History of allergies

History of allergies

In 1906, Clemens von Pirquet was the first to describe allergies as a changed or altered immune system reaction in response to exposure to foreign proteins. Nowadays, the term is taken to denote an exaggerated reaction to foreign substances.

How common are allergies?

Allergies are quite common. About a quarter of people in the United Kingdom have had an allergy at some time in their lives, and many of these are children.

This number is on the rise due to increasingly high levels of pollution, but also perhaps due to obsessive cleanliness that denies the developing immune system a chance to exercise its teeth on really noxious antigens.

As a result, it begins to turn on every strange substance it sees, whether neutral, friend, or foe. This is called the hygiene hypothesis and has found quite a few takers over the past decades.

Another possible contributor to the rise of allergies ยูฟ่าเบท https://ufabet999.app in the general population is the presence of atopy. Atopy is the hereditary tendency to develop allergic reactions like allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis or eczema in individuals who hyper-react to inhaled or food allergens.

Allergies and their complications are expensive. Allergies are the sixth most significant cause of chronic disease in the United States. Yearly allergies cost an estimated $18 Billion.

Types of allergen

Allergens that may be life-threatening in allergic individuals are usually harmless in the non-allergic. Common allergens include:

  • mold spores growing in damp spaces
  • house dust mites
  • grass and tree pollen
  • pet hair or skin flakes
  • food allergens, mainly from nuts, fish and shellfish, soy, and eggs

Skin allergens or contact allergens include:

  • latex
  • nickel
  • rubber
  • preservatives
  • dyes like hair dyes

Other allergens include bee or wasp stings, drugs like sulfonamides and penicillin antibiotics, aspirin and prostaglandin inhibitors, and some anesthetics.

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