Allergies or an allergic response take place when a person’s immune system becomes overly sensitive to particular things, such as foods, pollen, medicines, or bee venom.
An allergen induces an allergic response. Many allergens are commonplace compounds that are safe for the majority of individuals. Each substance, though, has the potential to be an allergy if the immune system reacts negatively to it in a particular way.
A person’s immune system will respond to an allergen by acting as though it is dangerous and attempting to eradicate it. Learn more about the causes, signs, and treatments of allergies in this article.
Risk Factors of Allergies
Factors that can increase your risk of developing an allergy are:
- History of allergies or asthma in the family, including hay fever, hives, and eczema.
- Age, allergies are more common in childhood.
- Food or diet.
- Environment
Complications from Allergies
People with allergies are at risk of developing several additional health issues, such as:
- Anaphylaxis: You are more likely to experience this catastrophic allergy-induced response if you have severe allergies. The most common causes of anaphylaxis include food, drugs, and insect bites.
- Asthma: If you have an allergy, you are more prone to developing asthma, an immune system reaction that affects the airways and breathing.
- Sinusitis and infections of the ears or lungs: If you have allergies or asthma, you have an increased chance of developing these illnesses.
Treatment
Medications can help a person control the symptoms of an allergic response, but they cannot treat an allergy.
There are several over-the-counter remedies. However, a person should consult a pharmacist or doctor before taking a drug.
- Allergen avoidance: Your doctor will guide you on how to find and stay away from your allergy triggers. In general, this step will have the biggest impact on reducing allergic reactions and symptoms.
- Medications: Depending on the allergy, such as childhood allergies, medication can help lessen immune system reactivity and alleviate symptoms. Using over-the-counter or prescription pills, liquids, nasal sprays, or eye drops is something your doctor can advise.
- Immunotherapy: Your doctor could suggest allergen immunotherapy if your allergies are severe or previous treatments aren’t alleviating them. Purified allergen extracts are administered through injection over several years as part of this therapy.
- A sublingual pill is another type of immunotherapy taken until it dissolves under the tongue. Some pollen allergies are treated with medicines administered sublingually.
- Emergency epinephrine: If you have a severe allergy, you may always need an emergency epinephrine injection on hand. An epinephrine injection for severe allergic reactions can lessen symptoms until you receive emergency care.
Preventing Allergies
Avoiding the allergen that causes an allergy is crucial to preventing an allergic response. It may be beneficial to keep a journal if someone is unsure of the reason for an allergy. A person can learn what causes or aggravates their symptoms by keeping note of their whereabouts, behaviors, and nutrition.
Allergy treatment is frequently comprehensive. To alleviate symptoms and avoid a severe response, you must actively avoid your allergy triggers while utilizing the proper over-the-counter and prescription medications.
While certain allergy disorders, such as childhood allergies, may improve with time, they are frequently incurable. By working with your healthcare practitioner, find the answers to enhance your quality of life.
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