#allergens

[transgendz]

Ik I've made a post about it before but hospitals don't always have the ability to cater to life or death food allergies and are often not up front about this when admitting patients.

Yesterday I had to take my roomate to the hospital. He is allergic to soy, dairy, most tree nuts, several fruits, and he has severe celiacs, so no gluten whatsoever.

Little backstory, we are both disabled, and I am his advocate in situations like these, generally I am his caregiver, though I'd say it goes both ways.

So he is being pushed to accept hospitalization, and I am agreeing until I ask about food. The nurse says "it's a hospital, why wouldn't we be able to accomidate"

I am more direct, and say "many hospitals can't, I don't mind walking to the cafeteria to confirm." She seems to get frustrated but says she will call them and leaves after belittling me for having her check.

When she returns I'm told "they cannot guarantee any of the foods we have will be allergen free, but nothing in life is 100%"

My roomate came to the hospital because he was bleeding from ulcers caused by accidentally getting a single speck of grain alcohol based hand sanitizer on his tounge.

Td;lr hospitals don't always provide for allergens, and when I brought this up in a hospital with a nurse, I was basically told the patient should just eat allergens

[klmmcqueen]

Hi everyone!! I'm super proud to be announcing another collaboration with FB! These guys are always full of such excellent ideas and I think their ALLERGEN BARS (tm) are their greatest feat yet! Live your life to the shortest with a Dairy, Nut, Gluten, or Soy bar. Super excited for the Egg bar too!

[thebibliosphere]

I'm being brave and just tried a new moisturizing cream on my face.

I've done numerous patch tests to make sure I'm okay with it. Going into anaphylaxis that one time from sunscreen really left a mark on my psyche for trying new products (fellow MCAS folks should probably avoid Alba sunscreens). But there's still that lingering fear that once I put it on my entire face, I'll react to it.

I really hope not, because ten years of not being able to use a proper moisturizer during the Minnesota winters has destroyed my skin barrier.

There's only so much a thin scraping of olive oil can do against -40'c.

[eating-the-inedible]

ROUND ONE: Allergens vs. Hoodie drawstrings

Propaganda:

Allergens:

you are allergic to them

Hoodie drawstrings:

Reformed drawstring chewer here

In honor of all drawstring chewers. Which is me. Hi.

soooo edible, truly. it’s great cause it’s always with you if you wear hoodies (if they have a desirable one), and i don’t doubt that most people on this hellsite wear hoodies. yknow.

very very so very chewable. so amazing to chew on, trust. i think it’s so good to chew on.

[suzieb-fit]

Yesterday was dreadful. Seriously. The mucus thing was beyond description. I'm considering a consultation with a homeopath. I genuinely can't carry on like this!

Today has been the same. At this point, I'm honestly thinking about just eating the things I like, because nothing I've so far cut out has made the slightest difference.

Anyway, on with my day. I have to carry on regardless.

Up and out in the damp, dingy morning for my 30 minutes. Upper body strength back at home, then breakfast.

I put my apple and nuts (with olive oil, pepper, mixed spices and cinnamon) in the microwave while my coffee brewed. I mix the collagen in my milk.

Head hurts, throat is raw and I'm, well.....pretty fed up with myself right now.

Once again, I share it all. The good, the average and the bad days.

As the day wore on, I went through the motions.

My second workout was basic cardio. Thought that might shake me up a bit.

I wasn't in the mood, lol, but I actually wasn't in the mood to move at all, no matter what kind of training.

But I got on with it, anyway. My stubbornness can be a blessing sometimes.

I was glad I chose that, as it was just a good blast of HIIT. Nothing crazy or complicated.

Perfect for a mood boost, as well as being great for my physical health.

I keep saying this, and I'll continue to do so - Movement is medicine!!

I then decided to go with my earlier thought. Just enjoy my food.

So I had a half portion of salted peanuts with half a portion of plain mixed (Yep - a whole lot of nuts this morning!!), and the first of my real caffeine hits.

I knew I would benefit from just getting on with getting plenty of exercise today.

So after that coffee settled, I was on with a freestyle bodyweight workout for my YouTube channel.

Lovely bacon, egg and mushrooms with cheese, a little salad, grapes and cottage cheese for lunch soon after that.

I was thinking of doing some yoga in the afternoon, but I got busy helping the boss sort out a new bike that we picked up yesterday.

Just needed some adjustments and he also wanted to save things from my old bike that were in good enough condition to keep for "spares".

Monday turned out to be a MUCH better one than I was expecting.

I feel a lot better now. Mentally and physically. And this feels like a day that I have conquered.

[sneezykinkythoughts]

I got curious and looked up what allergens under microscop looks like and this is what I landed on:

Mostly pollen and and cat/dog allergen

Those things look hella itchy no wonder people sneeze their heads off because of them. But my question is:

WHY THE HELL NOT EVERYONE IS SNEEZING WHEN ME ARE EXPOSED BECAUSE LOOK HOW THOSE LITTLE BALLS COULD ITCH EVERYONES NOSE LIKE ??? I GET THAT IN MY NOSE AND HAVE ZERO REACTION, HOW ???

Thats all for me.

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Reduced health risks with new epoxy resin monomer

Epoxy resin monomers used in industry can result in severe contact allergies. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have now developed a new type of epoxy resin monomer that is far less allergenic and is based on a renewable material. The epoxy resin monomers used today contain residues of the endocrine disruptor Bisphenol A (BPA). The new monomer derived from ordinary sugar is not based on BPA.

Epoxy resin monomers have been used for a long time in the construction industry and, more recently, in the production of the plastics used in wind turbines. The monomer is produced from BPA, which is derived from petroleum. The risk of developing a contact allergy when handling epoxy resin monomers is considerable, and sometimes it is not even enough to wear protective clothing.

"When we started our research, we had three goals. The monomer should be far less allergenic, be based on an easily accessible and renewable starting material, and not based on BPA, which is a known endocrine disruptor," says Kristina Luthman, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Gothenburg.

Read more.

[spaceacesoaps]

Had a conversation on my main blog that got me thinking about what allergens I can easily mark and while fragrance allergens are trickier due to how they're labeled and formulation changes, I do want as wide an audience as possible to be able to safely use my soaps.

And for those who don't know - Balsam of Peru is an ingredient commonly used to replace cinnamon or some other fragrances.

[sweaty-confetti]

vent

idk this might just be a me-and-my-surrounding-conditions thing but i really wish public food places like restaurants and whatever were more careful about allergens. cause the majority of them are! they are :) but recently i went into anaphylactic shock due to a cheesecake. and i asked the waiter multiple times as well as other staff whether it contained any of my potential allergens and they were adamant that it didn’t. guess what! it did! a distinctly nutty taste, a scratchy throat and boom next thing i know i’m in the goddamn emergency room because someone couldn’t be bothered. and i’ve seen this happen too with people who request specific orders like oat milk in their coffee or to make the meal without carrots or whatever the fuck else and sometimes the people taking their orders/preparing their food just…don’t? and it’s very scary. because yeah, some peoples’ allergies aren’t severe and yeah, i had my epipen on me, but that experience still fucking sucked!

[sialiasnest]

I appear to have fallen

into a world full of pollen

the itching is huge

though they're ever so smallen

[the-enemys-gate-is-down]

I understand that some things cost more to produce than others, but I am forever frustrated by how much more expensive gluten and allergen friendly food is than “normal” food. It costs me sometimes twice as much to simply exist than it would if I could eat normal food. It’s an allergy, not a choice, and I wish we could do something about the cost of alternative food for people with allergens.

I’ve heard of countries in Europe who subsidize those with gluten free diets. That’s awesome! America should take notes. (About many things, not just this haha)

[bpod-bpod]

Tracking Allergens

You begin to sneeze and wheeze. Your chest tightens. You're having an allergic asthma attack. This is caused by inhaling allergens, such as pollen or dander, reaching immune cells called T-helper cells (Th2 cells), triggering inflammation around your airways. However, the mechanism by which these allergens are captured and presented to Th2 cells is unclear. Researchers investigate using mice genetically engineered to have different cells, including immune cells, bearing fluorescent proteins. Mice lungs were imaged with two-photon microscopy (pictured), revealing cells lining the airways (green), collagen outside cells (blue) and other cells (red). Mice inhaled fluorescently-tagged allergens, and subsequent imaging revealed allergens were captured and presented by immune cells in the lungs called bronchus-associated macrophages (BAMs). BAMs accumulated in collagen-rich regions near airway branch points, where inhaled allergens likely deposit, and interacted with Th2 cells and other immune cells called dendritic cells, supporting their role as allergen-presenting cells.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Video from work by Xin-Zi Tang and colleagues

Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in eLife, September 2022

You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

[suzieb-fit]

No early walk, no workout.

I didn't know I'd be having a day off until my usual "get up and move" time came around, and my whole system said "nope, not today sue...not today".

Rough night, which is nothing unusual, and I just decided to stay in bed late for a change. That is VERY unusual!

I'd already decided on a shorter fast last night.

Day three back on the peanuts. Just half the amount I was having before. Mixed with plain, mixed nuts and half an apple.

Seems fine. No noticeable backlash. Yet. Really looking forward to the homeopathy appointment on Saturday. Fingers crossed!

[flock-talk]

Are birds sensitive to food allergies?

They can be!

It’s unfortunately an area that hasn’t really been studied (such is the life of caring for exotics). There are quite a few reports of pet parrots having allergic responses varying from wheezing, sneezing, and feather plucking due to food or environmental allergens.

Although there’s no definitive studies yet some common allergens people have experienced their birds having are:

Soybeans

Some floral pollens

Peanuts

Wheat

Spirulina

More info on the topic:

https://www.dakotahillsveterinary.com/rapid-city-vet-allergies-birds

Of course due to the lack of definitive studies we can’t say for sure that these are common allergens. It’s purely anecdotal from people doing elimination diets and isolating foods that could have been the source of their bird’s symptoms.

[transgendz]

i cant speak for everywhere obviously but im doing my practicum at a hospital connected ltc facility and we have the same issue with foods (more effort is made to accommodate allergies cuz people live there but its still an issue) and its cuz literally no food is actually cooked there. literally everything is shipped in from like 4 hours away and reheated. its all shit food and i hate it and it makes me so mad <3 theres literally a kitchen in the building and no food is cooked in it cuz its cheaper to do it this way

Thank you so so much for sharing this, my notes rn are a mix of healthcare workers condescending that it's my fault for not advocating more, and disabled people insisting this is very much the norm and we are routinely told to fuck ourselves.

Not to sound overly impersonal but there's something really useful to disabled people about healthcare/healthcare adjacent workers backing us up. And genuinely thank you for that.

[cat-arsenal]

New game using the tidy little chart I yoinked from http://foodsafetytrainingcertification.com/food-safety-news/food-allergy-awareness/

Mark which of the “8 Most Common Allergens” you’re allergic to!