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Food Allergy Center - Wichita Falls, TX

Wichita Falls Asthma & Allergy Specialist Doctors for Food Allergy

Type of Physician: Asthma & Allergy Specialist

What is a Asthma & Allergy Specialist?

A certification by the Board of Allergy & Immunology; practitioners are expert in the evaluation, diagnosis and management of immune disorders.

Specialty: Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

Common Name: Allergy Doctor

Asthma & Allergy Specialist Doctors in Wichita Falls *

Allergy Center
McMurry Fitzsimmons
2211 Midwestern Pkwy
STE 2
Wichita Falls, TX 76308
(940) 696-2323

Wichita Falls, Texas

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Food Allergy

Introduction to food allergies

Either food allergy or food intolerance affects nearly everyone at some point. When people have an unpleasant reaction to something they ate, they often think that they have an allergy to the food. Actually, however, only up to 3% of adults and 6%-8% of children have clinically proven true allergic reactions to food.

This difference between the prevalence of clinically proven food allergy and the public's perception of the problem is due primarily to misinterpreting food intolerance or other adverse food reactions to food as food allergy. A true food allergy is an abnormal response to food that is triggered by a specific reaction in the immune system and expressed by certain, often characteristic, symptoms. Other kinds of reactions to foods that are not food allergies include food intolerances (such as lactose or milk intolerance), food poisoning, and toxic reactions. Food intolerance also is an abnormal response to food, and its symptoms can resemble those of food allergy. Food intolerance, however, is far more prevalent, occurs in a variety of diseases, and is triggered by several different mechanisms that are distinct from the immunological reaction responsible for food allergy.

People who have food allergies must identify and prevent them because, although usually mild and not severe, these reactions can cause devastating illness and, in rare instances, can be fatal.

How do allergic reactions to food occur?

The allergens in food are those components that are responsible for inciting an allergic reaction. They are proteins that usually resist the heat of cooking, the acid in the stomach, and the intestinal digestive enzymes. As a result, the allergens survive to cross the gastrointestinal lining, enter the bloodstream, and go to target organs, causing allergic reactions throughout the body. The mechanism of food allergy involves the immune system...

Recommended Reading Related to Food Allergy

Hives »

Hives facts

  • Hives (medically known as urticaria) are red, itchy, raised areas of skin that appear in varying shapes and sizes.
  • Hives are very common and most often their cause is elusive.
  • Hives can change size rapidly and to move around, disappearing in one place and reappearing in other places, often in a matter of hours.
  • Ordinary hives flare up suddenly.
  • Physical hives are hives produced by direct physical stimulation of the skin.
  • Treatment of hives is directed at symptom relief while the condition goes away on its own.
  • Antihistamines are the most common treatment for hives.
  • Hives typically are not associated with long-term or serious complications.

What are hives (urticaria) and angioedema?

Hives (medically known as urticaria) appear on the skin as wheals that are red, very itchy, smoothly elevated areas of skin often with a blanched center. They ap...

Emergency Contact for Wichita Falls

  • In case of Emergency, call 911

Nearby Wichita Falls Hospitals *

Red River Hospital & Behavioral Health Services
1505 Eighth St
Wichita Falls, TX 76301
(940)322-3171

Texas Specialty Hospital Wichita Falls
1103 Grace St
Wichita Falls, TX 76301
(940)720-6633

United Regional Health Care System
1600 11th St
Wichita Falls, TX 76301
(940)764-7000

HEALTHSOUTH Wichita Falls Rehabilitation Hospital
3901 Armory Rd
Wichita Falls, TX 76302
(940)720-5700

North Texas State Hospital Wichita Falls Campus
6515 Kemp Blvd
Wichita Falls, TX 76308
(940)692-1220

Kell West Regional Hospital
5420 Kell West Blvd
Wichita Falls, TX 76310
(940)692-5888

Clay County Memorial Hospital
310 W South St
Henrietta, TX 76365
(940)538-5621

Electra Memorial Hospital
1207 S Bailey St
Electra, TX 76360
(940)495-3981

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