The Brain

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Abstract

Adverse reactions to food and the CNS (Central Nervous System) There is no such thing as “brain allergy” or cerebral allergy. However, as early as 1922, Shannon described “Neuropathic manifestations” in children as a result of anaphylactic reactions to food (1). Rowe in 1950, wrote about “Allergic toxemia” and fatigue, allegedly due to food and inhalant allergy (2). Speer coined the term “tension fatigue syndrome” (3). Crook, in a book written in 1973, re-emphasized the existence of this condition. A number of common complaints related to the central nervous system such as headache, hyperactivity, “mental fuzziness” (and other learning problems), emotional and behavioral problems (of children) and finally, episodes of insomnia/anxiety alternating with periods of listlessness/fatigue were linked to allergy (4). Rapp in recent years has repeatedly claimed that food allergy was responsible for hyperactive behavior in children (5). Although Egger claims to have shown that children’s hyperactivity improved on a special diet, devoid of certain foods and food additives, an immunologic or allergic mechanism to explain why foods were a problem was not identified (6). Despite all these claims, spanning over 70 years, the proponents of a link between symptoms of the central nervous system and food allergy have given no proof of a consistent relationship, using modern techniques including doubleblind placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC) (7) . The relationship between allergy and migraine headaches, two common conditions in the general population, was proposed over 100 years ago (8). Although still debated, there is evidence that dietary factors play some role, probably in a minority of patients, in triggering migraine episodes. Specific chemical mediator release such as histamine and the prostaglandins (PG2a or PGD2) associated with headaches has been found in a few patients who were repeatedly challenged with specific foods, using DBPCFC techniques (9, 10, 11).