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Cutting ripe, loudly ringing when tapping a watermelon, it is unlikely that someone expects that they will have to pay for the eaten slice to be lost by their age-olds who are lost by their age for their melted sweepers who’ve eaten a piece of watermelon are allergic to watermelon.allergy symptoms.
It is well known that melon crops, like allergens, are practically non-hazardous to humans. Neither pollen nor fruit can damage health. Why are more and more people after drinking watermelon complain of discomfort? And can there be an allergy to watermelon?
In most cases, when the blame for the deterioration of health is placed on watermelon, the real culprit is the similarity of its effects on the body with ambrosia pollen, one of the strongest allergens.
When seeking help from specialists, doctors say there is a cross-allergy to watermelon, and upon further testing, it is often confirmed that a similar reaction is manifested to pollen from a dangerous quarantine plant.
What is cross-allergy?
Ambrosia wormwood first brought to Europe from America as early as 1873, has become a major problem for many countries, including Russia. Not only this and two other species of ambrosia are weeds that quickly occupy arable land, and the more dangerous is the effect of pollen in July on human health. In Russia, a hundred years ago, the plant began to seize territories from Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories. Today, ambrosia thickets are found in Primorsky Krai and the Voronezh Region, while the weed is steadily spreading to the north.
After inhalation of microscopic pollen particles, a person experiences all the manifestations of allergy from lacrimation and fever to difficulty breathing and pulmonary edema. The same symptoms and allergies to watermelons.
According to doctors, in areas where ragweed grows, up to 20% of the population is prone to allergies to its pollen and the sweet pulp of watermelon. But what do plants have in common, even those not belonging to the same family? Speaking of cross-allergy, imply that the body reacts to several allergens with a similar structure almost equally. In this case, the human immune system does not distinguish between similar sets of amino acids in the composition of pollen of ambrosia and the sweet, sugary pulp of watermelon.
Taking the safe fruit for pollen, the body reacts violently to the invasion, manifesting the entire spectrum of allergy symptoms. At the same time, watermelon allergy is found in those who suffer the most from pollinosis, and with the spread of ambrosia in the country, such patients become more and more.
Symptoms of Allergy to Watermelon
The body's painful reaction to watermelon manifests itself some time after the meal, when digestion and absorption of the substances that are part of the pulp begins.
The most prominent and most common symptoms of watermelon allergy include:
- allergic rhinitis;
- sore and sore throat;
- difficulty breathing up to angioedema;
- redness of the eyelids and eyeball, lacrimation;
- itching and rash on skin and mucous membranes;
- swelling of the mucous membranes and soft tissues.
As the watermelon pulp perceived by the body as an allergen enters the digestive system, local symptoms can also be noted:
- painful, accompanied by sharp and spasms, sensations;
- bloating and flatulence;
- nausea and vomiting;
- diarrhea.
In some cases, when allergic to watermelons, weakness, dizziness and fever are possible. The nervous system to the action of the allergen reacts with excessive excitability of the patient or, conversely, with a hindered reaction to what is happening.
The most serious symptom of watermelon allergy is anaphylactic shock.
This acute and dangerous condition for a person is accompanied by:
- a sharp drop in blood pressure;
- confused or completely lost;
- impaired coordination of movements;
- limb cramps.
In children, the signs of an allergic reaction are similar, but the symptoms of watermelon allergy are brighter and more threatening.
Treatment of allergy to watermelon
Since watermelon has a more formidable allergen twin, it is extremely important to identify it and start a set of measures to alleviate the patient's condition and prevent the following attacks:
- .antihistamine drugs.
- Modern sorbent preparations will help to accumulate and remove allergens from the body.
- If necessary, doctors prescribe corticosteroids to relieve itching and swelling.
Special assistance and a full medical examination aimed at finding out the true nature of allergy to watermelons, is only possible when referring to specialists.
Sometimes, in order not to experience the discomfort of an allergy to watermelons, it is enough not to use them during the flowering season of a dangerous plant, ragweed, occurring in July and part of August.
In this case, it will be much easier to transfer the season of pollinosis. However, there are exceptions, so the use of watermelon in food should be taken carefully at other times of the year, reducing portions and watching the reaction of the body. Unfortunately, sometimes in favor of health you have to completely abandon the sweet pulp.
An urgent appeal to the doctor is necessary when such severe symptoms of watermelon allergy appear as:
- neck and face swelling;
- shortness of breath;
- rapid heart beat;
- confused consciousness.
If signs of an allergic reaction are noted in a child, the slightest deterioration in well-being should be perceived as the cause of the immediate call for physicians.
