Another "its all in your head" mis-report.

I frequently hope that my allergies are "all in my head." A very close friend was convinced that it was just stress, but after witnessing a reaction she is now one of my biggest advocates. A. is fond of agreeing with me when I say this is all in my head, he has a stock answer these days. "Yes, it is certainly in your head. In your lips, tongue, eyes and throat. Not to mention the bright red cheeks. In and on your head."

Depending on which news coverage you read, it is also all could be all in their head for 1/2 of the patients in the study at an allergy clinic in Germany. Only the Nursing Times highlight the fact that this is a group with a SUSPECTED food allergy, not a diagnosed food allergy. Still the 3 headlines that I saw first thing this morning are:

Overestimated And Underestimated Food Allergies
--Half of all food allergies are not food allergies at all. This is what Cornelia S. Seitz et al., allergologists from Würzburg University, concluded in a study with 419 patients, as presented in the current edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2008; 105[42]: 715-23).
Food Allergies are Not What They Seem
--Half of all food allergies are no allergies at all, according to a new study based on 419 patients in Germany.
Half of Adults in Clinic had No Food Allergy
--Half of all adults referred to a specialist clinic with suspected food allergies were found to have no food allergy, according to research.

These are the 3 articles that came up in my Google news reader this morning. It is early, I'm sure we will hear more about this. The real story is, don't self diagnose for food allergies, don't cut food families out of your diet on a whim, there can be other medical issues causing reaction type issues. It also emphasizes, at the end, that true food allergies are dangerous.

The headlines, however, read like it is all in your head. Well, half of our heads. Or half of my head. I may need some corn-free coffee before I figure that one out. Considering that too much of my life seems to be a double blind test where I am trying to find the new source of corn after a reaction, I'm sure this one is not about me.

Watch out for well meaning relatives with the "a little bit won't hurt" syndrome during the holidays. If they've read this article...yikes!