Treating atopic dermatitis with a low-histamine diet

Atopic dermatitis (AD) has many triggers, and the question of which foods trigger an outbreak is unknown, and whether food intolerance is a factor in AD.

A case study from the Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul, Korea, in which a six-year-old boy was admitted to hospital for evaluation of the possibility of food triggering his skin disease. The food in this instance was pork, and the boy had a history of worsening symptoms when eating pork.

In an oral food challenge test he showed a positive result after eating 200g of pork, but not after eating 60g of pork. After he was discharged he was kept on a balanced diet including various types of food, but omitting foods with a high level of histamine. Over seven months his AD symptoms have shown improvement and not worsened. The researchers conclude that a low-histamine diet could be useful for AD patients with symptoms that resemble histamine intolerance, whose symptoms worsen after a histamine rich diet, but who have negative food allergy tests.

Source: Annals of Dermatology

 

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