Asthma and food allergies.

Asthma is essentially a reversible obstruction of airways. Food goes in the food pipe and not in the airways , thus it sounds strange that how can food allergies may result into Asthma.
Food can affect in many ways. It can by itself result into an allergic reaction for eg milk, peanut , egg , fish , even legumes etc can by themselves cause an asthmatic attack in people who are allergic to these articles.
we have had children who have had even lung bleeding (pulmonary hemosiderosis) after milk intake even in minute amount or in hidden form. People who are allergic to Chick pea have got attack even from inhaling the steam from the pressure cooker when chana was being cooked. Attacks of asthma while playing cards where others are eating peanut even thouh the patient was not eating are well recorded. Sea food allergy too is common.
Food can also be a hidded allergen for instance milk in bornvita and layschips. Wheat in malt extracts and honey in certain medicines , puddings etc.
There is yet another method of food allergy that is thru the shared allergen concept. For eg if someone is allergic to latex will also be allergic to banana and if allergic to birch pollen will also be allergic to apples.
moral of story is to get allergy tested rather than guess work , hit and trial.
After allergy test if an allergen is found , one should read labels on food packets to avoid even hidden allergens. Doctor can put you wise on shared allergens. Food allergy is not necessarily a life long problem , Allergy specialist doctor can put you back on these foods by systematic methods. Asthma can be better controlled and medicines and emergencies minimised if food allergy too is taken care of.