Allergy to protein in children is a fairly common problem.
According to the statistics on these or other products, children develop an allergic reaction in 7% of cases.
The development of allergies is associated with foreign proteins entering the body of the child from foreign sources. These proteins are reacted by the immune system, releasing into the blood humoral factors of immune defense. These factors are transmitted through the blood throughout the body, causing certain clinical manifestations in one or another place.
Symptoms of allergic reactions
Allergy to cow's milk protein can be manifested in different ways. All these symptoms are united by the fact that they are associated with the presence of cow's milk in the baby's diet, and they disappear when milk is excluded from the diet. Among the symptoms of allergy are the following:
- diarrhea after eating a meal containing milk protein;
- vomiting, regurgitation of food and refusal to eat;
- skin rash, eczema;
- itching;
- abdominal pain.
Very often allergy to milk in children is combined with atopic dermatitis and often occurs in children whose parents are ill with any allergic disease( bronchial asthma, polynomia and other diseases).
Treatment and prevention of milk allergy in children
The best prevention of allergic conditions in children for foreign protein is the natural feeding of mother's breast milk. However, in this case, the nursing mother or her substitute person should not consume either cow's milk or products containing its components.
The benefits of breastfeeding are enormous. Never underestimate it and accustom a child to artificial mixtures.
If for any reason it is impossible to breastfeed, special hypoallergenic mixtures are shown, in which the amount of substances capable of causing allergic reactions is reduced. With multiple food allergies, preference should be given to infant food, in which amino acids( structural units of proteins) are added instead of protein.
Forecast
The prognosis for the occurrence in children of the first year of life of cow's milk allergy is favorable. Allergic reactions, with proper hypoallergenic nutrition and the exclusion of cow's milk, completely disappear to 4-5 years of the child's life. However, before introducing the cow's milk into the diet, it is necessary to consult a pediatrician.
