Allergic reactions to milk in the body of a child arise as a response of the body to the presence of a foreign protein.
Despite the wide variety of manifestations of allergic symptoms on the child's body, in the limit, the damaging factors can be reduced to several types. Depending on the type of allergy caused by the use of milk and the manifestations in the child's body, the doctor prescribes individual treatment.
Except in cases of lactose intolerance, in most cases a compromise can be found.
With it, substances necessary for the body from the composition of milk will enter the child's body without causing harm and without causing rejection.
Causes of a baby's milk allergy
Milk is the main food of the newborn in the first weeks of his life, if for some reason the baby is not breastfed, he gets it with the help of artificial nutrition.
In addition, the components of colostrum formed in the mother in the last weeks of pregnancy contain components necessary for the proper functioning of the baby’s immune system.
It is known that several hundred components are part of breast milk and its composition is able to change during breastfeeding, adapting the composition of food to the needs of the baby.
However, in addition to the beneficial components of milk that provide the baby’s body with the substances necessary for development, it also contains harmful additives and poorly absorbed structures.
The last two factors are simultaneously the causes of a child’s milk allergy; these include:
• Emulsifiers, thickeners, substitutes for milk fat from exotic plants, synthetic additives provided for in the preparation of milk of various fat contents can cause allergic reactions, indigestion, the occurrence of atherosclerotic plaques and, in the worst case, lead to the development of malignant tumors.
• Allergic reactions may be due to the presence of proteins in the composition of milk in the form of albumin, globulin and casein, due to the unpreparedness of the intestines of the child to process them. The enzyme responsible for the breakdown of protein structures is not able to process protein complexes in the form of chains of amino acids. As a result, the amino acid chain during processing in the child’s stomach breaks up into a small amount of components. The resulting structures are large in size, preventing them from entering the intestines. These structures are considered by the immune system of the child as foreign formations, which causes the appearance of allergies. External manifestations of allergic reactions can be the formation of a red rash on the surface of the baby's body, the appearance of constipation, colic, regurgitation of undigested residues, and lead to diarrhea.
• One of the most common causes of a newborn’s allergy to mother’s milk may be the use by her of some foods that are not recommended during pregnancy and HF, one way or another, present in her milk. It is customary to include red fruits and vegetables that are not recommended for pregnant women, smoked meats, nuts, and citrus fruits.
• The use of stabilizers of a chemical nature, soda, formalin and household detergents in the milk recipe, which extend the shelf life of the product, cause a wide range of disorders when used by a baby. Possible digestive disorders, the appearance of colic, constipation, anaphylactic shocks and vomiting reactions with the simultaneous formation of focal redness on the child’s body.
• The use of antibiotics when keeping cattle is also a risk factor when using this milk to artificially feed a newborn. By appointment, antibiotics are designed to inhibit pathogenic organisms in the human body, however, when ingested, the baby can cause a wide range of reactions, including causing a baby’s milk allergy.
• One of the causes of allergic reactions is a genetic predisposition, an inherited ability to recognize milk proteins as foreign bodies. However, it is important to distinguish between milk intolerance, which causes difficulties in digesting the components of milk composition and allergies, which consists in rejecting a foreign body by the child’s immune system.
The nature and causes of the appearance of pseudo-allergies
However, allergic reactions to milk and its components should be distinguished from a protective reaction to the effects of other products and such a fairly common phenomenon as lactase deficiency. Lactase deficiency is a congenital malformation of the baby’s digestive system. Its essence lies in the absence or small amount in the intestine of the newborn of the enzymes necessary for the breakdown of the components of milk. With this disease, the baby’s stomach does not digest both mother’s milk and products derived from animals.
Pediatricians emit a natural type of milk allergy and allergic reactions caused by drinking excessive amounts of milk. With the latter type of reaction, the child’s intestines do not have time to process part of the product, and the body responds with the formation of an allergy and a violation of the digestive system. It is important to identify the cause of the disturbance in the child in a timely manner and take the necessary measures, since in the case of the prolonged existence of allergies in the baby's body, a secondary type of intestinal enzyme deficiency may develop.
Symptoms of a milk allergy in a child
Manifestations of disorders associated with milk allergies can be characterized by many symptoms and affect the organs of the digestive, respiratory systems or appear on the skin in the form of irritations and rashes. Different types of manifestations are characteristic of disorders depending on the age of the child.
For newborns and under one year of age, the symptoms of milk allergy appear as:
1. stool disorders and diarrhea;
2. bloating and flatulence;
3. vomiting and regurgitation in infants;
4. the presence in the stool of undigested residues in the form of curdled structures;
5. in case of severe illness, red blood cells and blood streaks are indistinguishable in the feces;
6. pains and colic in the abdomen are observed in the first few months after birth;
7. dehydration;
8. the occurrence of gneisses on the skin of a child;
9. a type of eczema formation usually affects the cheeks, but it can manifest itself in the form of vesicles with liquid, wounds, scaly formations in other places on the skin of the child;
10. swelling as an acute allergic reaction localized in places with a developed subcutaneous tissue structure;
11. runny nose of an allergic type and sneezing, the first stages of bronchial asthma;
12. wheezing, wheezing and sinus congestion;
13. urticaria, which is characterized by the appearance of areas with redness, rash and blisters, the surface of which experiences severe itching;
14. Quincke's edema is characterized by dynamic development in the area of the head and neck for a short period of time, swelling.
In children over the age of one year, allergies often have less pronounced manifestations. In addition, at this age there is a real opportunity to abandon the use of milk, systematically replacing it with complementary foods. Nevertheless, an allergy to milk can be determined by symptoms such as rashes and characteristic formations on the skin, impaired functioning of the respiratory system. As for the digestive system, at this age, pain when taking dairy products is a constant nature of short-term cuts in the navel. In addition, intestinal colic, manifestations of colitis and intestinal motility disorders are possible.
Conducting an analysis of manifestations with suspected allergies
If a child is suspected of having an allergic reaction to milk, a lactase deficiency test is carried out, the mother is questioned about her life and diet, and all manifestations of the alleged milk protein allergy are collected. After that, the analysis of the collected information is carried out, on the basis of which the pediatrician prescribes a certain type of treatment. In some cases, therapy is prescribed to the mother, and consists mainly of taking means to strengthen the immune system and following all the recommendations corresponding to its situation.
What to do if your child has an allergy to milk
If an allergic type reaction to milk is detected, a list of what needs to be done can be summarized in a list of recommendations:
• The mother of the child, when breastfeeding for any alarming symptoms in the baby's body, should reconsider her diet, reducing it to eating lean meats, vegetables and fruits of a green color, lactic acid products, juices and fruit drinks, cereals from cereals that do not contain gluten.
• If your child is allergic to milk of animal origin, you can try changing it to vegetable analogues, for example milk based on soy, oats or rice. These products are similar in composition to products of animal origin, however, they are also capable of causing allergic reactions in 15% of cases.
• In the case of an allergy in a child to milk, despite the fact that an artificial product is used, it is necessary, depending on the condition of the child, to either refuse to use dairy products or to resort to replacing milk with sour-milk products. In this case, it is important to permanently monitor the change in the state of the child and promptly refuse to take certain products in case of an ongoing allergic reaction.
• The use of heat treatment of milk, which results in the folding of the protein components of milk, which allows the use of milk with a minimal risk of an allergy in the child to milk. However, such a product does not contain microflora useful for the child, which is destroyed at temperatures above 60 ° C.
• The use of milk dilution and the use of milk mixtures with a balanced composition of components. The main thing that needs to be done in case of an allergy in a child to a product in this case is to exclude the baby from consuming whole milk.
• It is possible that a child’s allergic reactions relate to only one type of product, such as cow’s milk. In this situation, you need to try the products of various animals, such as goat or sheep’s milk.
