Oral Allergy Syndrome
The first weekend in June, while the temperature was breaking the 100 degree mark, I enjoyed my first watermelon of the year.
About this same time last summer I did the same thing. Our son was home and asked me if the watermelon made my mouth itch. When I asked for more information, he said eating watermelon made the inside of his mouth and ears itch. The sensation dissipated quickly, but occurred each time he had watermelon. It happened the following week with a different watermelon.
Puzzled, I searched the medical literature to find out what this was and discovered OAS - oral allergy syndrome. Certain foods cause a sensation of itchiness or tingling in the mouth and throat.
Research into this condition is ongoing, but the current thinking is that many persons with pollen allergies develop OAS to foods that have a protein that the body confuses with the offending pollen. Cooked fruits and vegetables do not cause OAS, the proteins are broken down and do not trigger the pollen reaction.
This condition is also called pollen-food allergy syndrome, to describe what triggers the reaction instead of giving its physical location as OAS does. Researchers are mapping the fruits and vegetables that might cause this reaction based on different pollen allergies. For example, ragweed has its associated foods, birch allergy has its associated foods, etc.
Fresh fruits and vegetables become a staple of my summer and fall diet; I frequent farmers' markets to supplement my own garden. While I enjoy apple pie, I cannot imagine never enjoying a fresh apple. I am glad that I have never developed OAS.
Our son never had more of a reaction than the itchiness that dissipated quickly. A hallmark of OAS is that it only affects the mouth and throat area, a systemic reaction indicates something more than OAS. Our son told me that bananas have also started to trigger a reaction this year - another fruit on the ragweed list. He has stopped eating the foods that cause a reaction. Some individuals can have a stronger reaction, and those situations probably warrant a visit with ones health care provider.
For further information, read the Wikipedia entry on Oral Allergy Syndrome. The American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology published this page on ragweed and OAS in 2007. For a view from across the Atlantic, a British consumer health site focused on food issues published this look at OAS and its possible modern triggers.
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