Spring has arrived, blooming flowers, bountiful fruit trees and rainbow colours everywhere. So has your grand dad’s infamous sneeze that can be heard from two blocks away.
It becomes omnipresent after a point, you get used to it. The family laughs it away saying it happens every year this time around, just how it has always been. While we may never really figure out why they are that loud, we might just be able to understand why they sneeze whenever they go within arm’s reach of a flower.
Before we go into detail about what exactly grandpa might have, let’s first discuss a bit more about what exactly do we mean by an allergy and the science behind it.
Huh?
“An allergy is an exaggerated, protective reaction by your immune system to substances that are typically harmless, such as pollen, pet dander, or certain foods.”
The body is kinda weird right?
Let’s forget about allergies for now. What do you think happens when you fall sick?
Let’s take Ms. Cell to demonstrate the biology behind a simple infection and how your body fights it.
The immune response-
Cause we all got a nerd inside us don’t we?
- So continuing from Ms. Cell
- She’s chilling as you can see right here 😉
- A bacteria comes in and says hi, let’s name him Mr. Bratty
- These antenna-like projections that you see on these cells are called “receptors”. The receptors are basically these big banners that all cells carry around with themselves that let’s other cells know who they are (let’s just say they like to carry around their CV with them all the time, not necessarily looking for jobs though)
- Ms. Cell panics, as any normal cell would in the face of death (in the case of some viral attacks, human cells might even get “possessed” and work like zombies to create more viruses; would prefer death over that in my humble opinion)
- But fret not, cause we also have macrophages, our “bodyguards” that are always circulating inside the body fluids and tissue.
- Their job is to bind onto the receptors of all cells, confirm that it is in fact a human cell and move on to the next one.
- You’ll now see that it’s Mr. Bratty that needs to start worrying about his safety.
- Mr. Bodyguard comes and gives Bratty a biiiiiig hug; engulfing the latter.
- Bratty gets minced into tiny antigen particles ( antigen refers to any particle that does not belong to the body and elicits an immune response)
- Because Bratty is now minced meat, Mr. Bodyguard informs his boss; the lymphocyte, how good of a job he has done. ( lymphocytes are responsible for the actual immune response inside the body, they completely digest the antigen particle)
- Lymphocyte gives his subordinate, the macrophage, a pat on the back and takes it from here.
- The digested antigen particles attach to the antigen sites on the lymphocyte body.
- Multiple complex reactions later, the bacteria is completely destroyed.
- Woah, what ride. Ms. Cell takes a sigh of relief and goes on about her day.
Let me break it down-
The answer lies in the “multiple complex reactions” that we just mentioned above.
15.When Mr. Bratty (or in this case, his pitiful fragments) reach the final boss (lymphocyte), the boss goes to another group of cells, mast cells.
Now mast cells are like the digestive fluid that gets released in the stomach when we eat something.
Here we can associate the food we eat with the bacterial remains that the mast cells digest.
16.The mast cells release a variety of fluids into the blood that attack directly on the bacterial matter and also cause inflammation (swelling in the body), fever, and,coming back to grandpa, sneezing 😉
That’s a lot of cells right? It confuses everyone in the beginning.
Let’s just recap so that we understand this better.
Circling back to grandpa
Now lets come back to why grandad wont stop sneezing and scaring the life out of us every time he does so. We can diagnose grandpa with having what we call a pollen allergy, or as doctors refer to it, “seasonal allergic rhinitis”
Now you might ask, pollen isn’t really a pathogen, is it? They don’t seem to cause disease in the majority of the population. So why choose grandpa.
That’s because grandpa’s body reads pollen as just another ‘bacterium/virus’ that’s here to cause havoc inside the body.
Now because the body doesn’t seem to like the pollen as much, an aggressive battle against the ‘pathogen’ is initiated.
The various fluids released by the mast cells that we just mentioned include “histamines”, “serotonins” , and other inflammatory juices.
Symptoms
Inflammatory juices here refers to those secretions that generate a response towards the allergy; leading to
- irritation,
- itching,
- redness,
- fever
- excessive sneezing. (in grandpa’s case)
Some other manifestations to allergic pathogens include
- Swelling
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea
- Tongue swelling
- Light headedness
Why, why? Tell em that it’s human nature…
Let’s discuss why allergies exist.
- Environment
Exposure to a particular set of allergens like pollutants, pollen, dust, factory smoke.
Fun fact: dogs and cats living alongside humans seem to develop allergies just like their human counterparts, whereas chimps and gorillas (primates) living in the wild seem to lead life without experiencing anything close to an allergy (even though they are evolutionarily closer to us than cats and dogs)
- Temperature and exercise
Some people are seen to be allergic to their own sweat!
- Genetics
It could all just boil down to your family tree. If your grandmother was allergic to peanuts, it could explain why you can’t seem to ever eat a snickers bar without having a swollen tongue 5 mins later.
- “Hygienic hypothesis”
The incidence of many allergic diseases is increasing in developed countries and seems to be related to a decrease in infections during early life.
Clinical trials have shown that infants exposed to peanuts early on in their life experience reduced chances of developing an allergy later.
AllegIES, as in, plural?!?!
Types of allergies
- Drug
Some patients find themselves being allergic to penicillin, a common antibacterial drug that may be used in a bacterial infection.
Other drugs include, Aspirin, Insulin, anti seizure drugs etc.
- Foods
Includes
- Peanuts
- Eggs
- Milk
- Fish
- Soy
- Wheat
Might be one of the most irritating allergies to live with in my opinion, cause what do you mean i gotta read all the ingredients before buying a pack of chips.
Interesting case: Shiv Sewlal on YouTube is a content creator who lives with over 40+ allergies! Check out her YouTube channel.
- Pets
A very depressing reality to not be able to pet any random cat or dog you see on the street. Usually occurs due to the patient being allergic to the fur rather than the whole existence of the pet.
- Skin
A really common one so let’s talk a bit more extensively about it
Types-
- Hives/ urticaria
Some of the symptoms of hives include:
- The dermis (the deeper layer of the skin) becomes swollen due to the expansion of blood vessels.
- Lips get swollen
- Itching is common
- May notice respiratory symptoms, such as a runny nose, wheezing, and breathing difficulty along with skin manifestations.
- May notice heaviness in the chest and abdominal pain
- Atopic dermatitis/ eczema
The person experiences severe itching and inflammation of the skin.
Dry, itchy, and red skin constitute the most common symptoms. A person with atopic dermatitis experiences severe itching.
Scratching in response to it only worsens the skin inflammation, in addition to worsening the itch itself.
Here’s a YouTuber, Remi, who documents her life with eczema, and how she was able to reverse much of the damage by bringing changes to her lifestyle.
- Contact dermatitis
due to exposure to an irritant or allergy-causing substance
Irritant Contact Dermatitis – Caused by exposure to substances that physically damage the skin barrier, such as soaps, detergents, or cleaning chemicals.
Allergic Contact Dermatitis – Occurs when your immune system overreacts to an allergen, such as certain metals, fragrances, or plants like poison ivy.
Symptoms-
- Redness – Inflamed patches of skin that may feel warm to the touch.
- Itching – Persistent or severe itching that can lead to scratching and skin damage.
- Dry or Scaly Skin – Irritated areas may develop a rough or flaky texture.
- Blisters or Oozing – Severe reactions can cause fluid-filled blisters to form.
- Swelling or Cracking – Prolonged exposure can make the affected area swollen, cracked, or painful.
5. Nasal- allergic rhinitis/hay fever/pollen allergy
This is what grandpa has, circling back to him.
- Triggers apart from pollen could be mood spores,dust mites, weeds, plants etc.
- Symptoms of a cold and hay fever are similar, but there are some differences.
- Itchy, red and watery eyes are common with allergies, but not as common with a cold.
- A cold is more likely to cause muscle aches and pain or a fever.
- Another way people can tell the difference is that allergic rhinitis usually has a trigger, like seasons changing etc.
- Allergies often happen at the same time each year, like in spring and late summer, and they start quickly.
- On the other hand, a virus causes a cold and you catch viruses from other people.
- So, you may know it’s a cold if you’ve been around someone with a cold. A cold tends to go away within a week, whereas allergies will stick around until the allergen is out of the air.
Rapid fire round–
- Can grandpa give it to me 😰?
A big fat NO! Since it is an immune response produced by the patient’s own body, it cannot be passed on to anyone else. That cold you caught yesterday front sitting too close to your allergy ridden grandpa might just be cause you have a weak immune system, so don’t blame him
- Once allergic to something, can one lose the allergy?
Yes! If you stay away from the allergen as best as you can, all the antibodies that are developed against the allergen slowly disappear. They might develop again if you’re exposed, but cases have been seen where prolonged “no contact” has led to people getting rid of their allergies altogether.
- What is the typical duration of allergy symptoms?
As long as you are exposed to the allergen, or till you don’t get anti allerguc medications, the symptoms are here to stay.
- Can someone be allergic to things they weren’t allergic to before?
Yup! The body is quite strange like that
- How does one know if they have a food allergy?
Always look out for the common allergy symptoms we talked about earlier. The most conclusive answers are obviously found if you get an allergy test done at your nearby hospital/ allergy clinic.
Source- Quora
Blue to the sky, orange to the thigh! First aid for allergies.
Step 1️⃣ – ok so you need an actual patient for this step.
Step 2️⃣ – read for allergic signs like breathlessness, fainting, swelling in the limbs, redness around the affected area, you need to act fast.
Step 3️⃣- ask someone to call an ambulance.
Step 4️⃣- while we wait for the ambulance, check if anyone, or the patient themselves, has an EpiPen or an auto injector.
They look something like this.
Administer them with the orange part against the side of the thigh (to ensure the needle hits the muscle and not a bone)
Unfortunately, they aren’t common practice in India. Preloaded syringes with antihistamines are used.
Also keep in mind that if the patient is vomiting/ bleeding from the mouth, lay them facing sideways to prevent breathing. Otherwise keep them facing up and laying flat on the ground with legs elevated to maintain circulation.
Step 5️⃣- start administering CPR if they stop showing signs of breathing or movement.
Treat it?
So far we’ve read all about what goes wrong with allergies.
How do we make this right?
- Get the patient tested for allergies to pinpoint the exact cause of the reaction.
- Try to remove the allergen from the surroundings of the patient as best as possible. In grandpa’s case, the family can consider getting an air purifier for the home.
- Consult your doctor and take advice on the medications that could be prescribed to manage symptoms.
- Start immunotherapy.
Happily ever after?
I mean… having to live with something that could potentially off you for an unstipulated amount of time would sure be an adrenaline ride, right?
Haha, it ain’t that serious chat, as long as proper precautions are taken, a person with allergies could lead a pretty normal life.
It’s important that as a good samaratarian, you learn basic first aid for situations like these, in case you do actually land up in one, just in case.
These patients should absolutely not be pushed to the sidelines or prevented from participating in anything. They are just like any other hooman, just with slightly different hardware.
Healthy changes to lifestyle and a positive mindset that can do wonders for your life. Awareness and education about allergies will definitely lead to better management and prognosis by the population.
Might wanna check up on grandpa now, this might be the 17th time he has sneezed today, see ya next time!
