Thinking of medicine, allergy is one of the diseases which cannot be cured, but only have their symptoms alleviated with the help of appropriate medication. Allergy requires antihistamine medication and most of the times, the patient treatment can be done at home. Such a chronic treatment needs an increased level of discipline compared to an acute treatment which would have a limited duration and not a lifetime like the chronic treatments.
How Medicine For Allergy Works
The medicine allergy sufferers would take are called antihistamines. Those drugs act upon the levels of the histamine in the body, histamine being a substance secreted by our body with the purpose of defense against intruders like foreign substances, or at least against whatever our immune system perceives as being natural enemies for the human body and its vital functions.
Besides medicine, allergy demands that the house in which the allergic lives to be kept extremely clean, free of allergens, therefore a series of measures are a must: basement mold removal, cleaning mold and mildew from all corners and rooms, mold spore removal (because removing the mold spores is crucial for getting rid of it for a long time), anti dust mite measures and more. These actions rather relate to hygiene than to medicine. Allergy is more than a disease against which we take a treatment and we live OK, allergy is a lifestyle in itself, as we need to learn how to protect ourselves from exposure to allergens we’ve tested positive to.
So, never rely solely on medicine. Allergy wants your full attention.
Categories: Allergy Tips
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Anaphylactic reaction or Anaphylaxis is an extremely violent allergic reaction of a person who has got into contact with a substance he’s allergic to. This reaction may occur when the body gets in touch with the allergen for the first time in life, or at a later contact, after a previous series of smaller, repeated contacts spread over time.
If it happens at the first allergen contact, and if the patient manages to get to the hospital, and he is saved by epinephrine administration, he is warned. Now he knows that he must avoid getting in contact with that killer substance for the rest of his life. As this is not always possible, persons who are known to develop anaphylactic reactions to a widespread allergen should always carry with them an epinephrine pen, and give himself a shot immediately after the unwanted contact. For example, if you have a severe allergy to bees, you shouldn’t by all means get close to hives. But as bees are pretty much everywhere in some areas, you may end up with one of them stinging you. Then, if you don’t take the epinephrine shot in a matter of seconds after the incident, you are in big trouble, because the allergic reaction will be so violent that a half an hour could be lethal.
Pampass grass, or Cortaderia, is a fast growing, perennial plant which grown tall like 15-20 inches and which has silky flower heads which can have different colors, like yellow, purple, pink or white. Seeded in early spring, the plants will be mature and blossom by August. Pampass grass is resistant to lack of water, so it may grow well even in dry climate conditions. It is an ornamental plant, but it is a real danger for allergic persons, because it produces a lot of pollen, which is one of the most common allergens.
In case you are known to be allergic and you live in an area with lots of Pampas grass, you can go to your doctor and ask to be tested against this specific allergen, in order to make sure you won’t develop an anaphylactic reaction to it in the future. If you test positive, probably your doctor would recommend you to carry an epinephrine pen ,and he’d teach uyou how to use it in case symptoms occur.
Categories: Allergy Tips
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Why Are Allergies Increasing
There is no doubt that allergies are increasing every year, but it also can be the effect of people getting more and more health conscious and presenting to the doctor for even small symptoms.
Scientists don’t know yet why some people are allergic and others don’t. It seems that genetic heritage plays a role in developing allergies, but nothing is certain.
This is established that allergies affect members of the same family, but this had happened all the time, so this cannot be the cause of the increase of allergies we’ve witnessed over the past years.
In their attempt to explain this allergy incidence increase, medical scientists came up with another theory which says that our immune system, due to the fact that it has no more natural enemies like worms or other parasites, tries its powers on common substances, triggering allergic reactions. Our body produces antibodies to fight against natural enemies. Along the centuries of existence, humans with strong immune system survived and passed their genes, detrimental to the ones who had weaker immune system, which were extinguished little by little. Stronger defense mechanisms imply stronger reactions to the environment, so allergic reactions are more likely to occur at more and more people descending from ancestors with strong immune system.
Another issue that was examined, was the exaggerate cleanliness many women are keeping for their children. Some of them are almost obsessed, so the body of their children doesn’t have a chance to form antibodies in early childhood. Those children kept away from dirt and germs are the ones who are most susceptible of developing allergies later in life. Many doctors now advise, based on research that has been done, that a certain level of dirt is actually beneficial for small children. So, maybe mothers shouldn’t be using all those germ-killer products which are heavily advertised nowadays.
Another issue is that now we have access to all types of foods all year round. In my childhood, I could only eat bananas during our winter. They were not available in any other season. This made it less probable that children develop allergies to bananas, because the level of exposure was low. The same applies for tomatoes and apples, which are some of the foods with allergenic potential. If you are predisposed to allergy to them, the more you consume those foods, the more your allergy gets serious, so having them available permanently is certainly not beneficial.
Soy allergy is also increasing. Some years ago, very few people ate soy products, as they were not available on such a large scale like they are today.
Technology is also a menace for health. Only think that is you work in a modern office building, where windows cannot open, and air is circulated through an air conditioning system, you are exposed to all allergens like perfumes, dust or mold from the entire building, which are sucked into the ventilation system and circulated into your office.
Pollution is also a major player in allergies development. Cars are already too many, the petrol-based fuels are highly polluting the air in big cities, so we have no chance of breathing fresh air for the most time of our lives.
Allergy is really a problem getting bigger every day.
Categories: Allergy general info
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Spring is here, with all fresh flowers and trees blooming, the sun which is not yet so hot but nicely warm, and of course, with the spring rains which are real showers, bringing a lot of mud into the equation. If you have a dog, you must know what challenges you face every spring to keep your home clean, with all that mud which is brought into your house every day. There are a few tricks you can do, in order to minimize the damage and keep your home clean and your dog happy in the spring:
Groom your dog every day. Brush him thoroughly, so you can remove the loose hairs. Your dog likes mud, so he will take every excuse he can to jump in the middle of it and take it on its fur. This is why you need to trim the dog hair as short as possible, especially on the legs and paws. Clip their toenails short, for preventing mud accumulating too much between them.
When the dog comes inside after playing in the dirt, don’t let him jump all over the place. If the dog is small, you can take it directly to the bathroom and give him a good shower. In case of big dogs, make sure you put a wet towel at the entrance, so the dog steps on it before spreading the mud all over the place. The luckiest dog owners are those who live in houses with backyards. In this case, you can clean your dog with a garden hose before attempting to enter the house. Another aspect of keeping the dog and the house clean is prevention of dog allergy, which can be such a pain, causing all kinds of itching and swellings to your dog.
If you are allergic to dust and pollen, letting your dirty dog inside the house, and especially in the bedroom will get you in trouble, as this will trigger the mechanism of allergic reactions and you’ll be unhappy.
Categories: Pets Allergy
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Allergies and sensitivities are more and more widespread, and not only in poor countries, but also in developed ones.
Theories are multiple, like using more additives for foods, more plastic recipients, more food coloring substances. We eat unhealthy things in large quantities and we don’t even know it. How many of you actually read the product labels and refrain from buying if seeing too many chemicals inside? Too few, probably.
Eating the same food for long time leads to an increased sensitivity and makes the body to hyper react, thus triggering allergic response from the immune system.
A food allergy does not come alone. It can bring ailments such as itches, hives, pains, urticaria, eczemas, suffocation, swelling, nausea and many more symptoms which are highly unpleasant and even life-threatening sometimes.
Food sensitivities and allergies exhaust our immune system, as they are challenging it to fight imaginary enemies, thus weakening it and making it to become unprepared when facing real challenges like cancer and other similar diseases.
The fact that we got used to process foods is another factor which adds to allergies increase. Our ancestors were eating much more raw foods than we do, and they surely didn’t use chemicals such as additives or preservatives.
The bad news is that allergies are practically incurable, all existent medication being used only to alleviate symptoms like sneezing, coughing, abnormal mucus secretions, hives, rash or urticaria. Not even the allergy tests can determine all allergens. For example, allergy to medications cannot be tested, because it is far too dangerous and besides, each organism reacts in a particular way to particular substances, so a common pattern hasn’t been established yet.
Categories: Allergy general info
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The Problems With Eye Allergy
Eye allergy is not necessarily a disease in itself. Allergies can often give ocular symptoms. Especially spring allergies, like hayfever or the allergy to weed pollen can result in teary, itchy eyes, or even can cause your eyes to get red and swollen, congestion which can be extremely unpleasant. So it is possible that you get ocular symptoms without actually suffering from an eye allergy, but from another type of allergic reaction.
Why Allergy Occurs
We are built to defend ourselves from natural enemies. Each time an enemy enters our body, it’s immune system triggers an attack to neutralize and eliminate the danger. In case of allergic persons, the body sees inoffensive substances like pollen, mold or dust like they were sworn enemies of the body, so it tries to defend itself by triggering what we call allergic reactions. The chemicals which help your body defend itself are histamines, and their presence in big numbers leads to allergy symptoms like oedema, itchiness, irritation, urticaria, sneezing or chocking.
There are many possible allergens, substances that can trigger an allergic reaction. Most allergens guilty for eye symptoms are airborne. Pollen gone with the wind, mold from our basements, dust which is everywhere, and animal dander (small, exfoliated skin particles) are the allergens that merely affect the eyes, triggering those unpleasant symptoms. These are also the factors which can lead to an eye allergy, bothering you and decreasing your life quality because of the annoying symptoms.
If not treated, an eye allergy can easily lead to a condition called allergic conjunctivitis, which has as a result the inflammation and irritation of the eye tissue, and which will occur every time the allergic patient is exposed to the allergen which caused the condition.
Relief for Irritated Eyes
As there is no cure for eye allergy (not for any other kind of allergy), if you cannot stay away from the allergens which cause you pain, here’s what you could do to minimize the damage:
1. After consulting your doctor, take some over the counter local medication, like artificial tears, or liquid antihistamine products, and put them in your eyes.
2. Consult pollen bulletins (on internet or on the TV news) and stay inside your home during their peak days, if you can. It is very important not to expose yourself particularly in the afternoon and in the evening, as that’s the most dangerous moment of the day in the respect of the eye allergy triggers present in the air.
3. Get yourself an air filter which will keep part of the allergen particles away from you.
4. Take antihistamine medication as a prevention means, starting a few weeks before the pollen season comes. Always ask your doctor when you want to take any drugs, even if they are sold without prescription.
Under no circumstances should you take advice you find either on the internet or in health magazines. Your physician knows best what you need, so you need to ask him for advice on anything that you’ve read or heard and you might want to try. Allergy is merciless and your eyes are too fragile to allow them get damaged just because you acted foolishly.
Categories: Eye Allergy
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How to Arrange Food Allergy Testing
In casee4 you notice symptoms such as skin irritation, hives, rash, swelling, whenever you are eating certain foods, then you should suspect food allergies and ask for investigations. The main way to stay symptom-free is avoidance of the incriminated foods, so the sooner you know which are they, the better.
Food allergy testing
For identifying a food allergy, you need to go for special tests. After you have the list of substances which trigger allergic reactions from your immune system, you need to stay away from them. Repeated exposure to the allergen will only exacerbate your allergy symptoms. Eventually, it may even endanger your life, as death by suffocation is possible, due to the swelling of your airway passages.
Being allergic to certain substances (foods, pollens, dust or anything else) means that your immune system perceives those otherwise harmless substances as a menace to the body, and starts fighting to eliminate them. This body fight consists on releasing chemicals to neutralize the enemies, thus provoking you unpleasant and dangerous symptoms.
Food allergies testing can be done in two ways:
Food Allergies Skin Prick Test
A food allergy skin prick test is based on making a small prick on the skin using a needle and pouring a little amount of the allergen you want to test for. After a half an hour, in case you are allergic, your skin would have reacted and became all red and swollen around the prick. The bigger the reaction, the more severe your allergy to that substance.
If you are not allergic, there would be absolutely no swelling at all. The advantage of the allergy prick test is that you get your results very fast (immediately) and it is not painful.
There are yet some situations when prick tests are dangerous to be performed: if you had a very violent allergic reaction, then putting your body in contact with the allergen may cause you severe symptoms which are not local but generalized, so you may even die from such a test. In order not to threaten your life, you’d better go for the second type of allergy testing:
Food Allergy Blood Test
This test is safe, as it requires you to give a blood sample, which would be taken to the lab and put in contact with the suspected allergens. There, the level of histamines released by your blood would be measured and the values would be compared with the benchmark ones.
The results can take a few weeks until complete, but you’ll receive a long list with foods which you need top avoid in order to improve your life quality and even save yourself from death. Food allergies are not a joke at all.
Categories: Allergy Tips, Allergy general info, Food Allergy
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Have you ever thought that cosmetics can be dangerous, as they hide a potential for developing allergic reactions?
According to The American Academy of Dermatology, Americans use at least seven various cosmetics or cosmetic products every day. Can you imagine starting a day without using an antiperspirant, or toothpaste, shower gel or perfume?
All kind of cosmetic products like soaps, shampoos, perfumes and colognes, deodorants, moisturizers, face creams, hand or nail creams and other cosmetics are considered a necessity today, being a symbol of civilization.
Cosmetics are also part of our lives, as many females use mascaras, lipstick, powder blush or eyelid colors for enhancing their beauty. In order to make the cosmetic and beauty products last longer, producers use preservatives. Fragrances are also used, with the purpose of triggering the purchase.
Fragrances and preservatives in cosmetics are potential allergens, as they may trigger occasional allergic reactions from sensitive persons, or from persons who used them for a long period of time. Cosmetic allergies are not so common, but some studies have shown that about 10% of the USA people is expected to develop a type of cosmetic allergy sooner or later.
Due to the heavier usage habits of cosmetic products, women are more prone to experience cosmetics allergy than men.
Cosmetic allergy symptoms
The symptoms of cosmetic allergy are mainly happening at the skin level. Allergic contact dermatitis and irritant contact dermatitis are the two major ailments which could trigger an alarm signal and send you to have an allergy testing done.
Usually, cosmetics dermatitis shows its symptoms in seconds or minutes after putting the skin in contact with the allergen in the cosmetic product used. In this way, you’ll be able to notice immediately which particular cosmetic product is giving you pains, so you can replace or eliminate it from your daily hygiene.
Cosmetic allergies start with inflammation of the skin which has been exposed to the allergenic substances. Then redness and swelling will occur, and sometimes the subject may experience a persistent itching.
Symptoms for cosmetic allergy will be stronger in case of applying the cosmetic substance on already irritated or scratched skin. Many young girls use face powder to mask their acne, and if the pimples are torn, the skin may suffer an allergic reaction when coming in contact with the make up.
Likewise any other form of allergies, cosmetics allergy is not a disease and it shouldn’t be considered as such. It is just a normal reaction of the immune system to neutralize and reject what it perceives to be harmful for the body.
How to treat cosmetics allergy
You can get skin allergy medication, like ointments and creams from the pharmacy, and usually those products are sold without medical prescription, so you can ask your pharmacist for advice on what product to use for treating your cosmetic allergy.
Most of these medications contain cortisone in the form of hydrocortisone acetate and hydrocortisone. Cortisones help curtail redness, swelling and itching during the onset of cosmetics allergy symptoms.
In case your allergy symptoms are exacerbated, like blisters on the skin surface, you should see a doctor, as you would probably need also some antibiotic treatment to prevent or cure eventual infections at the skin level.
Cosmetics allergy preventive measures
You can take a few measures to keep yourself cosmetic allergy free:
- When you get a new cosmetic products you’ve never used before, consider making a test before applying it in large quantities: take a small amount and put it on your wrist. Then wait for 24 hours: if you experience redness, inflammation or any other kind of symptom, do not use the product, because you may have an allergy to some of its ingredients.
- If you already know that you are allergic to some substances, look at the labels when you buy cometics, in order to avoid getting products which include that specific allergen.
- Do not apply perfume directly on your skin. You can obtain the same effect by putting it on your clothes. Beware though, some perfumes may leave ugly spots on textiles, so you’d better test them on some old shirt before ruining your best ones.
Precautions are never harmful. Why suffer, when it can be easy to avoid getting cosmetics allergy.
Categories: Allergy Tips, Allergy general info, Cosmetic Allergy
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