Cow’s Milk Allergy
Did you know that cows’ milk allergies might be more common than allergies to peanuts, shellfish, and eggs? Cows’ milk allergy mostly affects infants and children, but also up to 1 in 13 adults! (1) Further, a meta-analysis of 51 studies on the prevalence of food allergies found that up to 17% of people self-report an allergy to cows’ milk (2).
In addition to the immediate symptoms that can occur, such as wheezing, hives, vomiting, and life-threatening anaphylaxis, some symptoms can actually occur up to several days following dairy consumption, including eczema and acid reflux (3). This means people may not even realize their symptoms could be an allergic reaction to the cows’ milk they consumed days prior. Unfortunately, methods for reversing cows’ milk allergy, such as immunotherapy, have not been proven safe or effective, which is why doctors recommend avoiding dairy products entirely (4). Think you could be affected? Learn about the 4 Signs That You May Be Allergic to Dairy by Switch4Good expert, Dr. Vivian Chen.
Our tip to you: avoid all forms of dairy to manage symptoms, including milk from sheep and goats. Click here to learn about alternatives to cows’ milk.
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References
- El-Agamy, Elsayed. The challenge of cow milk protein allergy. Small Ruminant Research 2007; 68:64-72
- Rona, Roberto J. et al. The prevalence of food allergy: A meta-analysis. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2007; 20(3):638 – 646.
- Fiocchi et al. World Allergy Organization (WAO) Diagnosis and Rationale for Action against Cow’s Milk Allergy (DRACMA) Guidelines. WAO Journal 2010.
- Taniuchi S, Takahashi M, Soejima K, Hatano Y, Minami H. Immunotherapy for cow’s milk allergy. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2017; 13(10):2443–2451.
