Allergies
Allergies manifest as an acute physical reaction to a common substance. Your immune system confuses this common substance (any Allergen) as a harmful substance.
Allergic reaction and sensitivity can show itself to almost anything. You may come into contact with allergies by:
- breathing (pollen, mold, dust mites or funghi)
- touch animals - eg. bee sting & plant stings
- food you eat
- food you drink
Physical allergic reaction can be small to severe. It may be a sneezing fit. The worst is an anaphylactic shock, which requires immediate medical intervention. A common example is symptoms from eating peanuts. These will become apparent within a couple of minutes. Intolerances may take days (eg. a rash, discoloured skin) to show.
Research continues into what the causes. The precise reasons for reactions are not clearly known apart from the broad understanding that a body's inability to produce enzymes to breakdown and digest certain substances does cause allergic reactions.
What is known is that a combination of the following characteristics contribute strongly to Allergies:
- genetic make-up
- surroundings and general environment
- choice of food
- general health & well-being
- antibiotic use
- stressful lifestyle