids; and decongestants.

Anaphylactic shock is a major life threatening reaction to soy. Symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction (or anaphylactic shock) include severe itching, muscle spasms, facial swelling, obstruction of respiration from swelling in the larynx, and a drastic fall in blood pressure caused by widespread dilation of blood capillaries. The drop in pressure can lead to circulatory collapse and death. Anaphylaxis is treated by injecting powerful stimulants (such as adrenaline) to restore blood circulation and using antihistimines to combat the allergic reaction. Ask your doctor about prescribing an EPI-PEN and/or a portable nebulizer to carry with you if you survive an episode of anaphylactic shock.

If you don't see your symtoms here, add them to the symptom category in the Forum.

Please please read this, it can save the life of someone you love !

Anaphylaxis is an extreme allergic reaction to a foreign substance. Subsequent exposure can produce an overwhelming body reaction called anaphylactic shock. Symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction include severe itching, muscle spasms, facial swelling, obstruction of respiration from swelling in the larynx, and a drastic fall in blood pressure caused by widespread dilation of blood capillaries. The drop in pressure can lead to circulatory collapse and death. Anaphylaxis is treated by injecting powerful stimulants (such as adrenaline) to restore blood circulation and using antihistimines to combat the allergic reaction. If you have this symptom, you may want to ask your doctor for an EPI-PEN to carry with you

If you do away with the milk, the eggs, real cheese, coca butter, then what are you left with, anything real; no, and the taste is not what it once was either which makes little sense!

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