Allergy is a very present concept in our lives, perhaps due to the frequency of its manifestations. This article is an approach to its nature and most frequent causes, as well as to clarify some concepts that I believe erroneous with respect to it.
The word allergy has its origin in two Greek words: “A elós” which means different or contrary and “ergon” which means movement, no sense where a thing moves. Therefore we can say that allergy means “Movement different and/or contrary to normal”. In the case of the allergy that we know, this movement is usually by excess (hyper-*ergia) and not by defect (hypo-*ergia).
We can define it as a state of hypersensitivity caused by different factors, affecting both the emotional and physical spheres, and it is through the physical manifestations that the diagnosis is reached, usually in the form of reactions of the skin, respiratory and digestive apparatus. The latest advances on the innermost mechanisms of allergy point to a hyper-reactivity of the Immune System (IS). It seems that certain substances specific to the IS are found in large quantities and very active in the tissues that present the reactions that we call allergic. A substance manufactured by the body called Histamine is also found in large quantities as a consequence of this excess of immune activity.
Factors that cause allergies
Allergic reactions are caused by the sum of several factors. Firstly, there is hereditary predisposition. Allergies are observed in people with a family history of certain diseases such as migraines, tendency to respiratory processes, digestive intolerances and, in some cases, tuberculosis.
Secondly, and as a more immediate cause, it is necessary to observe the character and way of facing life of each individual (personality) that will influence in a determining way the experience of the challenges of life, changes, traumas, stress, family problems, relationship, work or school that have to provoke emotional alterations.
Immunology has already been able to determine the direct relationship between emotional alterations and those of the Immune System (IS). For these phenomena to occur, it is necessary to have some sensitive areas that only individuals with certain personalities will have. Therefore the cause is always the person.
In these processes we find environmental factors such as the presence of substances that are called allergenic and that can be the ones that trigger a crisis; external or added factors among which we will find food, chemical medications, vaccinations, etc. These are the triggering factors or circumstances that can improve or worsen the process.
How allergic reactions occur
When the organism, due to any of the causal factors mentioned above, enters into a state that we would qualify as stress, be it due to work, emotional, family, social, economic or physical situations, a series of disorders are produced that affect all of its metabolic, endocrine or Neurovegetative Nervous System functions, but in the case of allergies, the most important disorder is produced at the level of the Immune System, as I have already pointed out.
These disorders consist of an excess of activity of different factors and cells that carry to the blood substances that are fixed to the mucous membranes both respiratory and digestive or skin, producing an inflammation that predisposes them to react in an exaggerated way to the presence or contact of those substances to which each individual is especially sensitive.
Therefore we can now say that allergic diseases can be qualified as autoimmune diseases, caused by substances and cells generated in the body itself and not by external factors.
Which agents are allergens
We already know that allergy is a state, therefore, we can be allergic to any circumstance or substance to which our body becomes sensitive.
The substances that most frequently trigger allergic reactions are called allergens, allergy triggers, and among the most “famous” for their frequency are dust mites and a variety of pollens, as well as certain chemical drugs and foods.
However, it is easy to understand that the allergy is not due to these allergens but to the state of sensitivity that the body has developed to them.
How to identify an allergy
One of the usual practices in the study of allergic conditions is to perform a series of tests to determine which substances each person is particularly sensitive to in order to be able to carry out desensitization therapy through vaccines.
The idea of performing these tests stems from the concept that the affected person must be isolated from the substances to which he or she is sensitive, in addition to other symptom-suppressing treatments.
The validity of these tests, however, is limited and often unreliable due to a number of circumstances:
- It is quite impossible to test all the substances to which the person is in contact.
- The system of inoculation under the skin of substances that usually connect with the person by other routes often produces false positive results.
- It is frequent that people with clear symptoms of suffering an allergy give negative to allergic tests.
- The sensitivity of the individual may vary over time to different stimuli.
- There are a number of stimuli that provoke allergy such as humidity, cold, alone or emotional impressions, for example, which are unquantifiable.