Allergy Treatment - What is an Allergy?
This probably isn't the first time you've heard of them. Allergies
are actually very common many millions around the world have
some kind of allergic reaction or another to certain external
stimuli whether food, water, or air. But what are allergies?
And why do we get them? Where can I find an allergy treatment?
Allergies (Type I Hypersensitivity)
are actually a malfunction of our immune system so that our
body becomes hyposensitized and reacts immunologically to
typically non-immunogenic substances. The substances that
cause our bodies to become this way are called allergens.
In 1906, Viennese paediatrician, Clemens von Pirquet, first
coined the term "allergies" after he observed that certain
symptoms of his patients might have been a response to outside
allergens, like dust, pollen, or certain foods.
Allergy Treatment - Signs and Symptoms
You know your allergies are starting
up again if you experience swelling in parts of your body.
This is called local or systemic inflammatory response, caused
by the presence of allergens. For instance, if your allergies
affect you in the nose, you will experience swelling of the
nasal mucosa (allergic rhinitis). During this condition, you
will probably find yourself performing the "nasal salute"
more than necessary as itching of your nose will induce you
to wipe your nose in an upward direction. On the other hand,
if the allergies hit you in the eyes, redness and itching
of the conjunctiva often follows. Other common signs of allergies
are wheezing and dyspnoea, bronchoconstriction, and sometimes
outright attacks of asthma. You may also experience various
rashes, such as eczema, hives, and contact dermatitis. Systemic
allergic responses are more serious compared to local symptoms.
Depending on the severity of
your response, allergies can cause cutaenous reactions, bronchoconstriction,
oedema, hypotension, coma, and even death. Hay fever is actually
one example of minor allergies caused by airborne pollen.
But aside from environmental factors, allergies may also be
triggered by medications.
Allergy Treatment - Why do we get allergies?
Our immune system is a well-trained
and disciplined bio-weapon that protects our bodies from harmful
substances. Its mechanics are so amazing that it can identify
and destroy many foreign invaders. However, as amazing as
our immune system is, it makes mistakes sometimes. And so
we have allergies, which, as we mentioned, results from a
hypersensitive immune system. The hypersensitized immune system
misidentifies an otherwise innocuous substance as harmful,
and then attacks the substance with a degree of ferocity that
is greater than required. As a result, we experience problems
that can range from mildly inconvenient to uncomfortable to
total failure of major organs of the body.
How does the immune system
go into a hypersensitized state?
There are actually several ideas
on this. Some schools premise that allergies are almost always
triggered by protein. Certain persons have faulty genetic
codes so that their lymphocytes or the white blood cells (the
stuff that your immune system is made of) are unable to property
distinguish between the threatening and the non-threatening
proteins. So, for example, when you ingest protein from shellfish,
your lymphocytes think that the substance is trying to invade
the body. As a result, they produce large amounts of antibodies
which attach themselves to mast cells and basophiles throughout
the body. This is known as the sensitizing exposure and this
is the very reason why you suddenly develop allergies and need to find an allergy treatment.
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