Allergy - Learn About Allergies and The Relationship To Food

Allergies are the hypersensitive response of the body to foreign substances. These foreign substances are called antigens, which stimulate the body to produce antibodies, whose normal function is to combat antigens by destroying them or otherwise making them harmless. In allergic individuals, for poorly understood reasons, the body's antibody defense mechanism goes awry and injures the body instead of protecting it. The most familiar allergies are hay fever and asthma, which are caused by a wide variety of inhaled pollens, dusts, and other agents. However, food can also be a cause of allergic reactions. Food does not often cause allergic reactions. Food allergies are more common in infants than in older children and adults, probably because the infant's immature digestive tract permits more ready absorption of offending food molecules. Manifestations of food allergies in adults are usually of the immediate kind, including hives, angioderma, eczema, gastrointestinal disorders, and general systemic reactions of the anaphylactic type. Systemic reactions occur quickly after eating. They are most frequently caused by legumes, nuts, seafoods (especially shellfish), and berries, but carbohydrates, fats, food additives, and contamination by drugs may be implicated. In infants and children, eczema is the prominent manifestation, and the most frequent causative agents include milk, wheat, eggs, fish, and soybean products. Food allergies are diagnosed on the basis of the patient's allergic history together with trial eliminations of suspected foods from the patient's diet. Skin tests and tests for antibodies in serum are less significant, because the hypersensitive reaction may be provoked by the breakdown of products of the food resulting from digestion, and not by the food itself. The management of food allergy is based mainly on the avoidance of the offending foods. An antihistamine taken before a meal may be helpful if a food to which one is allergic is to be eaten. Food allergies in children tend to lessen or disappear with age, but the anaphylactic types manifested in adults do not usually improve over time. Discover how you can naturally and safely free yourself from the annoying symptoms of allergies. Sign-up to get this FREE natural allergy remedy info-kit today. http://AllergyandAsthmaTreatment.com Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Herrington Allergy - Help I Am Allergic To Posion Ivy If you are allergic to poison ivy then you suffer from allergies Type 1 or contact allergies. Up to 90 percent of people are allergic to the urushiol oil that causes the poison ivy rash. Over half of the population will experience a rash with the first contact of the poison ivy plant and is considered the most common allergy in the country. Symptoms of poison ivy allergy is a severe itching of the skin that later develop into an inflammation of the skin. Red oozing sores or blisters can develop in sever cases and the fluid will have a slight yellowish color. Some of us can roll in poison ivy and come out without any problems, while others can merely brush up against a few leaves of the stuff and they are scratching for weeks. In most cases, allergies are more annoying that debilitating but to the extreme allergy suffers life can be pure misery or even death. Just because you do not develop systems the first few times you come into contact with poison ivy does not mean that you are immune. It may take several exposures to poison ivy before symptoms develop. The more times you are exposed to the usushiol the more likely it is that you will break out in a rash. Symptoms usually occur within 2 to 3 days. It only take 1 billionth of a gram to cause the rash. 1/4 of an ounce of urushiol is all that is needed to cause a rash in every person on earth. The usushiol oil can still be found on dead poison ivy plants for up to five years. Direct contact is the most common way of catching poison ivy however, you can catch poison ivy by just being close to the plants if the urushiol oil becomes airborne due to the plants are being burned, like in a forest fire, or because of the actions of a lawnmower or weed trimmer. Scratching or rubbing the rashes will not spread the poison ivy rash unless you still have the urushiol oil on your hands. This also means that poison ivy is not contagious and you will not be able to give it to another person. Scratching can lead to scaring and infection of the affected area so it is not recommended. Over the years I have developed poison ivy rash numerous times and I have tried many different treatments and I have found only two treatments that work for me. The first is with my Doctor giving me a steroid shot of Prednisone. Symptoms usually start to improve within 24 hours. The second treatment is one that I have never found documented anyplace else. Back in the early 60s an old country doctor told me of this treatment. Go to your pharmacy and get a solution of 5 percent carbolic acid in olive oil. Rub the solution on the rash. Within minutes you will see a yellowish fluid appearing on top of the red sores or blisters. Mop up the fluid and when no more fluid develops after several minutes reapply the carbolic acid in olive oil solution. This treatment will start to relieve the symptoms with an hour or two but will take 1 to 2 weeks to cure the poison ivy rash. The carbolic acid in olive oil solution seems to act as some type of drawing agent and I have successfully used it on bee stings and insect bites. Leave of three then let them be. Always consult your doctor before using this information. This Article is nutritional in nature and is not to be construed as medical advice.