Milk allergy

Milk allergy
A glass of pasteurized cow milk
Classification and external resources
ICD-9-CM	995.3, V15.02
[]

A milk allergy is a food allergy, an adverse immune reaction to one or more of the constituents of milk from any animal (most commonly alpha S1-casein, a protein in cow's milk). This milk-induced allergic reaction can involve anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening condition.

Milk allergy is a food allergy, an adverse immune reaction to a food protein that is normally harmless to the nonallergic individual.

It is distinct from lactose intolerance, which is a nonallergic food sensitivity, due to not enough of the enzyme lactase in the small intestines to break lactose down into glucose and galactose.

The effects of antibody-mediated allergy are rapid in onset, evolving within minutes or seconds. These allergies always arise within an hour of drinking milk; but can occasionally be delayed longer when eating food containing milk as an ingredient. The effects of non-antibody-mediated allergy is delayed; because it is not caused by antibodies, it can take several hours, or even up to 72 hours to produce a clinical effect. The most common symptoms for both types are hives and swelling, vomiting, and wheezing, with symptoms first arising in skin, then the GI tract, and less commonly, the respiratory tract. Milk allergy can cause anaphylaxis in about 1–2% of cases, which is a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction.

The major allergens in cow milk are αs1-, αs2-, β-, and κ-casein and the whey proteins α- and β-lactoglobulin. The body may raise an antibody-based immuneresponse or a cell-based immune response to these allergens. The reaction to cow milk is caused by IgE and non-IgE mediated responses, with the latter being the most frequent. The non-IgE reactions involving the gastrointestinal tract are typically delayed while IgE reactions such as hives are much more immediate.

...
Wikipedia