Allergies happen, but why? What causes our bodies to either start sneezing, throwing up or going into anaphylactic shock? What even is anaphylactic shock? These are all questions that anyone with – and without – allergies have asked at least once in their lives, if not more than once. These questions are mostly just brushed off with the basic answer that allergies are just your body rejecting a food item or, in many cases, a type of pollen. The real question still remains: Why? Why do these allergies happen, what causes them in the first place, and, most of all, how can we combat them? 

Allergies, in accordance with the half-hearted explanation we all got as kids, are in fact a reaction that your body is having to the foods and environmental factors. Before we understand allergies, it is important to understand the place they start: the immune system. The immune system is in charge of keeping our body healthy and keeping us safe from harmful bacteria and fungi. The immune system is mostly composed of the lymphoid organ. The spleen, blood vessels, bone marrow and tonsils are just some of the lymphoid organs that help keep our bodies safe. Now that we know about the immune system, it is going to be easier to understand the reason we react to allergies. According to a Johns Hopkins Medicine article, it leads to the immune system “over react by producing antibodies that ‘attack’ the allergen.”  This happens because the immune system incorrectly identifies whatever it is that is entering your body, whether it be pollen or foods, as a threat. Allergies can be gained either through ingestion or by inhalation. For example, Johns Hopkins Medicine explains: “Common allergic reactions, such as hay fever, certain types of asthma, and hives are linked to an antibody produced by the body called immunoglobulin E (IgE). Each IgE antibody can be very specific, reacting against certain pollen and other allergens. In other words, a person can be allergic to one type of pollen, but not another.” Now that we know how they enter our bodies and why they impact us in the way that they do, it is important that we know what we can do to prevent them from progressing. The best way to treat them by far is just to avoid the things that cause it (this may be very obvious, but it goes even for the little things). Especially if your allergies are serious enough to cause anaphylaxis, which is a life-threatening reaction to certain allergens causing body tissues to swell, including tissues in the throat. Avoiding foods can be especially hard, as cross contamination exists everywhere and can be very hard to be fully sure that there is nothing contaminating your food but it is a good habit to just pass on the iffy foods. According to Cleveland Clinic you can also use: “Allergy immunotherapy and a steroid nasal spray” just to name a few as well as always carry an “EpiPen® or Auvi-Q®” as stated by Cleveland Clinic.

By Tvesha Patel ‘27, Science Editor

27tpatel@montroseschool.org