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podcast from NPR. You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. When I was growing up, I was allergic to

dairy. If I had a pizza or a bowl of cereal or ice cream, my nose would get totally stuffed up.

In the scheme of things, though, it was just a mild allergy.

There are other people that will describe like a sense of doom, almost, that kind of comes

over them.

This is Wahita Samadhi, the director of clinical research at Northwestern University's Center

for Food Allergy and Asthma Research.

Like the throat closing can definitely feel like they're breathing out of a straw.

They can't take a deep breath.

And then the itching and the swelling kind of comes on very immediately.

Nausea and vomiting are very common in all age groups as well.

Just because it's like your body's trying to purge something that did not stay well with it.

So it is a very wide range of experiences.

But I think those who have extreme reactions describe it as just kind of like a whole body takeover.

People can be allergic to all sorts of things, from bee stings to medicines.

But what heat is specialty is food allergies.

And their prevalence is exploding.

We call it an epidemic because it really has risen dramatically over the last few decades.

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