subject: Causes Of Allergies [print this page] To clearly explain what the cause of allergy is to you, let me start with this one of the numerous examples of allergic reactions. A household animal, dog, was brought into a house. After three month the dog was brought in, mum begins to experience itchy nose and throat and episodes of sneezing. One of the children in the house also develops chest tightness and coughing, especially when the dog is in her bedroom. The rest of the household (dad and the rest of the children) have no reaction (allergy symptoms) to the presence of the dog irrespective of the degree of contact they have with the dog.
What happened was that, mum and one of the children in the house (in which dog was brought) were allergic or developed allergy toward a foreign substance on or in the dog. Thus, the manifestation of the allergy symptoms in the mum and one of the children. But dad and the rest of the children are not allergic or did not develop allergy to the presence of the dog. Foreign substances (such as that from the dog) are called antigen. Antigens are substances capable of triggering or causing production of antibodies.
The antibodies are produced from immune system. Immune system is a body's organised defense system against foreign invaders (antigens), especially infectious agents. Antigens may lead or may not lead to an allergic reaction and the consequent allergy symptoms. Any antigen that causes allergy symptoms (or allergic reactions) is referred to as allergen. The function of immune system in our body is to mobilize its defensive components to the site of invasion or infection in order to destroy the intruders, the foreign substance (antigen or allergen if it causes allergy or allergy symptoms). The immune system destroys antigens or allergens in two ways. When the immune system components have contact with the antigens or allergens, they respond by producing antibodies or immunoglobulins (Ig) - the first way. There are five types of these antibodies - IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD, and IgE.
Are you aware of what the causes of allergies are? Most people will know when they have one, and often will have some form of either prescribed or self medicated solution to the problem, but very few of us actually know what causes these reactions in the first place.
In this article we're going to have a look at some of the how's and why's behind one person getting an allergy, and another person not getting one.
What makes one person more susceptible to the causes of allergies than someone else?
Essentially what's going on is a genetic thing, so, some people will be more genetically inclined to be hypersensitive to something that many other people won't be i.e. you may have a peanut allergy and a sibling may like nothing better than having a nice bag of dry roasted peanuts as a treat after a hard day's work.
What happens is that the lymphocytes cause a misidentification of the harmless proteins in the sufferer's body,
