The differences between food allergies and food intolerance

Ron Ferdman, MD Pediatrician, Allergy & Immunology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, shares advice on the differences between food allergies and food intolerance in kids
The Differences Between Food Allergies & Food Intolerance
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The differences between food allergies and food intolerance

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So if you have a child who is throwing up because they have a food allergy or they have a food intolerance, to the child it does not really matter why they are throwing up. It is the same symptom. Really the difference is between a food allergy and a food intolerance is the mechanism by which it occurs. Food allergies are caused by your immune system for some reason thinking that the food is harmful to your body and in a way trying to reject it. Food intolerances, there are multiple, multiple mechanisms why someone would have a food intolerance. It could be genetic. They may have certain enzymes they are missing such as lactose deficiency. And so, the types of symptoms that you are getting are very similar. It is just a mechanism that is different between the two.

Ron Ferdman, MD Pediatrician, Allergy & Immunology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, shares advice on the differences between food allergies and food intolerance in kids

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Ronald Ferdman, MD

Pediatrician, Allergy and Immunology, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Ronald Ferdman received his BA from the University of California at San Diego and his MD from Hahnemann University (now Drexel University) in Philadelphia.  He completed both his Pediatric residency and his fellowship in Allergy/Immunology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, then obtained a Masters in Medical Education (MEd) from the University of Southern California (USC) School of Education.  He currently is an attending physician in the Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.  He is board certified allergy/immunologist, and is a fellow in the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.  His current interests include management of allergic and immunologic diseases in high-risk children and education for families and clinicians. He is a California native, where he currently lives with his wife Susan and their three of four children, and spends his spare time wishing for more.

 

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