Spring Angries? Allergies, Histamine and Behaviors

girl-with-flower Posted March 25, 2015 | Allergies, Immunity, kids

One of the questions that I get asked quite a bit is, “ Why does my child seem to get so much worse during the Spring?” And, by worse, it is generally meant, an increase in aggression, hyperactivity, and general poor regulation. I have reflected quite a bit as to what some of the underlying mechanism are that contribute to a seasonal distribution of symptoms.

One simple answer is that if your child is prone to seasonal allergies they just feel physically worse in their reactive season; spring/ summer for pollen and trees and fall/ winter for molds. Here is a child that on top of their usual constellation of behavioral symptoms they are now feeling: fatigued, stuffy, itchy and probably more irritable. Anyone that is experiencing this can be less regulated, but compound that onto someone that is already dealing with sensory overload and mood or behavior challenges and it is a recipe for disaster. Typical behavioral presentations for children that are affected by seasonal allergies include and increase in restlessness, irritability, impulsivity and a potentially an increase in violent behaviors.

Looking a little closer at potential mechanism we need to look at the action of Histamine. This versatile neuropeptide is secreted and regulated by multiple cells in the body; like mast cells and basophils, which are two particular immune cells. These cells are all over the body but are particularly numerous in the upper respiratory systems, blood vessels and the brain. Interestingly they are also present in the gut! In addition, stressors on the body like hypoglycemia and dehydration also increase histamine secretion.

In the peripheral body, histamine is responsible for signaling regarding tissue injury, blood vessel permeability, inflammation, and itch modulation. For example when you get a mosquito bite and you get a swollen bump that itches; this illustrates the signaling to the immune system, the encapsulation of the toxin, the inflammation and the itching! Some people have much stronger reactions than others, indicating an exaggerated histamine response.

In the gut histamine plays a role in hydrochloric acid secretion, gut microflora, and inflammation. Histamine is released by special cells that get turned on or off depending on their environment. Certain bacteria can cause also an increase in histamine production. In addition, stressors on the body like hypoglycemia and dehydration also increase histamine secretion. While this can be good too much of a good thing can cause problems like reflux, imbalanced flora, food allergies and leaky gut.

Histamine regulation in the brain is involved in many central nervous system functions such as cognition, emotion, learning and memory as well as arousal (wakefulness and attention); temperature regulation, activation of the sympathetic nervous system and suppression of eating/ appetite. This can be appreciated as changes in sleep, mood, memory and eating habits.   Histamine also has the potential to increase blood brain barrier permeability, which can increase the transport of unwanted substances into the brain. Interestingly, in the brain histamine can also affect motion; high levels can induce changes in postural tone and vestibular function.

Like many biologically active compounds too much or too little can be problematic. Several animal studies indicate that histamine dysregulation (either too high or too low) can also be contributing factors to promoting anxiety.   Other studies indicate disruption of histamine regulation can lead to mood/ behavior issues, neuroinflammation, eating and movement disorders, as well as sleeping issues, food allergies and autoimmunity. For example: when histamine levels get too low we can become paranoid and suspicious, experience ringing in the ears, fatigue easily, anxiety, irritability, we may see or hear things abnormally.   Conversely, when brain histamine levels get too high we tend towards hyperactivity, compulsive behavior, anxiety, and depression.

What to do?

Elevated Histamine:

Avoiding additional sources:

Foods: some foods that are high in histamine include: bananas, citrus fruits, berries such as strawberry and raspberry, tomatoes, several types of tree fruits such as apricot, cherry and plums, and some vegetables, particularly eggplant (aubergine), and pumpkin

Also- unfortunately fermented foods tend to concentrate histamine- but this may be one of the reasons why you or your child has some difficulty adding in fermented foods to your diet-

Dysbiosis – some bacteria is able to convert the precursor histidine to histamine contributing to gut inflammation, permeability and food allergies

Food additives: tartrazine

Helping with processing:

  • Vitamin C
  • Inositol
  • Phosphatidyl Choline
  • B-vitamins
  • Calcium and magnesium

Methylation:  Very interestingly, Histamine requires Methylation to be broken down! As many of you know this is a big problem for lots of our kiddos!

Low Histamine:

These people tend to be overmethylators- so some of the methylation support will make them go crazy-

Addition of high histamine foods

Histidine- a precursor for histamine

zinc

 

If you have questions or want to discuss dosages that are appropriate for your child, please schedule an appointment!

 

Hass HL, Sergeeva OA, Selbach O, “Histamine in the nervous system” Physiol Rev 2008 Jul;88(3):1183-241.

 

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Sara says:

    Hi..

    My 5 year old might have a histamine sensitivity. I wanted to buy this but I think it’s for adults: http://www.iherb.com/pr/Naturally-Vitamins-Histame-Food-Intolerance-Support-Supplement-30-Capsules/38748. It has the diomane oxidase enzyme but they don’t have anything for children!
    Any suggestions?

    • admin says:

      Hi Sara- thanks for your comment. While we can’t give medical advise on the blog, I can tell you that for many kids (and adults) that have food histamine reactions DAO enzymes can be helpful but are not a panacea; enzymes won’t completely take away the reactions. If you are interested in exploring this more I suggest discussing with your VKM clinician or scheduling a visit if you are new to our clinic!

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