Feel funny after you eat that barbeque chicken? Find out if your allergy and asthma symptoms at the neighborhood barbecue are related to the type of wood that was burned.

No one knows for sure, but it is estimated that at least 4 of every 1000 people are affected. Each year 50 to 100 people in the U.S. die from reactions to stings. Many summer deaths attributed to heart attack or drowning may actually be due to allergic reactions to insect stings, so the number may be even higher. More people are killed in the U.S.

Everything from body aches, brain fog, mental confusion to CFS, fibromyalsia, interstitial cystitis, digestive disorders, depression, IBS, bowel disturbances, learning disabilities, loss of energy ?

In the U.S., it is estimated that about 1 to 2.5 percent of the adult population and up to 6 to 8 percent of children are affected by some kind of food allergy. Worldwide, 90 percent of food allergies are caused by eight foods: peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, crustacea (for example, shrimp) and wheat. In most cases, all known food allergens are proteins. All food, whether developed by conventional means or through biotechnology, is a potential source of allergens.

One in every ten adults and children people is allergic to dust mites. That’s an estimate from experts at The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Research also shows that dust mites can cause asthma. Children living in homes with high levels of dust mites are 500% more likely to develop asthma. Studies show that one in six Americans is allergic to dogs or cats.

With the increase in the number of allergies, some life threatening, your mattress should be hypoallergenic. Usually when a person is allergic to a particular substance, the reaction can vary from red itchy eyes to hives, progressing to difficulty breathing. Latex foam mattresses are hypoallergenic unlike other mattress materials such as wool or feathers, latex mattresses will not trap any chemicals or dust, which can continually cause allergies to flare up.

Symptoms of allergies and colds can be similar, but here's how to tell the difference: Occurrence of symptoms: Both allergies and colds cause symptoms of sneezing, congestion, runny nose, watery eyes, fatigue, and headaches. However, colds often cause symptoms one at a time: first sneezing, then a runny nose, and then congestion. Allergies cause symptoms that occur all at once.

People can be allergic to a variety of substances, the most common of which are pollen and dust mites. Pollen: Allergic rhinitis, or hay fever, is an allergy to pollen. It causes inflammation and swelling of the lining of the nose, as well as the lining of the eyes and eyelids (conjunctiva). Symptoms include sneezing, congestion and itchy, watery eyes. Treatments include over-the-counter and prescription antihistamines such as Benadryl, nasal steroids, and nasal cromolyn.

Health Canada also lists the food additive sulphites as one of the most common causes of allergy, though it is not a food protein as such.

Before you rush off for one of those over the counter allergy treatments, listen up. You need to first make sure you truly have an allergy. Hear what doctors have learned about mold that could help millions of allergy sufferers get the proper help.

allergist or immunologist can diagnose your allergies using allergy skin tests, which show if your immune system reacts to specific allergens. You can also test your reactivity to common allergens using a home allergy test.

Allergies can be treated with medicine that alleviates symptoms or immunotherapy (allergy shots) that desensitize the patient to specific allergens with weekly shots over several years. However, the best method of treating allergies is allergen avoidance. If you're allergic to dust mites, for instance, your most effective path to wellness would be to eliminate the dust mites from your home.

Over 50 million Americans suffer from allergies, and approximately 55 percent of all U.S. citizens test positive to one or more allergens.

There is a genetic factor in the development of allergic disease. If one parent has allergic disease, the estimated risk of a child to develop allergies is 48%; the child's estimated risk grows to 70% if both parents have a history of allergies.

We know that the predisposition to allergies is genetic. While we are not sure of the exact mechanism of inheritance, we know that children born to allergic parents have an increased risk of developing allergy. The exact risk has not been established but one can consider that approximately one-third to one-half of children born to parents where only one parent is allergic will have allergies, and 50 to 70 percent of children born to parents both of whom have allergies will become allergic.

Allergy testing is done to help gather specific information so your doctor can determine what you are allergic to and how to provide the best treatment for your allergy. A common test used to determine the allergic sensitizations of a patient is called the RAST test. This is a test that is done with merely a blood sample. The results are not affected by any medication a patient may be taking.

People suffering from Food Allergies need to be able to get information about the food you make or sell in order for them to decide can they eat this food without having an allergic reaction. Without medication these reactions can be serious. For more information on food allergies see: www.allergyfacts.org.au For information on how your business can deal with food allergies see: www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/cater.html