Food allergy in patients with eczema: immediate symptoms are usual, with nuts and tomatoes the major allergens.

Background Food intolerance is a popular notion in the general population but limited data are available on the presence of food allergy in adult patients with eczema. Objective We wanted to characterize food hypersensitivity in this group of patients. Method A retrospective study was carried out on all patients with food related symptoms attending a cutaneous allergy clinic. Results and conclusion Our study showed that while the reported prevalence of food allergy in adult patients with eczema is low (10%), more than half of these will show immunological evidence of a food allergy which support the clinical history. Immediate symptoms are usual, with nuts and tomatoes the major allergens. Demographic factors such as age, gender and duration of eczema did not significantly correlate with number of foods or an allergen-specific IgE of >= grade 2. Food-related symptoms were associated with significant anxiety in all our patients leading to a profound effect on their behaviour.