Ask Allergy Expert

It is very important for every person to know what they are allergic to, learn about allergies and living with it. If the person is unknown about it then in that case the person may be in trouble in certain situations.

Tell me if you are coming across such incidents:

Does your body react by sneezing or sniffling or coughing if there is any environmental change like cold, summer, rainy or even spring. Or does your body react to particular type of food or fruit Or do you come across breathing problems because of change in the air or pets or pet fur. If yes then the above symptoms are the signs or allergic attack. From one of the allergy associations i.e ( American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology AAAAI ) study says that approx 50 million Americans suffer from one allergy or the other.

Allergy is a problem bearing a costly tag. From studies it has come to know that in United States, the yearly expenses on medication and hospitalization due to allergies is over 18 billion USD. Many industries in the west are getting affected because of allergic reactions of harmless substances. This directly hampers the work and indirectly adds to the loss due to various allergies.

Allergies can be a mere irritation, chronic or even life-threatening (allergic shock or anaphylaxis). Considering it’s severity and increasing number of cases and types, tremendous research is constantly done giving better understanding of complex nature of allergic reactions, causes, effects and more improved and effective treatment of allergies. But, since allergies cannot be cured, researchers are finding ways of preventing and managing the symptoms more accurately. So, no that you’ll just feel better when you are suffering from an allergic attack, but also there would be only a slim chance of you suffering a permanent damage that can occur from an allergy over a long period of time.

Many people ask if a infant or small baby can have allergies? People may ask this question just out of curiosity or may be they are experiencing something like it. The symptoms are quite similar to what adults have.
The answer to the question is yes. Infant babies can also have allergies. It is very difficult to say why babies get allergies. Many children can develop allergies, if not then they may get allergic in their adult hood. Allergy is more dependent on body’s immune system. Small children may have food allergies or allergies to anything.

Following are the infant allergies which are very commonly found:

• Infant milk allergy
• Infant wheat allergy
• Infant egg allergy
• Infant nut allergy
• Infant soy allergy
• Infant peanut allergy
• Infant skin allergy

Breast milk is always better then baby food available in the market. Even baby oil, baby soap, baby powder, clothes etc need to be selected very carefully. If not selected properly then baby can experience some problems related to skin or hair. Sometimes babies even develop allergies through breast milk, in that case the mother needs to be very careful about what she eats and drinks. Alcohol and smoking should be strictly avoided by mothers. And as far as possible try to keep the baby in a clean and neat place.

Allergy is a reaction to invader in the body. The immune system starts fighting against the foreign body and starts generating antibodies. The generation of histamine and release from the body indicates many allergy symptoms that are common like itching, watering of eyes, rashes, running nose, coughing, constipation etc.

Babies having food allergy will have symptoms like hives, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach upset, constipation etc. Babies having other airborne allergies like pollution, pollination, dust, animal dander etc then the symptoms we get to see are like sneezing, running nose, coughing, skin rashes etc. Small babies also have eczema. Eczema is the allergy related to skin. It is also known as atopic dermatitis.

It is the problem related to eye itching. Conjunctivitis is caused because of the inflammation of conjunctiva. In America it is also referred to as pink eye. Eye is covered with a transparent shield that protects the white layer of the eye. The shield gets irritated and itchy because the loss or discharge of moisture, this also results in eye reddening. The eyelid gets swollen. The external weather conditions affects on the eyes. Because of conjunctivitis the eye becomes extra sensitive to bright light and even hot and dry weather.

There are many variants of conjunctivitis like :

• Viral conjunctivitis, this infection normally starts with one eye and can spread easily to others.
• Bacterial conjunctivitis is caused due to bacteria who produce pus in the surrounding of eyes. The result of the excess of watering of the eye may cause the eye lids to stick each other.
• Toxic conjunctivitis is comparatively unusual type of conjunctivitis. Toxic conjunctivitis never show itching and discharging (watering of eyes) symptoms, but severe pain is observed.

There are many possible triggers due to which conjunctivitis can occur. There are airborne particles, chemicals, cosmetics, food, medication solvents and so on. Conjunctivitis takes approx 2-3 days to get cured. Conjunctivitis is majorly caused because of an allergic reaction or and infection. Here are some of the particular elements which cause conjunctivitis: - chalk dust, coal dust, flour, grains, dust mite, pollen, ammonia, benzyl acetate, chlorine, formaldehyde, contact lens cleaning solutions, perfumes, household sprays, deodorants, eye liners, aspirin, amyl alcohol, iso-propanol, turpentine etc.

Treatments available for curing conjunctivitis are as follows:

• Herbal treatments can be used for treating conjunctivitis like wash eye with chamomile tea or fennel tea. Calendula, eyebright and golden seal is used as compress.
• Apis is used for resting of eyes from irritation, reddening of eyes and swollen eyelids. Euphrasia is used to prevent eye from watering. These are some of the homeopathic remedies used against conjunctivitis.
• Here are some of the medications which are provided by the doctors for reducing irritation of eyes and lubricating it. Antihistamine eye drops, cromoglycate, nedocromil sodium, steroids, sympathomimetics are given. Depending on the eye infection it is decided to give corticosteroid eye drops or not, because if the eye infection is not considered then the eye infection can even worsen. Please read the directions of how to apply eye drops on the infected eye from the eye drop box.
• Here are some of the home remedies for conjunctivitis:
  • Wear dark glasses, this will prevent others getting infected and will protect your eyes from direct light and dust.
  • Until conjunctivitis is cleared up please avoid wearing eye makeup and contact lenses.
  • Rinse the eyes frequently to remove the dust particles accumulated around the infection.
  • Place the grated carrot on the eye as it has antiseptic and disinfectant properties, which will help recovering eye from conjunctivitis.
  • Even cucumber slices can bring the eye itching down. Cucumber helps eye relax and provides necessary lubrication as cucumber have inbuilt water. Cucumber has the anti-inflammatory properties which is the great plus to get relief from itching of eyes. Cucumber is a good home remedy for Conjunctivitis

Please note that the above information is provided just for your knowledge, it should not be considered as prescription and start applying medicines on your own. Please consult your doctor before consuming any medicines.

The body can come in contact with an allergen in mainly 4 different ways:

• Contact - Here the skin reaction is observed because the main organ exposed to the atmosphere is skin. Some people are allergic to soaps, powder, perfumes, daily usable chemicals, pesticides or disinfectants. The major allergic reactions observed are skin rash, reddening of skin, swelling and skin irritation. There are also some other organs like eyes, mouth and nose which also may be affected.
• Injectant - In this case, the allergen is introduced in the body in the form of injected drugs or insect stings. As this substance is introduced in the circulation of the blood, the whole body may react to it and not just the infected part of the body.
• Consuming - In this case, the allergen comes in contact through food, medicine and drinks. People having food allergy may have problems related to mouth, tongue, swelling of lips. They may also face gastrointestinal problems, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and breathing problems. People having allergy to medicine may have very severe reaction. People allergic to certain medicines should always discuss it with your doctor before the doctor prescribes you any medicine, regardless of the purpose the medicine is given.
• Inhaling - The particles or fumes can mix up in the air and enter in the body very easily. The person sensitive to such allergens overreacts. The general reactions to such allergens include breathing problem, sinus problem, throat problem, headaches, migraine and muscular pain.

Allergen is a substance which is found in environment and to that substance the body reacts sharply.Almost anything and everything can be allergen to anyone. Allergy is caused due to binding of allergens with proteins in your body. Allergens are of two types - one that contains Proteins, which means in the form of organic form, that is food we eat. and other that does not contain proteins like house dust, pollen of trees and grass, pet fur, pollution, strong smell, perfumes, chemicals used in industries and household etc.

One of the main cause of increase in allergies is because of the genetic factor. The immune system decides upon the harmful substance for its body, and when that substance comes in contact with the body the immune system starts producing antibodies to fight against the invading substance, this antibody is also called as IgE (Immunoglobulin E). When the immune system starts preparing to fight against the alien substance, the blood cells starts producing some chemicals which shows the symptom of an allergic reaction. The genes are passed in families and depending on the gene behavior one may get allergy problems.

There are some factors that causes new developments of allergies, the factors are as follows: