Yellow Yellow Allergic Fellow

One of the most difficult food substance to avoid in food allergy is those connected with yellow color additive (E110: Sunset Yellow and E102: Tartrazine).

These additives have caused untold misery to countless patients of mine. One is a lady from my hometown whose allergy to colour additive manifested as eczema all over her body.

I have learned a lot of what type of food to avoid from my consultation with her:

• Most junk food contains these additives and therefore they are no-no
• Cooking oils are also a major problem as a lot of them contains these addictives (hence the 'golden yellow' look)
• Olive and sunflowerseed oils generally do not contain them
• Most butter and margarines have these additives and therefore pastries and cakes made with these ingredients must be avoided.
• So is local Malaysian coffee (as most are roasted with margarine) and tea as they may contain yellow additives
• Most of the commercial prepared yellow mee (egg noodles) have the E102 and E110 additives

This lady now cooks with lard (to avoid the colour additives) and she goes to a particular restaurant which cooks for her specially using the oil she places at the restaurant for her food. She also told me that the task is difficult but the reward is satisfying as she made a complete recovery even though it took her some time and a number of relapses.

Lesson: E110 AND E102 ARE YELLOW COLOR ADDITIVES AND VERY COMMON FOOD ALLERGENS

My learning continues.

The Extremes of Allergies

An allergy can present as two extreme manifestations; I had two cases today to demonstrate my point.

One young man came to see me for a patch of thickened skin rash at the back of his neck, about the size of a ten-cent coin. He was diagnosed to have chromium allergy (i.e. allergy to chrome). It was due to a chain he was wearing for some time, a gift from his girlfriend.

The other patient had seen me 5 years ago and was diagnosed as having egg allergy and has actually got well after treatment by me. This time, he had a scaly rash all over his scalp, his face and his whole body. His condition is known as exfoliative dermatitis, a severe allergic reaction. His present severe manifestation is in contrast with what he experienced 5 years ago - only a mild skin rash. This illustrates the unpredictability of allergy.

I can remember some other cases I've had of extreme allergic manifestations.

Many years ago, one patient of mine had an allergy to yellow dye additive (as found in certain foods) and was admitted to a hospital for an anaphylactic reaction (i.e. allergic shock) in Sydney after taking some butter for breakfast. After that incident, she kept an Epipen (Epinephrine Auto-Injector) with her. She had another attack in Kuala Lumpur when she was back in Malaysia but after I prescribed her with probiotic, she has never had another attack since. 

Another patient is the daughter of a squash buddy of mine who had peanut-induced anaphylactic shock, which can cause death very rapidly, like 5 minutes. He brought her to see me, and after treatment, she has not had an attack since.

Allergy can range from the very mild to very life treatening

My learning continues...