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Allergy is an overreaction of the body immunity to any substance. The substances which cause the allergy are called allergens. Once the allergen is determined, then the reactions that this could cause are normally obvious and fast. Allergy is known as a Type 1 hypersensitive occurrence in the human body. It is a manifestation of the blood cells in the body to the maximum extent. These blood cells, normally the white blood cells are activated by a substance called the IgE. This results in a hyper reaction which leads to the inflammation of the organ where the allergy occurs. Common allergy complaints are eczema, hay fever, asthma, hives etc.
Hay fever, the regular runny nose, and certain other softer allergies are normally found to affect human beings. There are tests which determine the allergy facts. These tests test the skin and see how it responds to the allergens. The tests also analyze the blood and check if the levels of the allergens are high. Treatment for allergy requires the person to stay away from the allergens. It is ideal to take the doctor’s advice at these times.
The word allergy comes from the Greek word “allos” which means different and “ergos” which means work or action. An allergy is a sudden fast reaction given out by our immune system. This comes as a response when the body comes in contact with a foreign substance. The allergy is often an exaggerated thing because the body views these foreign substances as harmless. The people allergic to a particular substance react to this foreign substance and their immune system is alerted. Pollens, dust, mite, molds, danders and food are the common allergens around. When the allergen attacks the body, then the immune systems develops an allergic reaction in the individual who is allergic to the allergen. When one person reacts to an allergen and the other does not, then the first person is allergic to that substance. He is therefore said to be allergic to that particular substance. Allergy prone people are referred to be “atopic” or allergy induced individuals.
Basic Allergy Facts
- The number of asthma patients has doubled in the last two decades.
- One of the scariest Allergy facts is that around 50 million North Americans are victims of allergy related problems.
- The cost of managing allergy related disorders is more than $10 billion dollars yearly in the United States of America.
- More than half the majority suffer from an allergy related disease like the asthma.
- Allergic rhinitis is a major cause of common allergies.
- It has been observed that 1-6% of the people are allergic to latex.
- Less than four percent of people have true food allergies. Food allergy in children below the age of 4 is 6-8%.
- The most severe food allergy producing a lot of reaction is peanut allergy or tree nut allergies.
- Anaphylaxis is a syndrome where there is a severe allergic reaction to food. There are at least 40 deaths that occur due to insect poison.
- Insect stings occupy a major portion of allergy diseases.
- The cause of allergy during winter could be mold spores as they remain much longer than pollen.
- Chronic sinusitis is the most common health condition.
- Five to ten percent of allergic reactions are drug reactions. Skin reactions form the most common type.
- Another major cause of drug allergy is the penicillin allergy. There are as many as 400 anaphylactic deaths due to penicillin allergy.
- Allergic dermatitis is another common allergy condition in children under the age of 11.The percentage of kids with itchy rash was 3% in the sixties, today it is as much 10%.
- Acute urticaria is a kind of allergic rash which people get at some time or the other.
There are mainly eight kinds of food allergy that are found to affect people. They are:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Peanuts
- Nuts from trees
- Fish
- Shellfish
- Soya
- Wheat
In the adults the common food allergens are
- Peanuts
- Nuts
- Fish and Shellfish
- Citrus fruits
- Wheat
- Lactose related food products
- Cereals like rye, barley, oats, maize, corn and rice are common cereal allergens
- Gluten is a protein mix found in some cereals. There are a lot of cases where the individual is found to be intolerant to gluten. The intestinal walls are damaged and eventually lead to diarrhea and malnutrition. Coconut allergy is also a common occurrence.
Thus an allergic condition is body’s way of showing up that external bodies have entered.
