What Are Allergies and What to Know About Them?
Allergies are quite common these days.
If you notice, you will be surprised to see that a lot of people you meet are allergic to some or the other thing.
However, if the effects are mild, people do not pay attention or sometime do not know that they have an allergy.
The fact is that most of us do not even know what are allergies at all? So, what are allergies? Allergies are the result of hypersensitivity of one's immune system to a certain thing.
For some people, their immune system over-reacts to things that are completely harmless to others.
These things, which cause allergies in them, are referred to as allergens.
Actually the body of an allergic person identifies allergens as harmful foreign substances and releases anti-bodies to combat them.
Antibodies combine with these foreign substances or allergens and cause inflammation as part of the allergic reaction.
This can cause the person just a mild discomfort or can even be dangerous sometimes.
After knowing 'what are allergies', the next question that may come to the reader's mind is what the common allergens are.
The most common factors causing allergies in people are dust mites, pollens, animals' hair or dander, food items like peanuts, milk or even some medicines, latex, perfumes etc.
Actually all of the allergens basically are small proteins that cause the immune system of the allergic person to over-react and start the allergic reactions.
As a result of the allergy, the person can contract allergic diseases like allergic rhinitis or hay fever, asthma, food allergy, medicine allergy, allergic conjunctivitis and skin ailments like urticaria, atopic dermatitis (eczema), and contact dermatitis etc.
Researchers claim that genetic factors have a big role to play in deciding whether a person will be allergic or not.
If one parent of a child has some allergy, the chances that he/she will contract it is said to be around 50% and if both have an allergy the chances increase up to 70%.
However, hereditary is not the sole factor responsible for it.
A lot of people, having no such heredity, are found to contract allergies.
Also, a person can catch it at any stage in his/her life.
The cases of people catching allergies are on a rise these days.
The genetic theory, of course, does not explain this rise.
Some researchers attribute it to the increasing sensitivity of our immune systems to the synthetic chemicals whereas a few others believe that human body is designed to fight viruses and bacteria etc.
but in our modern world hygienic surroundings, these days, our immune system does not get many of them.
Hence, it has become very sensitive.
It treats any harmless foreign object as harmful and starts fighting off with it.
Besides knowing 'what are allergies', it is also important to understand how to treat them.
The best way as suggest by experts is to get tested for your allergies, know your allergens and simply avoid them to avoid the allergic reactions.
Correct diagnosis and proper education is said to be the most important part in treating an allergy.
If you notice, you will be surprised to see that a lot of people you meet are allergic to some or the other thing.
However, if the effects are mild, people do not pay attention or sometime do not know that they have an allergy.
The fact is that most of us do not even know what are allergies at all? So, what are allergies? Allergies are the result of hypersensitivity of one's immune system to a certain thing.
For some people, their immune system over-reacts to things that are completely harmless to others.
These things, which cause allergies in them, are referred to as allergens.
Actually the body of an allergic person identifies allergens as harmful foreign substances and releases anti-bodies to combat them.
Antibodies combine with these foreign substances or allergens and cause inflammation as part of the allergic reaction.
This can cause the person just a mild discomfort or can even be dangerous sometimes.
After knowing 'what are allergies', the next question that may come to the reader's mind is what the common allergens are.
The most common factors causing allergies in people are dust mites, pollens, animals' hair or dander, food items like peanuts, milk or even some medicines, latex, perfumes etc.
Actually all of the allergens basically are small proteins that cause the immune system of the allergic person to over-react and start the allergic reactions.
As a result of the allergy, the person can contract allergic diseases like allergic rhinitis or hay fever, asthma, food allergy, medicine allergy, allergic conjunctivitis and skin ailments like urticaria, atopic dermatitis (eczema), and contact dermatitis etc.
Researchers claim that genetic factors have a big role to play in deciding whether a person will be allergic or not.
If one parent of a child has some allergy, the chances that he/she will contract it is said to be around 50% and if both have an allergy the chances increase up to 70%.
However, hereditary is not the sole factor responsible for it.
A lot of people, having no such heredity, are found to contract allergies.
Also, a person can catch it at any stage in his/her life.
The cases of people catching allergies are on a rise these days.
The genetic theory, of course, does not explain this rise.
Some researchers attribute it to the increasing sensitivity of our immune systems to the synthetic chemicals whereas a few others believe that human body is designed to fight viruses and bacteria etc.
but in our modern world hygienic surroundings, these days, our immune system does not get many of them.
Hence, it has become very sensitive.
It treats any harmless foreign object as harmful and starts fighting off with it.
Besides knowing 'what are allergies', it is also important to understand how to treat them.
The best way as suggest by experts is to get tested for your allergies, know your allergens and simply avoid them to avoid the allergic reactions.
Correct diagnosis and proper education is said to be the most important part in treating an allergy.