What is the reason for sudden swelling of the tongue?

Q: My 60-year old cousin has a problem in his throat. His tongue swells up suddenly to such an extent that it protrudes out of his mouth and gets hurt by the teeth. This leads to bleeding and difficulty in breathing. He takes emergency anti-allergy injections for relief. What is his ailment and is there any cure for it?

A:He seems to have an angioneurotic oedema, caused due to an allergy to some food item, or other objects. He must be seen by an allergy specialist. He should take allergy tests to try and find the cause and desensitise; till then, avoid any specific thing, which causes this. Also, avil, steroid and adrenaline injections must be kept ready for any emergency.