Medical expert of the article
New publications
Allergic bowel disease
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
The defeat of the small and large intestine can be an independent and the only manifestation or one of the components of the general allergic reaction of the organism. The most common entero-and colopathy occur with food and drug allergy, less often - with serum sickness, polyposis and other forms of general allergosis.
Causes
Guts can serve as input gates for penetration into the body of a wide variety of exogenous allergens (food, chemical, medicinal, parasitic, etc.). In the intestinal wall, antibodies fixed in them can be observed and antigens administered by various routes into the body (inhalation, subcutaneous, intravenous) cause the immunological process, as a result of which a variety of functional intestinal lesions occur. In other words, intestines can be a "shock" organ in which the antigen-antibody reaction develops when the organism is sensitized parenterally.
Causes of allergic bowel disease
Symptoms
Patients experience acute cramping, less often aching blunt pain throughout the abdomen, accompanied by rumbling, swelling and transfusion, as well as imperative urges for defecation. There is a frequent loose stool, often with an admixture of undigested food or mucus, less often of blood. Sometimes it is possible to isolate mucous membranes (membranous colitis, mucocutaneous colic). When coprological examination, signs of acceleration of the motor function of the intestines, digestion disorders, intestinal hypersecretion, sometimes eosinophilia and Charcot-Leiden crystals are revealed.
Symptoms of allergic bowel disease
Diagnostics
If intestinal dysfunction occurs against a background of acute general allergic reactions, then it is not difficult to diagnose it. Usually, difficulties arise when there are no signs of a general allergosis, especially if the intestinal manifestations persist for several days or weeks or become chronic. Diagnosis of the allergic nature of gut disease is facilitated by the presence of common clinical signs of sensitization of the body (paroxysmal flow, reduction of arterial pressure or angiospasm, urticaria, skin itching, Quincke's edema, rhinitis, conjunctivitis, bronchospasm, eosinophilia, leukopenia, hypergammaglobulinemia).
Diagnosis of allergic bowel disease
Treatment. Recommended diet, medication, physical factors, medicinal plants, mineral water. Depending on the prevalence of clinical symptoms (abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation), diet and pharmacotherapy are differentiated.
In case of constipation, a relevant diet is of primary importance, containing a sufficient amount of plant fiber and other products that enhance peristalsis. Usually, diet no 3 is prescribed for Pevzner.
What do need to examine?
What tests are needed?