[Histamine intolerance - are the criteria of an adverse reaction met?].

Searching the internet for an explaination of recurring symptoms, many people come across the so-called histamine intolerance disorder. Also many practitioners like to diagnose this disorder without making sure that reproducibility, a prerequisite for an adverse reaction, is present. Consequently, presumably affected persons are often advised to follow a low-histamine diet. Depending on the source of information, these diets often avoid a huge variety of foods containing more or less histamine, which has a considerable impact on patient quality of life. While most persons benefit from such a diet in the beginning - this might be due to the change in dietary habits or the expectation of symptom improvement by dieting - in the long run the expected loss of symptoms will not happen. Underlying a diminished capacity for histamine degradation, the lack of partial or complete symptom improvement might be due to the fact that endogenous histamine release is responsible for reactions. The role of ingested histamine is discussed controversially. However, it is more than obvious that the histamine content of a certain food alone is not enough to predict its tolerance.If histamine intolerance is suspected, an individual diagnostic and therapeutic procedure is mandatory in order to minimize avoidance and to preserve a high quality of life. Ideally this is done in a close cooperation between allergologists and nutritionists/dieticians.