Dorothy FarrarAllergies
Allergy or hypersensitivity to pollen, grass, animal hair, food or wasp stings – an allergy is always present when the immune system reacts particularly strongly to certain substances (allergens). In most cases, allergies are triggered by proteins that come from plants or animals.
What is an allergy?
Allergies are widespread and the trend is increasing. After all, between 30 and 50 percent of the German population suffer from allergies. These are now increasingly occurring in children.
A large number of allergies are now known, the most common being hay fever and allergies to animal hair or house dust. However, food allergies, insect venom and contact allergies are not uncommon.
causes
There are numerous allergies that have just as many different causes. However, the main cause is always that the immune system reacts too strongly to a certain substance and then fights it off.As a rule, these are substances that are hardly dangerous for the human body, such as pollen, animal hair or house dust mites. Weakly sensitizing substances such as pollen often require contact for several years before an allergic reaction is triggered. Foods such as nuts, fruits, fish and grains can also trigger an allergic reaction.
The triggers of allergies are also referred to as allergens in medical terminology. But genes also play a significant role in allergies, after all, many allergies are hereditary. In addition, there are a variety of disruptive environmental factors that trigger allergies.
When to the doctor?
If an allergy is present, a doctor should be consulted to carry out a comprehensive allergy test. This provides information about all substances that can trigger an allergic reaction . If the allergy is weak, the affected person can move about in everyday life without further medical consultation. Avoiding certain irritating substances or environments is enough to avoid suffering any discomfort. This is often possible with an animal hair allergy or food allergy.
If unusual events such as shortness of breath , watery eyes, hay fever or skin changes occur for the first time, a doctor should be consulted. If the symptoms increase in intensity or occur more frequently, a medical examination is important. If itching causes inflammation of the skin, a doctor’s visit is necessary. Germs get into the organism via the damaged skin layers and can spread through the vessels. This threatens further diseases.
In severe cases, the affected person suffers an anaphylactic shock . Blood pressure drops suddenly, swelling of the larynx and acute shortness of breath occur. An ambulance must be consulted and first aid measures must be taken immediately. If medication is the cause of an allergy, the doctor treating you should be informed. A change in medication must be made so that the existing underlying disease can be treated effectively.
symptoms and course
Typical symptoms of an allergy (general):
Typical symptoms of an allergy are red and itchy eyes and typical cold symptoms such as coughing , sneezing and a runny nose. Various skin reactions and a sensitive gastrointestinal tract are also not uncommon as a reaction to an allergy.
The reaction time also depends on the underlying allergy. With some allergies, the typical symptoms appear after a few minutes, with other allergies only after hours.
Diagnose
The exact diagnosis of an allergy is very difficult. In particular, the enormous variety of possible substances that trigger an allergy are the main reason for this. About 20,000 allergens are currently known.
When making a diagnosis, it is important for the doctor to ask those affected questions during the medical consultation (anamnesis) that point to the first clues. He is particularly interested in:
- How are the complaints expressed?
- How long have you had the symptoms?
- In what context do the symptoms appear?
- Are there certain situations (food, substances) to which you are allergic?
- Do the symptoms vary in severity?
- Do you know of any allergies in your family, especially first-degree relatives?
After the patient consultation, a comprehensive physical examination is carried out. In this context, an allergy test is carried out.
complications
As a rule, the further course of an allergy can be predicted relatively well, so that there are no unexpected complications for the patient. However, complications can arise when a patient is unaware of an allergy and eats a particular food. In most cases, the allergic reaction leads to a severe runny nose and in many cases to shortness of breath. Most sufferers also experience a panic attack. In severe cases, vomiting also occurs, which can be accompanied by diarrhea. The eyes water and the patient feels sick and tired. Although the allergic reaction usually does not last long, its symptoms can severely limit the patient’s everyday life.
Complications can arise if the person affected has to come into daily contact with the triggering substance or food. In the worst case, the patient suffers a shock and a severe drop in blood pressure. This can lead to an insufficient supply of oxygen to various organs, so that in the worst case they die. In the event of a severe allergic reaction, treatment by a doctor or medication is therefore necessary to prevent consequential damage.
treatment and therapy
In order to be able to successfully treat an allergy, it is first necessary to find out what exactly the body is allergic to. This is done using certain tests. Once the cause of the allergy has been found, the so-called allergen avoidance follows – this means that the allergens are avoided as far as possible.
There are now very effective medications for almost all types of allergies. However, these only combat the symptoms of the allergy, but not the cause. The drugs are available in a wide variety of forms – be it as tablets, nose drops or eye spray. Antihistamines and cortisone are the most commonly used medications for allergies. Both successfully combat the symptoms of an allergy.
A treatment that is also used quite frequently for allergies is hyposensitization, which is particularly successful in the case of hay fever . With this, the patient is injected with the allergen regularly under the skin over a longer period of time – usually three years. This is supposed to cause the immune system to lose its hypersensitivity to this allergen.
However, alternative healing methods such as acupuncture or homeopathy have already had good success against many types of allergies.
prevention
Allergies can be inherited. So if the parents are allergic, the risk that the child will also suffer from allergies is increased.You can hardly prevent an allergy, but you can avoid the allergy-causing substances, the so-called allergens, as far as possible. This is usually possible without any problems, for example with animal hair.
However, pollen often travels for kilometers, so that one can hardly avoid it. However, it is important to determine what the body is allergic to in the first place. This is checked using special allergy tests. The already described hyposensitization to prevent allergic reactions can then take place.
Hello and welcome to my Health Guide & Encyclopedia! My name is Dorothy Farrar, and I'm the founder and main author of this platform.
My passion for health and wellness started at a young age when I became interested in the connection between the food we eat and the way we feel. This fascination led me to study nutrition and dietetics in college, where I learned about the importance of a balanced diet and the impact of various nutrients on the body.