sinkas
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- 13/3/05
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Hi all,
After carbing my first keg, I thought I would enjoy the fruits of my labour, namely a 6.4% 55IBU amarillo APA, so after a couple of pints I had a real headache.
Anyhow, this morning, a thought I woudl see if anyone had experianced allergy to hops, but amoung home breing forums, could not find much...
Anyway, thoguht I would include a brief literature review below:
IgE-mediated reactions:
Hops may uncommonly induce symptoms of food allergy or skin allergy in non-occupationally sensitised individuals. Occupational allergy may also commonly be associated with exposure to Hops (2). Hops have usually been picked by hand. (However, more recently, picking machines have been introduced in some countries.) Skin contact with the plant causes dermatitis in susceptible people. Hops dermatitis has long been recognised. In 14 Polish farmers complaining of work-related skin symptoms, these were caused most often by Hops (11%), followed by grain (5.6%), hay (5.5%) and straw (4.1%). Five farmers (6.8%) complained of hand dermatitis, 4 (5.5%) of airborne dermatitis, and 8 (11.0%) of pruritus. On skin prick tests, 5.5% of farmers reacted to grain dust, 5.5% to straw dust, 11% to hay dust, and 8.2% to Hops (3). Not only the hands and face, but legs may be involved due to Hop picking. Dislodged hairs from the plant can irritate the eyes.
Systemic and contact urticaria have been documented (4-5). A patient who presented 4 times with systemic urticaria associated with arthralgia and fever has been reported. Investigation confirmed allergy to Hops. The authors suggest that in some instances the adverse effects of Hops are not due to allergy but are a result of another mechanism which is unclear - the constituent lupuline may play a role (5).
The onset of occupational airborne dermatitis and hand dermatitis to Hops in a 57-years-old female farmer has been documented. The disease appeared at the age of 46, 30 years into working with Hops without any health problems. The patient had skin erythema of the face, neck and upper chest, oedema of the eyelids, and conjunctivitis, as well as acute dermatitis of the hands. Both fresh and dried Hops precipitated the symptoms. Onset occurred after half an hour of working and persisted over 1-2 days. Despite discontinuing work, the patient experienced several relapses of her dermatitis, and this was attributed to her use of a beauty cream and a herbal sedative, which both contained Hops extract. Sleeping in a bed with her husband, who worked with Hops, provoked relapses of the patient's dermatitis. (The husband sometimes felt too tired to wash thoroughly after working on the plantation.) (6).
Anaphylaxis following exposure to Hops has been reported (7).
Other reactions:
Hop leaves contain lupin and rutin. Sometimes Hops are treated with sulphur dioxide to improve the colour and prevent change of active substances.
Hops contain a phytooestrogen. This phytoestrogen can also be detected in beer, but the levels are low and should not cause concern (8). In animal studies, approximately 500-fold greater levels were required for oestrogenic effects than can be found in any beer (9). The presence of 8-prenylnaringenin in Hops may provide an explanation for the accounts of menstrual disturbances in female Hops workers.
After carbing my first keg, I thought I would enjoy the fruits of my labour, namely a 6.4% 55IBU amarillo APA, so after a couple of pints I had a real headache.
Anyhow, this morning, a thought I woudl see if anyone had experianced allergy to hops, but amoung home breing forums, could not find much...
Anyway, thoguht I would include a brief literature review below:
IgE-mediated reactions:
Hops may uncommonly induce symptoms of food allergy or skin allergy in non-occupationally sensitised individuals. Occupational allergy may also commonly be associated with exposure to Hops (2). Hops have usually been picked by hand. (However, more recently, picking machines have been introduced in some countries.) Skin contact with the plant causes dermatitis in susceptible people. Hops dermatitis has long been recognised. In 14 Polish farmers complaining of work-related skin symptoms, these were caused most often by Hops (11%), followed by grain (5.6%), hay (5.5%) and straw (4.1%). Five farmers (6.8%) complained of hand dermatitis, 4 (5.5%) of airborne dermatitis, and 8 (11.0%) of pruritus. On skin prick tests, 5.5% of farmers reacted to grain dust, 5.5% to straw dust, 11% to hay dust, and 8.2% to Hops (3). Not only the hands and face, but legs may be involved due to Hop picking. Dislodged hairs from the plant can irritate the eyes.
Systemic and contact urticaria have been documented (4-5). A patient who presented 4 times with systemic urticaria associated with arthralgia and fever has been reported. Investigation confirmed allergy to Hops. The authors suggest that in some instances the adverse effects of Hops are not due to allergy but are a result of another mechanism which is unclear - the constituent lupuline may play a role (5).
The onset of occupational airborne dermatitis and hand dermatitis to Hops in a 57-years-old female farmer has been documented. The disease appeared at the age of 46, 30 years into working with Hops without any health problems. The patient had skin erythema of the face, neck and upper chest, oedema of the eyelids, and conjunctivitis, as well as acute dermatitis of the hands. Both fresh and dried Hops precipitated the symptoms. Onset occurred after half an hour of working and persisted over 1-2 days. Despite discontinuing work, the patient experienced several relapses of her dermatitis, and this was attributed to her use of a beauty cream and a herbal sedative, which both contained Hops extract. Sleeping in a bed with her husband, who worked with Hops, provoked relapses of the patient's dermatitis. (The husband sometimes felt too tired to wash thoroughly after working on the plantation.) (6).
Anaphylaxis following exposure to Hops has been reported (7).
Other reactions:
Hop leaves contain lupin and rutin. Sometimes Hops are treated with sulphur dioxide to improve the colour and prevent change of active substances.
Hops contain a phytooestrogen. This phytoestrogen can also be detected in beer, but the levels are low and should not cause concern (8). In animal studies, approximately 500-fold greater levels were required for oestrogenic effects than can be found in any beer (9). The presence of 8-prenylnaringenin in Hops may provide an explanation for the accounts of menstrual disturbances in female Hops workers.
