by on 19/05/2020 3147
Odd it may seem – dust, peanuts, cats, shellfish, nickel – they have something in common: allergies! Learn basic information about allergies to ease your discomfort and inconvenience – and even save your life.
An allergy is an abnormal reaction of the immune system to a substance that usually does not have any effect to other people. This specific allergen triggers the signs and symptoms that can border from being simply annoying or highly dangerous for the person.
The immune system of a person who has an allergy produces antibodies called immunoglobulin E (IgE) that signals the mast cells and basophils (allergy cells in the body) to “defend” the body against the allergen by releasing chemicals, including histamine, into the bloodstream. When this happens, a person experiences uncomfortable body reactions in order to eliminate the allergen from its system.
It is a hereditary thing – usually passed on from parents to children.
Then again, a person can develop allergic reactions even if he or she did not inherit it from any of his or her parents. Since synthetic chemicals have been on the rise in our present generation, our immune system has been increasingly sensitive to most of it.
The most common sources of allergies are grouped in the following:
The most common symptoms are:
Exposure to different causes of allergies can lead to different level of symptoms.
It does not work that way. People actually grow into it, not out of it. While some people eventually do not show any allergic reactions to specific allergens after long periods of not being exposed to it, others might still experience it later in life.
Allergies can happen even if a person is already an adult when he or she first experienced it. Usually, the symptoms show during the late teen years.
Avoid the allergen and your body will have nothing to worry about. Allergen avoidance is possible through proper diagnosis and education.
This article was first published on theAsianParent.