When a person is very unpleasant to us, we can say in our hearts: "I'm allergic to him, I can't see him." Is this really possible or is it just an expression in a figurative sense?
What is an allergy
Allergy is an inexplicable failure of the body, in which the body's defense mechanisms begin to work against itself. That is, the body sees a threat not in viruses and bacteria, but in ordinary and harmless things, such as flowers, fruits or water.
The list of substances that can cause allergies is practically endless, they are called antigens.
There are five types of allergies:
- atopic;
- cytotoxic;
- immunocomplex;
- slow;
- stimulating.
The most common type is the atopic type, which, in fact, is considered an allergy. When the body comes into contact with some new substance, the immune system always meets it.antibodies. Upon first contact with a new harmless substance, the body should normally recognize it as safe and stop producing antibodies to it. But in the event of a failure, known in scientific circles as a hypersensitivity reaction, they continue to be produced, and the more of them are formed, the stronger the reaction will be. At this point, the situation can go in two ways: either everything will return to normal and resistance to the substance will develop, or sensitization to the substance will occur in the body. At the first time, a person will not even know that this has happened in his body, and he can easily continue contact with the substance. But with the second, upon entering into repeated contact with the substance, a person will show symptoms of an allergy. And the strength with which they manifest themselves directly depends on how many antibodies were produced by the body at the first contact.
Human allergy is a myth or reality
Recently, cases of hypersensitivity reactions have become more frequent, especially in children. And unfortunately, an allergy to a person is quite a reality. Most often, allergies occur on men, as their excretory system works more actively.
Reaction can be caused by both close contact and just being in the same room. That is, an allergy to a person can be caused even by the fact that you breathe the same air with him. And since few people have heard of such a phenomenon, it is often quite difficult to guess what is happening.
Reaction to what exactly?
The reaction in the case of an allergy to a person occurs on its excretion, for example,the following:
- sweat;
- saliva;
- cum;
- piss;
- discharge of the female genital organs.
And both for the allocation of a specific person, and for a certain allocation in principle.
Medicine has met such rare cases as an allergy to any sperm or someone else's sweat. There have even been cases where couples lived for years without knowing that one of them was allergic to sperm and female secretions, and continued to have sex, exacerbating the situation.
Research has proven that there is a hereditary predisposition to allergies specifically to humans. Therefore, it is imperative to warn your children about this. If you give birth to a child from a person to whom you are allergic, there is a very high probability that he will be allergic to his father or mother, and quite a strong one.
Symptoms
The symptoms of an allergy to a person are no different from the symptoms of an allergy to something more common. It affects organs and tissues that are in direct contact with the external environment:
- skin;
- GIT;
- liver;
- mucous;
- respiratory organs.
Hypersensitivity is manifested by the following symptoms:
- conjunctivitis;
- runny nose and swelling of the nasal cavity;
- flaking and eczema;
- decreased intestinal motility;
- indigestion;
- nausea;
- cough, in severe cases turning into asthma.
All these symptoms can bemanifestations of a wide range of diseases, therefore, only an allergist-immunologist for adults should diagnose allergies. Since the mechanism of the hypersensitivity reaction in children is somewhat different.
What is the danger of allergies
If the first signs may seem like just an inconvenience, then it can get worse. The swelling of the nasal cavity is so severe that it becomes difficult to breathe. And pulmonary edema is fraught with Quincke's edema, in which a fatal outcome can occur so quickly that an ambulance simply does not have time to arrive. Another strong and terrible manifestation of allergies is anaphylactic shock. Therefore, if there is the slightest suspicion of an allergy, it is very dangerous to ignore it, no one knows what a particular case can lead to.
Distinguish between immediate and delayed allergic reactions. Their main difference is that in the first case, the reaction occurs within a couple of hours, and in the second, it can occur after a day or more.
Diagnosis
Sometimes it is quite difficult to identify what exactly you are allergic to. If this is an allergic reaction of an immediate type, then it is easiest to determine. In the case of a slow one, difficulties often arise.
If you suspect an allergy, you need to contact an allergist-immunologist for adults directly, bypassing a therapist. To begin with, the specialist will examine the patient to determine the external manifestations. Then he will ask him a series of standard questions: did he eat a lot of fruits, did he visit exotic countries and did he change his usual skin care products?means, cosmetics or household chemicals. At the end of the visit, he will tell you what tests to take for allergies to make sure that it is she. The fact is that when a hypersensitivity reaction is active in the body, the level of neutrophils in the blood will be increased.
If something unusual is revealed at the reception, then the allergist recommends removing everything suspicious from the diet and everyday life with a frequency of about once every 3 days, that's how much it takes for the allergic reaction to begin to fade away. Usually at this stage, the allergen is detected. But it happens that contact with everything new and unusual is completely excluded, but the symptoms only intensify. Then decide to do an allergy test. To do this, several incisions are made on the arm or back and an essence with one of the most popular allergens is dripped into each of them.
Allergy Causes
Medics have not yet found out the exact exact reasons for its appearance, but the following are considered the most likely:
- deterioration of the environment;
- drug intervention in the immune system;
- vaccination;
- the heyday of the chemical industry.
The causes of human allergy, most likely, also lie in poor ecology, because the toxicity of human excreta is directly related to what he eats and what he breathes.
But this is just a guess, and many questions remain about the mechanism of allergy. For example, why can some people contactsome substances all life and nothing happens, but for someone the slightest contact is enough for the strongest manifestation.
Treatment
The best treatment for allergies is to eliminate the allergen by completely avoiding further contact with it. Then the allergist will simply prescribe remedies that will help to quickly neutralize all the symptoms. But it happens that this is impossible, then new generation antiallergic drugs come to the rescue. And if it is still possible to stop eating something or use household chemicals, then leaving a loved one because such a reaction to him is quite difficult morally. Any allergy only gets worse over time, and in severe forms, continuing to communicate with this person without taking antihistamines can be fatal.
The famous "Suprastin" from allergies of such strength will not help, because this is only the first generation drug. That is, it simply blocks the symptoms for a period of no more than 5 hours. And drinking it all the time is quite harmful.
Second generation drugs such as Claritin, Fenistil and Zodak already have fewer side effects, but are contraindicated for heart patients.
Zyrtec and Cetrin are third-generation drugs and have a minimal list of side effects. Approved for use by people with cardiovascular disease.
And finally, anti-allergic drugs of a new generation, that is, the fourth. These are Levocetirizine, Cetirizine, Erius and many others. They stop quickly and for a long timeallergy symptoms. They have a minimum of contraindications.
Prescribing drugs of previous generations is also appropriate. It is up to the allergist to decide what exactly the patient will be treated with. A person without the appropriate education and experience, all the nuances cannot be taken into account.
There is a chance to get rid of the disease and completely. There is such a method as allergen-specific immunotherapy. The patient's body is exposed to allergens in a certain way, thus causing resistance to them. Such therapy does not always work, but it gives hope to such couples for a normal life together.
Psychological reason
There is such an unusual phenomenon as a psychological allergy to a person. That is, one person literally cannot be next to an unpleasant person. And the reason lies precisely in personal hostility, in the fact that a person brings negative emotions. In this case, sometimes a smart organism gives such a strange, but, oddly enough, reaction that is protective for the nervous system. When a person begins to smell the smell of someone who is very unpleasant to him, a huge amount of hormones are released into his blood, which give a reaction similar to an allergy.
"Suprastin" from this type of allergy is unlikely to help. Here you need to either somehow accept the inevitability of communication with this person and work it out with a psychologist, or simply exclude communication completely. Since this only happens when interacting with people who are truly unpleasant, it can be difficult to do this only for social reasons. For example, if thisthe child's boss or teacher. But most often this issue can be resolved.
Prevention
Prevention of any hypersensitivity reaction is living in the most environmentally friendly areas and eating food that is as clean as possible from nitrates and growth hormones. In the conditions of modern life, this seems unlikely.
But drinking fewer pills for the slightest provocation, buying better vegetables and meats, giving up instant food is for everyone.
Other unusual allergies
Allergies to fruits, milk and drugs are not surprising. But there are such types of allergies that are truly amazing. For example, there are allergies to the following:
- Water. Prolonged exposure to the skin causes flaking and atopic dermatitis.
- Sports and fitness, otherwise it is called "anaphylaxis of physical effort." When playing sports, a certain set of hormones is released into the human body, and the reaction occurs on them.
- Sunshine. Sunburns from prolonged exposure to the sun are familiar to many, but a small number of people experience such burns immediately.
- Plastic. In this case, you will have to surround yourself with exclusively natural materials, but outside the home, avoiding contact with plastic things in the 21st century is quite problematic.
- Metal. One thing saves is that there are a large number of types of metal and there can’t be allergies to everything at once, since the composition of different alloys is strikingdifferent.
It is quite difficult for a person to exist with some types of allergies, but medicine does not stand still, and scientists do not lose hope of finding a cure for allergies that will be 100% effective.
