Medical history (history of illness) represents an important component in the diagnosis of food allergy.
Family history
- Is there a history of frequent gastrointestinal illness in your family?
Social history
Current medical history/systemic history (somatic and psychological complaints).
- Have you noticed any symptoms on the skin such as redness or blistering related to food intake?
- Have you noticed symptoms such as cough, cold, or asthma attacks related to food intake?
- Have you noticed symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, or stool irregularities related to food intake?
- Have you noticed any other more nonspecific symptoms such as fatigue, headache, or weight loss?
- When consuming what foods do you experience symptoms?
- Do the symptoms always occur when you eat these foods?
- How long do these symptoms last?
- How quickly do the symptoms appear?
- What do you do when these symptoms appear?
Vegetative anamnesis including nutritional history.
- Do you eat a balanced diet?
- Do you smoke? If so, how many cigarettes, cigars or pipes per day?
- Do you drink alcohol? If yes, what drink(s) and how many glasses per day?
- Do you use drugs? If yes, what drugs and how often per day or per week?
Self history incl. medication history.
- Pre-existing conditions (gastrointestinal diseases).
- Operations
- Allergies
- Medication history
Note!When searching for the trigger of a food allergy, keeping a food diary and symptom log is helpful.
