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A recent column by Joel Stein in the Los Angeles Times puts allergy sufferers at risk by laughing off their life-threatening conditions as Yuppie anxiety. Read the response from Dr. Robert A. Wood, a member of FAAN’s Medical Advisory Board, here.
Below, TAG member Sam, 16, shares his impassioned response to the column.
Dear Mr. Stein,
I know this letter is long, but please bear with me. Perhaps this is boring to you, but it’s a matter of life or death for me.
You consider food allergies to be a “mass hysteria,” and you consider questions about ingredients to be “boring.” These questions are the difference between life and death. Contrary to your views, but compatible with science, food allergies are life-threatening because they cause an anaphylactic reaction.
My name is Sam. I am a 16–year-old in Washington, D.C., and I am anaphylactic to peanuts, tree nuts, lentils, and sesame seeds.
In fact, on Saturday, Jan.17, I had an allergic reaction to walnuts in an apple crisp. This reaction was entirely avoidable.
I was dining at a restaurant in Manchester, Vt. First, I ordered ribs; I asked about the ingredients, and I made sure there were no nuts or peanuts in the barbecue sauce. The ribs were delicious; I was almost completely satisfied with the meal. Then, I was enticed by dessert, and I chose to order the apple crisp. I asked the waitress several times if there were nuts in the apple crisp, and she answered with a definitive “no.” I was vigilant -- I asked the same questions that you say would “[bore] everyone at the table.”
After two bites of the apple crisp, I sensed a tingling in my tongue. Again, I asked the infamous boring question: “Is the crunch in the apple crisp because of nuts?” The waitress replied that the crunch was due to oats.
That tingling got more intense, and I immediately sensed there was a problem. My father and I drove to the nearest grocery store, and we bought some Benadryl. Benadryl is the first antihistamine used for most allergies, but, of course, you already know that.
At this point I also had a bad stomachache. We returned to our friend’s house, and shortly my face and chest turned a scarlet color, and I began to develop blotches known as hives. After about 10 more minutes, I began throwing up.
As I am sure you know, vomiting is one of the body’s natural responses to expel a “poison.” After vomiting, my throat began to feel tighter. At this point, I made the decision to inject myself with an epinephrine pen. My father and I then jumped into the car, and began the 30-mile drive at 80 miles an hour to the nearest hospital in Bennington, Vt. Thankfully, I survived.
You, Mr. Stein, refer to the majority of food allergies as psychosomatic. However, a leading expert on “mass hysteria,” Dr. Nicholas Christakis, does not believe that to be the case. This is because, as you say, “sociologists believe in rigorous study and proof.” That study and proof has proven that there are severe anaphylactic reactions caused by antibodies in the blood. I have had many blood tests that have proven my allergies to all nuts and peanuts. In fact, I am off the charts as far as my levels of antibodies to peanuts. That means that ingestion of peanuts would lead to immediate anaphylactic shock. Had the crunch been due to peanuts and not walnuts, I may not be writing to you today. I could have died.
You say, “Since food allergies kill about as many people as lightning strikes each year, we probably don't need to ban peanuts from schools or put warnings on every product saying it was ‘made in a factory …’” The difference between food allergies and lightning strikes is that food allergy attacks are preventable. Had the waitress actually checked with the chef, I would not have eaten the apple crisp, and I would not have had a life-threatening reaction.
Secondly, you say that we do not need to put up warnings saying “made in a factory.” Aren’t there lightning warnings? Should they stop warning people of severe weather? When I see a product with a label that says the product may contain peanuts, I do not eat that product. How would you feel if, as a result of your column, companies removed the sticker “May contain peanuts,” and people died as a result?
Your column functions in a similar way to removing that label. If it convinces anyone to be less vigilant because they think that allergies are a “mass hysteria,” and someone dies as a result of people not taking the so-called boring questions seriously, how would you feel, Mr. Stein?
I am sure you received e-mails from experts telling you how poorly researched this column was, but I want to take their message further. I think you owe an apology to people with food allergies.
