world doctors
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All About Allergies
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The greatest international website of world doctors :
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An allergy is an overreaction of the immune system to a substance that's harmless to most
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people.
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But in someone with an allergy, the body's immune system treats the substance (called an
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allergen) as an invader and overreacts, causing symptoms that can range from annoying to
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serious or life threatening.
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In an attempt to protect the body, the immune system of the allergic person produces antibodies
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called immunoglobulin E (IgE).Those antibodies then cause mast cells and basophils (allergy cells
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in the body) to release chemicals (including histamine) into the bloodstream to defend against the
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allergen "invader."
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It's the release of these chemicals that causes allergic reactions, affecting a person's eyes, nose,
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throat, lungs, skin, or gastrointestinal tract as the body attempts to rid itself of the invading
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allergen. Future exposure to that same allergen will trigger this allergic response again. This
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means that every time the person eats that particular food or is exposed to that particular
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allergen, he or she will have an allergic reaction.
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Allergies can be seasonal (happening only at certain times of the year, like when pollen counts
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are high) or can occur any time someone comes in contact with an allergen.
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Who Gets Allergies?
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The tendency to develop allergies is often hereditary, which means it can be passed down through
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your genes. However, just because you, your partner, or one of your children might have allergies
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doesn't mean that all of your kids will definitely get them, too. And someone usually doesn't inherit
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a particular allergy, just the likelihood of having allergies.
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But a few kids have allergies even if no family member is allergic. And a child who is allergic to
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one substance is likely to be allergic to others.
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