Iodine Allergy

What is iodine allergy?  Iodine allergy is a rare type of substance allergy that affects people.  In most cases, those who are allergic to seafood such as fish and selfish are more likely to have this allergy.  However, studies show that a person with any type of allergy is also more likely to have iodine allergy.

Iodine is a substance found in certain foods such as fishes and shellfish. However, people allergic to iodine usually do not show allergic reactions when eating iodine-rich foods.  Instead, reactions are triggered when they are exposed to the substance itself.  For instance, iodine is used when conducting x-rays.  People with iodine allergy have shown severe anaphylactic symptoms after being exposed to or attempting to take an x-ray test.  

In some medical treatment where iodine is needed to be injected, doctors must first make sure that the person is not allergic to the substance.  Normally, the kidney is responsible in flushing out this toxin. However, for some people, their kidneys fail to flush out toxins, which results, to excessive amounts of iodine in the body.

Anaphylaxis or anaphylactic symptoms include difficulty in breathing, tightness of throat, increased heartbeat and other reactions similar to heart attack.  Anaphylaxis attacks are so fatal that if left untreated, these allergic attacks can result to death.  Other symptoms of iodine allergy are dizziness, fever, flushes and asthma.  People who are having an iodine allergy attack must be injected with epinephrine right away to stop the reaction.    

Surprisingly, studies show that people who have iodine allergy is not allergic at all to iodide.  Iodide is actually the synthesized form of iodine in the body.  This is very important since most topical antibiotics contain iodide.  Some people may experience skin rashes when using creams that contain iodide, however, the reactions are reported to be mild and tolerable.

Because there are only a few people who has iodine allergy, this allergic condition can sometimes be overlooked.  A person may not know that he has this condition unless after suffering an actual attack after being exposed to the substance. 

There are man types of allergies in people and iodine allergy is just one of them.   Since allergy attacks can be life threatening, it is important for everyone to realize the value of subjecting to allergy tests.  These tests are often done through a skin test or blood test but other allergy tests are also available.  Allergy tests are often conducted with a respiratory machine and anti-allergy treatments on standby just in case a person is indeed found to be allergic in a substance.