It might sound unbelievable, but late-onset food allergies are definitely something that can affect your senior. May is Food Allergy Awareness Month, which is a great time to take a closer look at what is going on with your elderly family member’s eating habits and how she feels after eating some foods.
Late-onset Food Allergies Are Common
It’s way more common for aging adults to develop food allergies than most people realize. This can happen even with foods your elderly family member has enjoyed for her whole life with no issues. The severity isn’t necessarily worse or better because the allergy is occurring later in your senior’s life, either. There are a lot of variables that factor into this situation that aren’t fully understood yet.
Types of Food Allergies Your Senior Can Develop
Your elderly family member might develop an allergy to just about any kind of food, but the most common is likely to be fish, including shellfish like shrimp, lobster, and crab. She could also develop allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, or a variety of vegetables or fruits. If she’s already allergic to certain types of pollen, for instance, foods related to her pollen allergies may suddenly become problem foods for her.
Talk about Food Allergies with Your Senior
Once you know what’s going on, talk with your senior about what she’s experiencing. It’s important to understand what her symptoms are when she eats foods that she’s known to be allergic to in order to know what to do next. Some people with food allergies are simply uncomfortable, but others can experience something called an anaphylactic reaction, in which their airways start to close down. Having emergency medication for that type of reaction is crucial.
Work Around Her Food Allergies with Help
Adopting a new way of eating is never easy, especially for your senior. It helps a lot to have experienced help from home health care providers when it comes to meals and eating. They can help your elderly family member with nutritional counseling and they can also help your senior to eat the right foods while avoiding the ones that cause allergic reactions for her. Home health care providers can also be on the lookout for symptoms of a severe allergic reaction so your senior has help quickly.
Formulate a Plan with Her Doctor
It’s also important to make sure that your senior’s doctor and she have a plan for helping her to avoid food-related allergic reactions. Your senior’s doctor can help her to understand exactly which foods to avoid and what to do if she comes into contact with those foods accidentally. If she needs emergency medication in case her allergic reaction is extremely severe, her doctor will make sure she knows how to use it properly.
Late-onset food allergies can really cause your elderly family member to make big changes to the types of food she eats on a regular basis. Understanding the different types of help available to her as she copes with this new normal can be a huge help.
If you or an aging loved-one is considering Home Care in Roanoke VA, VA please contact the caring staff at Passion Home Health Solutions LLC today at. 703-462-9141
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