Allergic reactions to strawberries can take various forms from easy ones to very serious.

As many of you know strawberries are very useful and contain a big amount of antioxidant, anticancer, anti-neurodegenerative, and anti-inflammatory properties, making them very useful as a natural alternative to western medicine

But do these aroma therapy berries have any side effects, any risks?
Many of you already know the answer to this question. Yes, you may develop an allergy and the symptoms can be easy to bear or sometimes can easily pass and you’ll never notice or make a connection with strawberries. Sometimes eating strawberries can give more severe reactions.

The body identifies a food protein in strawberries as a pathogen, and the immune system “attacks” the protein by releasing antibodies. In the case of strawberries, the protein that triggers the allergic reaction may be tied somehow to strawberries’ red colour.

Allergy to strawberries is characterized by a complex of symptoms in the mouth, known as OAS, or Oral Allergy Syndromes. This complex of symptoms typically consists of allergic reactions to the throat and mouth, such as itching, swelling and paresthesia to the oral cavity (including gums, tongue, palate, inside of the cheeks) as well as lips. Urticaria, a common symptom in Oral Allergy Syndrome. Other allergic reactions include lacrimation, swelling and reddening, runny nose, inability to breathe through nose, itching and sneezing. In rare cases some subjects may develop more severe reactions such as urticaria, dermatitis and itching, asthma, rhinitis, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and cramps.

According to a research people allergic to strawberries can develop other food allergies such as kiwi or pineapples allergy but it’s not a rule and it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have to develop another kind of allergy since you have allergy to strawberries. In very rare cases it could end with anaphylactic reactions and asphyxia. What is the solution to this problem? The best treatment is prevention. If you know you have some allergic reactions to strawberries avoid eating any form of strawberries, including raw berries, jam and naturally-flavoured products.
Remember also that cooking strawberries does NOT reduce or remove allergic reactions!

Biochemists at Lund University in Sweden, for those suffering from strawberry allergies, proved that they may eat the white strawberry variety called Sofar because it has few to no quantities of the suspected allergen. White strawberries can be considered a safer alternative for those suffering from this kind of allergies. Of course the white variety is not as tasteful as the red one but scientists at Lund University are working on this and maybe soon people with allergy at strawberries will eat these berries without being afraid of any allergic symptom.

Until that happens if you suspect some allergic reactions to strawberries try to avoid any form of them and if the contact occurs, notify your physician immediately.

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Researches proved smoking being even dangerous for younger smokers’ brain – Smoking may influence the mood and temper not in the best manner

American researchers state that smoking in adolescence may lead to psychical disorders after several decades.The scientists of Florida University reached to this conclusion. A group headed by psychology professor Carlos Bolanos studied the influence of nicotineusing the laboratory rats. Don’t be surprised: even animal may be submitted to psychological disorders. In this way, the animals that participated inprofessor’s Bolanos researches fell into depression. They became more sensible to stress, were permanently nervous and fell no pleasure during the eatingprocess and of other external stimulants.

These are the main symptoms of depression among people. Thus the test proved that nicotine may lead to psychological disorders and the effect is postponed for years, even decades.

The experiment took place in two stages. Young rats were injected a small doze of nicotine. Then the scientists had to wait until the rats will grow older and carried their tests. One of them had as a purpose to analyze the rats’ reactions to stress, other to analyze their reaction to pleasure. Accordingly in these tests there participated “rats-smokers” and rats which didn’t get nicotine.

As it was expected the rats from the nicotine group proved signs of depression. They were reacting indifferently to rewards, ignored their favorite food andin stress situation practically showed a lack of any action. This reaction was common even for the rats that got a single doze of nicotine. As Bolanos explained, even the insignificant smoking experience may have an effect on the psychic setup.
– I was very surprised to find that even a one day influence of the nicotine can have such complicated consequences – stated Bolanos for Science Daily.

But it was discovered an interesting fact: the symptoms of depression that rats had were overcome by the antidepressants that were found in the samenicotine. The conclusion was that at some point the cigarettes have the same principle of action as drugs have.
Another interesting observation of scientists was the fact that this depressive action of nicotine may be observed only in early ages, mainly in adolescence.

If you begin to smoke in an older age the effect will not be the same. It is obvious that nicotine has its influence over the immature nervous system a factthat lead to serious consequences in its development. But the way these changes concretely occurs it is still unknown for the scientists.

The connection between smoking and psychical disorders were observed earlier in the physician’s researches. Taking into account the fact that human behavioris very complex and influenced by many factors the concrete role of smoking in this matter can not be proven by any experiment. But the researches of Florida doctors definitely show the fact that smoking can influence our mood and often not in the best manner.