About Mosaic Kids

Mosaickids.org  is a website and organization dedicated to providing support to parents of children with severe allergies.   Allergies are a growing concern for kids.   Currently, over 5,000,000 children have allergies.

More and more children every year are being diagnosed with allergies consisting of milk, eggs, nuts, tree nuts, and more. As of right now there are no known cures except avoidance.

The Basics of Food Allergy

(taken from Allergic Living Magazine, Fall 2010.  www.allergicliving.com)

A food allergy occurs when a person’s immune system identifies proteins in a food as allergenic and begins to produce antibodies – called Immunoglobulin E or IgE – to guard against that food.  These antibodies attach themselves to mast cells in the body, and when the person again eats the allergenic food, the proteins from it become attaced to the IgE antibodies.  This causes the mast cells to explode, releasing histamine and other powerful chemicals.  It is these chemicals that cause the symptoms of allergy.

The Symptoms

Not everyone will get all symptoms, and severity varies.  The symptoms include:

Tingling in the mouth, swelling of the tongue and throat, itchy skin, hives or skin redness, breathing difficulty, wheezing, abdominal cramps, vomiting, faintness due to a sudden drop in blood pressure.

In a severe anaphylactic reaction, the allergic person can lose consciousness and is at risk of death.

Anaphylaxis

This is the serous form of food allergic reaction, involving one or more of the body’s systems: the respiratory tract, the gastrointestinal tract, the skin and the cardiovascular system.  Anaphylaxis can lead to a loss of consciousness or even death.  Anaphylaxis can come on swiftly, and is a medical emergency.  It is essential that those with food or sting allergies carry an epinephrine auto-injector – EpiPen or Twinject brand.

Food allergies can be very stressful.  MOSAIC is here to help support the family in any way we can.  We have over 150 members and we are over 10 years old now.  Please contact us with any questions you may have and join us at our group meetings.

Thank you for supporting MosaicKids.org,

MosaicKids.org Staff