Medications and their use in the treatment of adverse reactions to foods

The treatment of choice for food allergy is avoidance. Unlike aeroallergens that may be ubiquitous in either indoor or outdoor environments and, therefore, difficult to avoid, incriminated allergenic foods can, in many instances, be completely eliminated from the diet. Pharmacologic agents thus play only a secondary role in the management of adverse reactions to foods. Indications for use of medication in the prevention and treatment of food allergy, probable mechanisms of actions of various drugs as they pertain to gastrointestinal reactions, and, where available, results of clinical trials with these drugs in regard to adverse reactions to foods are the topics of this discussion.