All About Allergies: How to Understand, Prevent and Treat Them In Your Family, Part One

For allergy sufferers, the coming of the warm weather months is a ray of hope that carries a seed of discomfort. The spring months and the blooming of countless plants and flowers brings a new season of pollen, ragweed, and other allergens that often provoke sneezing, runny noses and watery eyes, fatigue, and other painful symptoms. Children especially are often subject to painful allergy effects, as their immune systems lack the strength to fight off attack.

In one of nature's ironic designs, allergies are actually meant to protect the body from further harm. They serve a purpose, though any allergy sufferer will tell you it's often hard to see their benefit while in the throes of a sneezing fit. But it's important to understand how allergic reactions work within the body to know how to best control them.

Allergies are an immune system response

Allergies are an immune system disorder and are commonly considered a form of overreaction called Type I Hypersensitivity.

Allergic reactions occur when certain kinds of white blood cells, the body's most common form of defense against outside pollutants, overreact to a perceived threat. These white blood cells, called mast cells and basophils, are activated by a specific antibody known as IgE. As the IgE antibody attaches itself to mast cells and basophils, the foreign allergens bind with it, compelling the mast cells and basophils to release chemicals such as histamine and heparin. Histamine causes many of the symptoms commonly associated with an allergy attack, including watery eyes and sneezing.

Allergies are more common than most people realize.

Human being suffer from dozens of potential allergies, including reacting to everything from certain kinds of foods to particles in the air and animal dander and insect stings. The cause of allergies is partly genetic, partly environmental.

Heredity plays a strong factor: most people inherit a tendency to be allergic, not the allergy itself. An allergic person has a 50% chance of passing an allergy on to their child. In cases where both parents have allergies, the likelihood jumps to 75%.

Allergies are also extremely prevalent in the population: experts believe as much as 20% of the American public deals with some form of allergy.

Allergies' symptoms depend on the kind of allergy

Allergies' most notorious syndrome is of course sneezing. Other common reactions to airborne allergens, besides the one listed above, include eczema, hives, mucus in the lungs, and even problems with the digestive system.

Allergic responses sometimes result in an atopic reaction, a condition in which the body produces symptoms in parts of itself which do not come in contact with the allergen. A common example would be hives along the arms after exposure to a certain kind of pollen or animal fur. Atopic reactions are strongly hereditary in origin. Scientists believe atopic reactions result from an overabundance of IgE in the bloodstream.

Allergic reactions depend on where the allergen was encountered, with the body responding to the threat locally. For example, food allergies are usually dealt with in the stomach, airborne allergens around the nose, eyes, and mouth.

Understanding the three basic types of allergies.

Typically, allergies are classified according to level of seriousness:

- Mild reactions affect a certain part of the body with symptoms such as watery eyes or hives. They do not spread to other parts of the body.
- Moderate reactions spread to other parts of the body. They typically include respiratory problems such as difficulty breathing but may also include itchiness.
- Severe reactions are extremely painful and usually involve some form of anaphylaxis.

Anaphylactic Shock is a serious allergic risk.

In some allergy cases, mast cells release so much histamine and other allergy mediators in such a short amount of time that a severe drop in blood pressure results, leading to a condition called anaphylactic shock. The most common forms of allergens linked to this condition are penicillin and insect stings.

Anaphylactic symptoms begin as intense forms of normal allergy effects, such as itching and rash. They soon continue into more serious abdominal pain, vomiting, and difficulty breathing. Because the body is literally starved for oxygen, mental confusion and dizziness are also possible.

If left untreated, anaphylactic shock can cause death in minutes. Though as much as sixteen percent of the U.S. population is considered at risk, less than 1,000 people each year die as a result of such extreme allergic reaction.

In Part Two we'll look at ways to prevent and treat allergies in your family, as well as other types of allergies that affect the skin.

Michael Kabel is Senior Staff Writer for http://www.cornerstorkbabygifts.com. Stop by for parenting and baby resources, unique baby gifts, baby gift baskets and baby shower favors.