Oral Allergy Syndrome

Some of my patients have been recently complaining about watery and swollen eyes, sneezing and itchy throat, symptoms that are commonly associated to ragweed.Many people might think that ragweed is a spring or summer allergy, but really the ragweed season becomes intense in the fall, beginning, nowadays in August and going strong through October.Ragweed can also be an oral allergy syndrome (OAS). This means that the pollen which comes from ragweed, a weed that bears a similarity to the proteins in vegetables and fruits. So the immune systems reacts by an allergic response to fight off what the body perceives as a danger.Certain foods exacerbate ragweed allergies. These are bananas, chamomile tea, dandelion, Echinacea, melon ( honeydew, cantaloupe and watermelon), sunflower seeds and zucchini.According to an interesting article by the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America (AAFA), other pollen allergies that may cross-react to certain foods are:Birch pollen allergy--may react to kiwi, apples, pears, peaches plums, coriander, fennel, parsley, celery, cherries, carrots, hazelnuts and almonds.Grass Pollen Allergy--people may react to peaches, celery, tomatoes, melons and oranges.Natural Rubber Latex (NRL) Allergy. Even people handling food with latex may induce an allergic response if one is eating bananas, avocados, kiwi, chestnut and papaya.The symptoms of oral allergy syndrome can be complex and may constitute a diagnosis of other medical conditions such as food intolerance, other types of food-borne illnesses or food poisoning.Contact an allergist to determine whether you have OAS or another food illness.