Are food allergies hereditary?

[Sundaymorning]

Lets say that i have no allergies whatsoever and my husband has severe allergic reations to pine nuts and pesto. What is the possibility our kids will get it?

[Papillon]

Allergies are caused by our bodies' immune system identifying a normally harmless proteien, polypeptide chain or cell membrane as Satan's brew, and launches a vicious autoimmune response to combat the invader. It's kinda like american and isreali politics . But I digress.

 

Your lymphocytes (white blood cells) are responsible for identifying foreign substances in your body. The basic immune response is part and parcel of our immune response. Our cell membrane have marker proteiens imbedded in them that serve as a fingerprint to the lymphocytes. Those marker proteiens are unique to each person, they come from our genetic makeup.

 

Now, whenever a foreign cell or unidentified proteien is encountered, the lymphocytes may decide that it is evil, and an antibody response is generated - the target substance is coated by immunoglobulin antibodies which serve as a beacon for your phagacytes (those white blood cells that "eat" trash in your body). The immunoglobulin response is also "remembered" for future reference. This action also releases a substance called HISTAMINE which acts a a blood vessel dilator, and causes blood and white blood cells to rush to the area. This is what causes swelling. If you've been scratched by a cat or stung by a bee, that localised swelling is caused by HISTAMINE, the cream you rub on to combat the swelling is thus an ANTI-HISTAMINE. Geddit?

 

Now, sometimes the HISTAMINE reaction gets out of hand, and the swelling and hot flushing can cause lots of discomfort, and sometimes the swelling closed of your throat can be fatal, or the massive antbody reaction can even cause heart failure or coma, and death. Kind of ironic, isn't it.

 

Is it genetic? Well, obviously, the basic makeup of the immune response is genetic, and because of that, it differs slightly between persons. But often a substance might cause a slight reaction, but then a slightly different substance is misidentified, and a vicious allergic reaction ensues. In other words, someone might be alleric to shellfish, but only because they happened to have eaten a truffle ten years previously. See what I'm getting at? If they hadn't eaten the truffle, they might very well be able to enjoy shellfish now.

 

99% of immune responses are acquired, the rest are genetic. Allergic reations tend to be almost 'coincidental', and are a mixture of various factors and happenstances.

 

The point is, it's unlikely that the allergy will be inherited. Acquired immune responses aren't programmed back into our genetic makeup. A baby is a clean slate, it only gets a basic antibody set from mother's milk, to help it along, and from there the immune system is on its own and has to learn everything.

[bluechocolate]

Wow pap - what a good answer !!

 

Nothing to add but my own experience

 

As a child I suffered from severe pollen allergies - basically was told by an allergist that I was allergic to grass, trees and weeds - go figure. My parents happen to live in one of the worst parts of North America for hay fever sufferers and my allergies calmed down dramatically away from there. Also I had very bad allergic reactions to bird feathers - so no pet budgies and no feather pillows. No one in my immediate family has these allergies.

 

Many childhood allergies diminish or cease altogether with age ( as mine have with bird feathers ).

 

My mother-in-law would most probably die if she were to eat shell fish and not receive medical attention immediately. None of her children have the same allergy.

[Papillon]

The interesting thing about this are diseases like Multiple Sclerosis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (sp?) - those are autoimmune diseases whereby a foreign substance causes an anti-body "registration", but the "registration identification" is close enough to the proteins on nerves or other tissue types. The immune system then gets confused, and identifies valid tissues as foreign invaders, and launches an attack on the BODY'S OWN TISSUES!

 

This unfortunate phenomenon has however sparked off a promising new research direction for cancer treatment - if cancer cells can be "misidentified", then the body's own immune system can take care of them. Of course something like this is very dangerous - if the wrong tissue is targeted it will most probably be fatal. Animal experimentation is unfortunately essential.

[moimeme]

Does Everyone Have Allergies?

No. Most allergies are inherited, which means they are passed on to children by their parents. People inherit a tendency to be allergic, although not to any specific allergen. When one parent is allergic, their child has a 50% chance of having allergies. That risk jumps to 75% if both parents have allergies.

Reviewed by the doctors at The Cleveland Clinic Department of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine.

Edited by Charlotte E. Grayson, MD, Feb. 2004, WebMD.

http://my.webmd.com/content/pages/10/1625_50536.htm?lastselectedguid={5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348}

[Papillon]

The important part to note is that the TENDENCY to have allergic overreactions is gentically influenced, and not any specific allergenic response.

[befuddled11]

Maybe they aren't always, but they surely can be.

 

My sister's husband and children are living proof. My sister (like myself and our parents) grew up without any food allergies, or allergies of any kind.

 

My sister's husband comes from a family where his Mother is the Allergy-Queen. She has to carry an epinephrine pen around with her at all times. She's gone into anaphylactic shock several times (and been whisked away in an ambulance) because she ended up eating something that contained a trace amount of whatever she's allergic to. 2 of her 4 sons have the same life threatening allergies, my brother inlaw being one of them.

 

My little nephew, unfortunately, has horrible allergies...though my niece doesn't.

 

He's allergic to wheat, cow's milk, seafood, a lot of fruits, a lot of dyes within foods (he's been allergy tested)...animals, etc.

 

His allergy to milk is so severe that if my niece eats a piece of cheese and doesn't wash her hands right away, and she touches something (a toy) that he'll end up touching, he'll immediately break out in hives. My poor sister really has her hands full! His allergies, like her inlaws', are so bad that my sister doesn't trust leaving him with any babysitter, even the most qualified, because people don't understand HOW allergic he is...and how quickly he can go into anaphylactic shock. I was on the phone with my sister one day......and as we were talking, she commented that he had a couple of hives on his hands and cheeks. They became worse within seconds....she was beside herself. I had to try to keep her calm....and tell her to go get the Epi-Pen and give him a shot NOW.......and to then call 911. Which she did. It was a close call. This was all because he touched a plate that had had cheese on it.

 

My brother inlaw's allergies aren't quite as severe, but his one brother's is, and so is his Mom's.

 

There's nobody in our family (sister) who has allergies like this. There's no way someone can tell me that my nephew is like this NOT because of the heredity. I used to work on a pediatrics unit, and very similar....Moms with many allergies, their children had lots of allergies, too.

 

perhaps it's an inherited weakened immune system, but it's definitely inherited.