Allergies to sugar in a child: causes, symptoms, treatment

A group of sugars is too diverse to combine all its elements into a common allergen, so the expression "sugar allergy" is inaccurate and can not exist as a diagnosis.

The truth and myth

Can there be an allergy to sugar? Allergy is the response of the immune system to the penetration of substances perceived by it as hostile agents. In this case, the protective functions of the body synthesize special cells - antibodies, which interact with foreign elements and stimulate a reaction familiar to all on general allergic signs. To provoke the process of isolation of antibodies can not any substance, but only a protein compound. So, in the group of pure sugars this element is not present, and the carbohydrate available there is not capable to activate protective reactions of immunity.

However, the substances of the pure group have nothing in common with store sweets, including lump sugar, do not. The product that enters the stores passes through many stages of purification, undergoes the action of preservatives, odors, pigments that are responsible for the "snow-white" product. All this can cause sugar intolerance and cause symptoms until anaphylactic shock.

So can there be an allergy to sugar in the present sense of the word? The true allergy, the culprit of which can be the usual sweet sand or lump sugar, is a very rare phenomenon that arises from the lack of sucrose enzyme. It can be congenital in nature, acquired or transient.

Causes of an allergic reaction

Intolerance, or an allergy to sugar, in a child occurs when a child fails to synthesize or break the work of certain enzymes. The rejection of sugars can be congenital pathological in nature or a consequence of the disease. Almost half of allergies to sugar in newborns are due to a genetically-hereditary transmission from the next of kin.

Congenital allergy refers to manifestations of a primary nature and is detected at an early age of the baby - even before the age of one. Intolerance of this type does not include a transient reaction of rejection of sugars in the first few months after the birth of a child, if the symptomatology does not last more than five days.

The reasons for sugar intolerance are:

• presence in the body of helminthic invasions;
• treatment with antibiotics, especially if therapy continued with long courses;
• impairment of intestinal motility or inflammatory processes in the digestive tract in chronic course.

The last point of the cause of sugar intolerance, if it does not refer to anomalies in the development of the body, is more common in adult children of preschool and school age.

Response to milk sugar

Protein is the main constituent of a dairy product that enters the baby's body in large volumes every day. At the frequency with which the baby usually feeds, this substance simply can not get out of the body, because it forms accumulation in the digestive tract.

This is the norm with the optimal development of the body of the baby all the necessary enzymes for the splitting of protein, but it also happens that the child's body can not cope. The process of fermentation begins when the elements of sugar get in contact, there are signs that are often mistaken for "allergies" to sugar in a child with GV - colic in the abdomen, gas formation, regurgitation.

Another reason is the lack or decrease in the activity of a special enzyme responsible for the assimilation of lactose-lactase. Sugars contained in milk enter the intestine without first splitting into the simplest elements, one of which is lactase, and already in the stomach they begin to change under the influence of acidic flora. The child shows anxiety immediately after feeding - a strong, acidic eructation appears, diarrhea opens. One of the complications of rejection of milk sugar can be a delay in the physical development of the baby.

Types of skin reactions

"Allergy" for sugar in a child can be recognized by the main feature accompanying almost all the manifestations of the reaction to sweets - a rash that forms fusions up to several centimeters or scattered over the body as separate points. As a rule, the child begins to actively comb the body, so some rashy areas quickly turn into sores.

Not always an "allergy" to sugar manifests itself as an immediate response of the child's body to irritation. Less often the reaction develops in a gradual order, with increasing symptomatology. Therefore, there are two forms of intolerance:

• immediate - that is, giving out a complete clinical picture in the first hours after eating prohibited products;
• slowed down - it opens for several days.

When the reaction is delayed, it is important to differentiate sugar intolerance from allergies to other food and non-food stimuli.

Clinical picture of skin reaction

In terms of the degree of complexity of the manifestations, sugar intolerance is divided into the following symptoms that are noticeable on the skin:

• is a simple rash, represented by separate point elements or localized fusions( with or without itching);
• urticaria - there may be several types of rash, but always accompanied by swelling, severe itching;
• Quincke edema is one of the most critical reactions of an allergic reaction, characterized by extensive edema of the facial region and in the genital area, difficulty breathing, redness of the skin;
• anaphylactic shock is an extreme, pre-lethal form of allergy manifestation, in which a person falls into an unconscious state and dies in the absence of medical care.

Depending on the signs of intolerance to sugars, a decision is made on emergency measures and on the required conditions for their provision.

Diagnostics

In a newborn child, a sugar allergy can be pre-confirmed by the mother's words, calling the doctor such characteristic signs of the clinical picture as frequent loose stools, profuse regurgitation, symptoms of an acute abdomen. However, for the specification and isolation of the allergen, certain tests will be needed, which include:

• method of excluding the allergen( transfer of the child to mixtures that do not contain lactose);
• skin test( introduction of an allergy pathogen into the body, through a small scratch on the child's forearm);
• blood test for IgE antibodies;
• study of stool.

For children who can control the volume of exhaled air( usually from the age of 3), measure the concentration of hydrogen particles on expiration - a test conducted in two stages - before taking lactose and after drinking a small amount of milk.

Drug treatment

Allergy to cane sugar or sugar beet components, differentiated from lactose intolerance, is stopped by antihistamines with a parallel rejection of products provoking an immune reaction. The course of treatment with such drugs as "Suprastin", "Zodak", "Kisal", is designed for two weeks of continuous intake of the drug. In the scheme of treatment of allergy to sugar in the child also include the use of enterosorbents to purify the intestines from decay products and toxins released into the body: activated black or white coal, Lactofiltrum, Smecta.

Lactose aversion, means against allergies can not be eliminated, because most often they simply practice the refusal of food products that require the functioning of a defective enzyme.

Treatment with the

diet The children's diet is difficult to adjust in such a way that lactose or other elementary components of sugar, on which the baby can develop allergies, do not get into it. If the problem is found in sucrose, the baby needs to breastfeed the whole first year of life, and at the beginning of the feeding, analyze the composition of each jar of the finished product.

Children older than infants are prescribed a diet:

• is excluded from food: viscous cereal, potatoes, corn, jelly and any products using large amounts of starch as a thickener;
• are included in the diet without fail: lean soups, crumbly porridges, fat vegetable oils;
• gives preference to all citrus fruits, fresh herbs, spinach, cherries and all berries and fruits, where fructose is the natural sweetener;
• is recommended daily for taking vitamin C.

Since the treatment of sugar allergy occupies a narrowly focused position, only one allergen is excluded from the diet. Food restrictions introduced with lactose intolerance will not affect patients with reaction to sucrose, and vice versa.

Allergy correction for milk sugar with HS

In cases when it comes to breastfeeding, the refusal of which will affect the health of the baby, the baby is prescribed an enzyme lactase in the form of separate preparations. Powders are dissolved in a single-serving portion of expressed breast milk and given to the child according to the feeding schedule.

Many mothers reasonably do not want to deny the baby a physiological feeding, positively affecting the mental state of the newborn, so they dilute the lactase enzyme in a small amount of expressed milk. First, when feeding the baby, give the fermented food, then - before replenishing the diet - apply to the chest.

Alternative to sugar for allergy - fructose

How correctly to use sugar substitutes and are they harmful? To add food to children, nutritionists recommend using only sweeteners of natural origin - they are completely absorbed into the walls of the intestine, do not disrupt the peristalsis and immediately begin to actively act in all body systems.

Fans of traditional methods of treatment and prevention of lactose intolerance put instead of sugar fructose. The benefits and dangers of this substance are often said, but it is still widely used in most cases when the use of classical sugar is impossible for health reasons.

Children fructose is best used in its original form. The high content of this substance is noted in the following food products:

• pears and apples;Persimmon persimmon, dates;
• currant, grapes;
• all kinds of cabbage.

If a baby has a low digestibility of breast milk, then Mom should think about using fructose instead of sugar. The benefit and harm of such a replacement can be estimated after 2-3 first feedings. The drug bought in the pharmacy, and children and young mother should be taken with caution - in an amount not exceeding 30 grams per day.

Natural sugar substitutes

How to replace the product with the maximum benefit for the child with an allergy to sugar? If the mother does not even consider the sugar replacers in the form of drugstores, first of all you should pay attention to honey. Add it to the baby's diet gradually, starting with hypoallergenic varieties and then diversifying the supply of sweetness with an increase in the volume of a single serving.

A bit more controversial when reacting to sucrose is considered a wedge syrup, which can also be found in the form of solid crystals. The product contains sucrose in extremely small amounts( 5 g of substance in 100 ml of syrup), therefore it refers to dietary, but it needs to be fed as carefully as honey.

Recommendations for the children's menu

The later the child learns the taste of sugar-containing delicacies, the better for his health. Previously, pediatricians recommended acquainting a child with shopping sweets not earlier than three years old, now they are asked to wait at least a year. The tendency of decreasing healthy immunity in preschool children in the last decade depends to a large extent on how often parents organize food for the child, neglect useful treats, making a choice in favor of the public.

Are sweeteners that are part of popular food brands harmful? It is difficult to believe, but, having excluded only five types of products from the ration of a young child, it is possible to delete several kilograms of sugar from its annual consumption! Here is this short list:

• products from sand and sweet puff pastry;
• modern caramel with a bright taste and milk chocolate;
• all kinds of soda water;
• chips, corn sticks and sweet flakes;
• confectionery creams.

It is impossible to completely deny a child a sweet one, therefore, after clearing obviously harmful products, they should be replaced immediately by useful ones. Necessary for the health of the baby sweets, we also included in five groups:

• dried fruits( washed);
• natural homemade yogurt without sugar;
• muesli;
• dark chocolate with a cocoa content of not less than 72%;
• fruits corresponding to the season.

Useful natural juice, especially freshly squeezed, it is necessary to dilute with water half and only then give the child. Juices purchased in the store, it does not concern - the concentration of modified sugar is so high in them that the product is no longer amenable to correction.

Prevention of allergy development in a child

Mother's nutrition during fetal gestation, largely determines the degree of susceptibility of the child to certain products after birth. If a pregnant woman consumes glucose in an uncontaminated amount or experiments with various sugar substitutes without medical prescriptions, this will most likely affect the enzyme formation in the child's body.

In some cases, when diagnosing a true allergy to the simplest elements of sugar in children older than three years, it is possible to develop an adaptation to the allergen. This is a fairly long process, occurring under the supervision of an allergist and accompanied by periodic testing. A successful outcome of therapy is the result, when the child ceases to respond to the allergen when used in moderate doses.