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What does the word ‘allergy’ mean?

An allergy describes the way a particular person’s body will overreact to a certain substance which other people come into contact without any problems. People allergic to pollen for example, can suffer from sneezing, a runny nose, itchy eyes, and start coughing or wheezing – the classic ‘hay fever’ response of 10 – 15% of the general population.

Anatomy of an allergic reaction

Why is it that most people can breathe in pollen or house dust without feeling ill? Well, the allergic person’s immune system recognizes the pollen or dust particles as foreign bodies that must be got rid of and begins to develop a protein called an antibody against the specific irritant. The problems for the allergic person begin when the antibody and substance (known as an allergen) join together, a bit like a key in a lock, and produce a variety of chemical substances. The best known of these chemicals is histamine and when this is released the result is to start off an inflammation along with swelling, redness and irritation. If this occurs in your nostrils, eyelids or the bronchial tubes of your lungs, then you are going to have an attack of hay fever or asthma. The majority of the population don’t react in this way because their bodies do not have the antibody so the pollen or house dust to them is just a temporary minor irritant.

Testing for allergies

You can find out if these substance-specific antibodies are in your system by having an allergy skin test. All this involves is putting a small amount of the suspect material onto the back of you hand say, and lightly pinpricking through it. If the result is a small itchy swelling around where the pin prick was made then you have the special antibody to whatever substance you were testing for. On the whole an allergy skin test is quite a reliable indicator that you are allergic to something although there can be a number of ‘false positives’.

Allergy patterns

Amongst family members it’s been noticed that allergies tend to follow a pattern. During childhood allergies to a number of different things develop in a variety of ways only to be grown out of when they become teenagers. Other people in their late 30′s or older have had allergies since being a child and some allergic children may develop asthma. Just why allergies take different patterns of development is not known but is seems that they are definitely inherited from parents.

Can we do anything about it?

Yes, a good first step is for you to find out root cause of your allergy. Once this is known you can avoid coming into contact with the allergen but in the case of pollen this is not easy. Air conditioning in cars and buildings help the hay fever sufferer as do anti-histamine tablets. Try keeping generally fit which will help avoid cold infections that can make hay fever that bit worse.

Many people suffer from allergies, particularly from the nose. This is a common allergy and is sometimes also known as allergic rhinitis. For sufferers of nasal allergies a fair proportion of people only have this condition on a seasonal basis, which is typically caused by air borne pollen grains being spread out within the air at concerning the same time as your allergies. A common allergen during the summer months when flowers are in bloom is pollen. There also are perennial allergies that can happen anytime and are not seasonally based. All nasal allergies should be examined by your doctor for diagnosis and treatment.

A nasal allergy reaction is a bit like getting a cold; you will have watery eyes, a runny nose with a transparent liquid discharge, and all the other unpleasant effects of a cold. This could include having a sore throat and cough. Nasal allergies are triggered by an allergen, which is a substance that your body recognizes as an outside threat and will attempt to stop it entering the body, like the pollen from flowers that can finish up getting into your respiratory tract. Mildew additionally will cause a nasal allergy where you feel a combination of symptoms. The last common sources of nasal allergies are animals, commonly cats, dogs or birds, these will all trigger a nasal allergy.

An examination by your doctor of your nasal symptoms is the best way to diagnose if you have a nasal allergy. There you will undergo tests to determine the most effective technique of treatment for your condition. It is important to provide your doctor all of your medical history on your allergies, simple things like when it started, what periods of the year it occurs, and whether it also affects other family members. During your physical examination your doctor will also check your body for any physical conditions. Once it’s all finished, you and your doctor will plan a means on a way to treat your allergies with medication, allergen avoidance, and probably immunotherapy so that you will not need to endure those allergies forever. Follow the medical recommendation your doctor gives.

As with all health conditions, prevention is better than cure so the most effective treatment of allergies is to avoid being exposed to them. Often people who suffer from airborne pollens will not spend a lot of time outdoors, when the pollens are in the air.

Allergies may seem quite a nuisance but few know that it is actually an attempt by our body to save our life! Allergies are our immune systems response to food allergens that can harm the body. People can be allergic to a whole lot of things, a wide range of things in fact, from pollens to cheese, to dust. Reactions are also wide range. Some only exhibit skin reactions such as rashes and itchiness while others report on physiological reactions such as nausea and breathing difficulties.

Allergic reactions are actually caused by our bodies attempt to neutralize the foreign substance through antibodies. This process releases a substance called histamine, which in turn causes the allergic reactions.

One of the most common types of allergy is food allergy. There are, in fact, millions of people who suffer from this ailment. In addition to being largely inconvenient, food allergy can be life-threatening. Unfortunately, finding out what food you are allergic to can only be done through the process of hits and misses. There is no clear cut procedure or diagnostic test that can tell you outright to what food you are allergic to. And like the diagnostic process, there is also no clear-cut procedure on how to treat food allergens. Although there are medicines that will help ease the symptoms and physiological reactions brought on by the allergens, there are no drugs that can completely get rid of the allergy.

Often, food allergens only cause mild symptoms such as itchiness, appearance of rashes that spread all over the body, itchy eyes and runny nose, bouts of sneezing and coughing, vomiting, diarrhea and earaches. While these symptoms can cause you a day’s work at the office, they are not exactly dangerous to your health. There are allergic reactions though that are so severe that it will impede your breathing. This occurs when the mouth, throat and the bronchial tubes swell so much that your breathing area gets blocked. This condition can be accompanied by rashes in the body and a really swollen face.

What is really difficult about dealing with food allergy is that you do not know just how much can you take and how your body will react when it ingests a certain amount. In addition to taking care not to ingest the type of food that you are allergic with, it is also good to determine early on if too much of the food allergen can cause your death.

Here are some of the common food allergens. Take a look and see if the food you are allergic on threatens your life…

Peanuts is perhaps the most dangerous of the lot, not because of the bodily reactions that it can cause but because peanuts are often used as hidden ingredients in a lot of food mixtures. Because of this, people who are allergic to it are often caught unaware.

Another food used as hidden ingredients in so many food mixtures is soy. People should be really careful in eating foods that they are not familiar with especially if they know that their reactions to these foods are severe.

Fish and shellfish can cause severe reactions in some people including difficulty in breathing and nausea.

Milk allergies are also quite common. It involves an allergic reaction to casein, lactalbumin and lactoglobulins, which are all proteins found in milk. Allergic reactions to milk can range from something as mild as rashes to severe cases such as wheezing, asthma, rhinitis, pneumonia and anaphylaxis.

Wheat allergies affect one in seven people in North America. Wheat allergies are actually quite rare, and exist in less than

Spring means many different things, to many different people. For individuals who live with seasonal outdoor allergies, it means finding a way to cope with months of discomfort every time they step outside. Each year, millions of allergy sufferers instinctively reach for over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs as their first line of defense. Unfortunately, not all users take the time to read and fully understand the potential side effects of these chemicals.

Allergy medications work by suppressing the immune system to prevent the release of a substance called histamine. Under certain circumstances, haphazardly taking these medications could pose a significant health threat to individuals with a compromised immune system. Surprisingly, very few people are even aware that there are natural compounds available to help support healthy histamine and immune system response. Let’s review four of the most promising.

Quercetin

During an allergy attack, white blood cells produce billions of molecules that scour the body in search of mast cells. Once they have been located, the two types combine to form one cell. Once this merger has occurred, they newly formed cells gradually begin to secrete histamine. Quercetin is a bioflavonoid that works by stabilizing mast cells, thus preventing them from releasing excess histamine into the bloodstream. It is histamine that promotes the sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, and other symptoms associated with allergies. Stabilizing the cells that produce histamine has a powerful effect on how much histamine circulates throughout the body. Nutritionists recommend taking Quercetin with Bromelain, to help increase efficacy.

Probiotics

Many people fail to realize that the human digestive tract plays an important role in allergies. In 2003, the Kirin Research Group in Japan discovered a particular strain of Lactobacillus, named Lactobacillus KW. According to Kirin researchers, this unique bacterium could be helpful in preventing the onset of some common allergies, including hay fever. This was evidenced in studies using animal models, where a marked reduction in allergy symptoms was reported. More impressive, studies conducted on humans with hay fever showed that adding Lactobacillus KW significantly reduced the frequency and severity of allergy symptoms. This is an indication that probiotics may be helpful in modulating immune response to allergic triggers.

Omega- 3

Researchers are constantly finding potential new health benefits associated with the consumption of omega-3 essential fatty acids, found in fish and flax oils. One study that may be of great interest to allergy sufferers took place in 2003. This study examined the effect of fatty acids in 334 individuals who suffered from hay fever. At the conclusion of this study, researchers determined that there appears to be link between high oleic acid (omega-9) levels and hay fever. Interestingly, they were also able to determine that people who consumed little to no omega-3 fatty acids reported the worst symptoms. This is just another reason that we, as health-seeking consumers, need to remain keenly aware of maintaining adequate omega-3 intake.

N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC)

NAC is a potent antioxidant that has been shown to increase the body’s production of the important antioxidant, glutathione. To date, there’s no evidence that it can completely eliminate allergy attacks, however it does appear to create an environment that is unfavorable to their proliferation. Within the body, glutathione is heavily involved in the protection of cells, oxidative cellular defenses, and a number of immune-related activities. Research has shown that glutathione also helps stabilize the lung’s response to inflammation in asthma models, while increasing the body’s production of T-cells involved in immune response. Ultimately, researchers believe that NAC might help the body naturally reduce the inflammatory response that leads to heightened allergy symptoms.

If you are one of the millions of individuals who enjoy spring and summer with some trepidation, relief might be closer than you think. The nutritional sciences are constantly discovering new ways to improve the quality of life without drugs and synthetic chemicals. A skilled, certified nutritionist can be very helping you in understanding what may be best for you.

References

Kimata M, Inagaki N, et al. Effects of luteolin and other flavonoids on IgE-mediated allergic reactions. Planta Med. 2000 Feb;66(1):25-9.

National Institutes of Health (NIH). Available at [http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/print/] druginfo/uspdi/202060.html, Accessed 4-2-2006

New Bacteria to Fight Allergy Symptoms. Online resource, information obtained from nutraingredients.com Nov 2003. Accessed 4-2-2006

Blesa S, Cortijo J, et al. Oral N-acetylcysteine attenuates the rat pulmonary inflammatory response to antigen. Eur Respir J . 2003 Mar;21(3):394-400.

Witschi A, Reddy S, et al. The systemic availability of oral glutathione. Eur J Clin Pharmacol . 1992;43(6):667 – 9.

Nagle G. The influence of the dietary intake of fatty acids and antioxidants on hay fever in adults. Allergy 2003; 58(12): 1277-84

Do you develop an unexplainable itchy rash after eating shellfish or certain varieties of fish? How about after eating eggs or after gulping down a warm glass of milk? Have you ever experienced that unusual tingling in your mouth after eating a particular food?

If you ever experienced these symptoms, you might be suffering from food allergy.

What is a food allergy?

A food allergy is the body’s natural response upon eating certain foods, which his or her body labeled as potentially harmful. Some of the most common food allergens (that which bring about or initiate an allergic reaction) include milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat and soy.

Among the first signs of an allergic reaction are coughing and sneezing, a runny nose and red, itchy eyes. Some experience the sudden appearance of an itchy skin rash or hives and a tingling sensation in the mouth, lips and throat.

Other more serious signs of an allergic reaction include dizziness, abdominal pain and diarrhea, vomiting and wheezing. Some people may even experience sudden behavioral changes such as anger, depression and/or lethargy in response to the allergic reaction.

An allergic reaction can be manifested in different ways and in varying intensities in different people. Some allergies may show obvious symptoms while others may not. Some people may react immediately once exposed to the allergen while in other people, it may take several hours for the symptoms to be manifested.

A food allergy should not be taken lightly. Severe allergic reactions are known to result in swelling, shock and death.

How does a food allergy develop?

The human body is protected at all times by the immune system. It is the immune system’s primary responsibility to be on a constant lookout for potentially harmful substances or organisms, which may jeopardize the health of an individual.

When a person accidentally ate something, which is harmful to the body, the immune system produces special proteins called IgE antibodies. This prompts the allergy cells (called mast cells) to release certain chemicals in the bloodstream to fortify the body’s defenses. One of these chemicals is histamine. Upon its release, histamine acts on the person’s eyes, nose, throat, lungs, skin and/or gastrointestinal tract, triggering the manifestation of the symptoms of the allergic reaction.

In the case of food allergies, the most common culprit is the abnormal permeability of the gastrointestinal tract. When this happens, inappropriately large food molecules may be transported into the bloodstream. Since they are abnormally sized, these food molecules might be seen as “intruders” and are therefore attacked by the antibodies.

A food allergy can develop at any age. Some may have it from birth while others develop it as they grow older or as the body is predisposed to the allergens.

How can food allergies be cured?

Probably the best way to treat food allergies is to avoid the eating anything which may trigger an allergic reaction for a period of time (preferably for 2 to 6 months). After this period, the foods can then be gradually reintroduced into your diet. For best results, the foods should be reintroduced on a rotating basis, which means that you consume them only every 4 days or more. This will allow you to eat foods you are allergic to without suffering from the usual symptoms.

There are still some other ways to fight food allergies. Others have tried administering traditional allergy shots, homeopathic treatments, herbal decoctions, high doses of vitamin C and several other treatments with varying degrees of success.

Remember that food allergies tend to run in the family. So, if ever one member of your family has a history of this condition, do take the necessary precautions.