Allergic responses to common foods could increase risk of heart disease, cardiovascular death

Allergic responses to common foods such as dairy and peanuts can increase the risk for heart disease and cardiovascular death as much or more than smoking, new research suggests in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. These dangerous allergic responses can strike both people with food allergies and those with no obvious allergy symptoms.

Approximately 15% of adults produce IgE antibodies in response to cow's milk, peanuts and other foods. While these antibodies cause some people to have severe food allergies, many adults who make these antibodies have no obvious food allergy.

UVA Health scientists and their collaborators looked at thousands of adults over time and found that

GFX- People who produced antibodies in response to dairy and other foods were at elevated risk of cardiovascular-related death

This was true even when traditional risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes, were taken into account. The strongest link was for cow's milk, but other allergens such as peanut and shrimp were also significant.

GFx- "What we looked at here was the presence of IgE antibodies to food that were detected in blood samples," said researcher Jeffrey Wilson, M.D., Ph.D., an allergy and immunology expert at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

Reference: Corinne Keet, Emily C. McGowan, David Jacobs, Wendy S. Post, Nathan E. Richards, Lisa J. Workman, Thomas A.E. Platts-Mills, Ani Manichaikul, Jeffrey M. Wilson. IgE to common food allergens is associated with cardiovascular mortality in the National Health and Examination Survey and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2023; DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2023.09.038