Our immune system is amazing -- it continues to evolve as we age. It builds immunity and develops allergies all through our lives. What our immune system thinks is foreign is something we cannot control. We sneeze, itch, drain, cough, and feel miserable without having a say. It just seems unfair! If we feel miserable enough, we go to the doctor or the pharmacy for relief, and go on our merry way.
The main bad guy is called, "histamine." He's mean! It is released on our skin, in our airways and in our gastrointestinal tract. When we have an "allergy," one or all of those systems are reactive. We may have a hyper-response on our skin that causes itching. We may have nasal congestion, itchy eyes, and ears, sneezing and sore throat or even asthma if the allergy response affects our airways. And we may have abdominal cramps, diarrhea, inflammatory bowel, colitis, if it affects our gastrointestinal tract.
Hopefully, our reactions are minimal, and controlled with little or no medication. But if we have severe enough allergies, than we should get help. If you have questions you can email me at runsinthewynd@gmail.com or tweet at @askjustusmd .
The main bad guy is called, "histamine." He's mean! It is released on our skin, in our airways and in our gastrointestinal tract. When we have an "allergy," one or all of those systems are reactive. We may have a hyper-response on our skin that causes itching. We may have nasal congestion, itchy eyes, and ears, sneezing and sore throat or even asthma if the allergy response affects our airways. And we may have abdominal cramps, diarrhea, inflammatory bowel, colitis, if it affects our gastrointestinal tract.
Hopefully, our reactions are minimal, and controlled with little or no medication. But if we have severe enough allergies, than we should get help. If you have questions you can email me at runsinthewynd@gmail.com or tweet at @askjustusmd .
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