Do food allergies cause persistent airway inflammation?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Does an allergic reaction to food give rise to persisting airway inflammation?
IRAS ID
184609
Contact name
Graham Roberts
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Childhood asthma is the commonest lower respiratory disease across the world, but there is no specific gold standard test for asthma and the diagnosis is based on four main symptoms: chest tightening, wheezing, difficulty breathing and cough.
Food allergies are also very common in children and can involve lots of different symptoms ranging from skin problems such as ectopic eczema, symptoms affecting the gastrointestinal system such as vomiting and abdominal cramps and respiratory and cardiovascular problems. These symptoms and signs will be become apparent, usually within 30 min of the specific food being ingested.
Children with food allergies are more susceptible to developing asthma . Food allergy also appears to increase the risk of the individual experiencing more severe exacerbations of asthma– this can be life threatening and fatal in some cases.
Therefore we will study the association between food allergies and developing asthma exacerbations. We will do this first by monitoring a food challenge. We will measure their nitric oxide to investigate the airway inflammation.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/YH/0393
Date of REC Opinion
11 Aug 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion