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Last Updated: Aug 6th, 2008 - 09:50:39 |
The term allergy is used to describe a response, within the body, to a substance, which is not necessarily harmful in itself, but results in an immune response and a reaction that causes symptoms and disease in a predisposed person, which in turn can cause inconvenience, or a great deal of misery.
Allergy is extremely widespread and affects approximately one in four of the population in the UK at some time in their life. Each year the numbers are increasing by 5% with as many as half of all sufferers being children.
What Is An Allergen?
Almost anything can be an allergen; the most common being house dust mites, pollen from trees and grasses, cats, dogs, insects such as wasps and bees, milk, eggs, peanuts. Less common allergens include nuts, fruit and latex. Protein is often regarded as just something that we eat. It is, in fact, an organic compound containing hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, which form an important part of living organisms. There are, however, some non-protein allergens which include penicillin and some other drugs. For these to cause an allergic response they need to be bound to a protein once they are in the body.
A person’s immune system believes that the invading allergens are damaging and in response the body produces an antibody ("IgE") to attack them. This in turn leads to other cells (i.e. mast cells) to release further chemicals which together cause irritation, inflammation and the symptoms of an allergic response. Some of the conditions or diseases themselves have already been listed but it should be understood that all the mentioned diseases can be caused by factors other than allergy.
Here are some of the most common symptoms associated with the conditions:
Sneezing
Wheezing
Sinus pain
Runny nose
Coughing
Nettle rash / hives
Swelling
Itchy eyes, ears, lips throat & palate (roof of mouth)
Shortness of breath
Sickness vomiting, & diarrhoea
Increase in secretions
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