Questions tagged [allergies]

Hypersensitive inflammatory immune responses to environmental components that do not affect most people.

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Can elephants be allergic to peanuts?

Can elephants be allergic to peanuts? If yes, what is the reaction? Does the trunk swell up? I tried googling the issue but the only thing I found was a children's book about Eppie the Elephant. I ...
Selma's user avatar
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How can protein allergens be passed from mother to baby via breastmilk is proteins are broken down after ingestion?

All over the Internet new mothers are urged to avoid dairy products, a slew of vegetables and even beef if their child displays symptoms of reflux. In the case of dairy, for instance, it is said that ...
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Is there evidence that children should play in dirt to get healthy?

I've heard it said many times, that we should let children play in the dirt as it builds up their immunity and prevents things like allergies in later life. I have another suggestion which, to me, is ...
zooby's user avatar
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Why don't allergies cause fever?

Allergy To my understanding, an allergy is a hypersensitivity of the immune system causing a substance in the environment to be identified as pathogenic by the immune system while it is not ...
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Allergy desensitization: what is the mechanism? Could it happen with other immune responses? [closed]

Allergy is a type of immune response against an otherwise harmless substance. If I understand it well, the aim of allergy immunotherapy is not to stimulate an immune response like the immunotherapy ...
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Is it logical for someone to be allergic to the water molecule, but be perfectly fine with drinking milk since it's only 87% water molecules? [closed]

Recently this article got into the tabloids. The comments were disabled very quickly. Strange. The authos says she has Aquagenic Urticaria but it is a skin condition not an allergy, and hence wouldn'...
Willy150's user avatar
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Exactly what biochemical factors control the intensity of an allergic reaction?

I think have a functional understanding of how an allergic reaction (Type I Hyper Sensitivity) occurs: basically the allergen causes production of antibodies that attach to mast cells and basophils. ...
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Why do alpha-gal allergies only occur after a tick bite if alpha-gal is already present in red meat?

I just read an NPR article about allergies to red meat being caused by tick bites. That stood out to me because I thought allergies are triggered by an initial exposure to some allergen. In this case, ...
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Allergy vs. Immunity

What is the difference between these two phenomena in our organism: allergy and immunity? Both cause producing of antibodies which struggle against antigens. Is it true, that allergy always leads to ...
Artem Zefirov's user avatar
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What determines which symptoms an allergen will cause? [closed]

Allergies result in many different symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, coughing, rashes, swelling of the face, stomach pain, vomiting, dry skin, anaphylaxis, etc. An allergen can ...
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Why does cut grass cause allergies?

I know that cut grass from a lawn or field can cause allergies in some people. I also know that most plant allergies are due to plant pollen. However, most people do not allow their lawn grass to ...
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Is it possible to be allergic to the yolk of an egg but not the egg white?

At lunch one day, my friend had a hard boiled Easter egg. When he pealed it he squeezed the yolk, or yellow part, of the egg out. I asked him what on earth he was doing and he said, "I'm allergic to ...
Daniel Turczynskyj's user avatar
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Why are vaccines a successful treatment of allergy?

As I understand the answer to Allergic rhinitis vaccine, the vaccine facilitates immune response against the antigen. Given that allergy is an overreaction of the immune system against harmless ...
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Why can Anaphylaxis lead to death?

Why can the immune system kill its host? It is always better to just take up the insect poison, or peanut protein etc. instead to kill the host by preventing the breathing. Is it just a modern ...
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"Treatment" of allergy.

Is there any treatment for allergy? I am not saying about solutions like epi-pen which reduce the symptoms. Is there any way to modify our immunity so that it does not identify the allergens? Can we ...
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Do allergens have structural similarities to pathogens?

The conventional popular explanation of allergies is that the immune system confuses allergens with pathogens and reacts to them as such. Is there any merit to this explanation? If so, I would ...
Joshua Meyers's user avatar
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Allergies - congenital situations or created and developed over the years? [closed]

This is probably an easy question, but I've yet to find an answer. Recently I felt under the weather more and more often, especially at the time I was waking up. I assumed this was an allergy-related ...
bergercookie's user avatar
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What chemicals/substances exist in green capsicum (peppers) that do not exist in red capsicum?

I have known 3 people in my life that have incredibly adverse reactions (one called it an "allergy" and his symptoms did resemble such) to consuming any form of green pepper (capsicum) but have no ...
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Which ingested allergens can be transferred to a partner via bodily fluids?

Can some allergens, such as peanut traces, appear in bodily fluids (saliva, sweat, semen, vaginal secretion) after ingestion? I would like to know in particular intake of which allergens should be ...
Sparkler's user avatar
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Can Allergy and Auto-immune diseases be the signs of hyper-vigilant immune system?

Allergy sufferers are much less likely to get some types of cancers. Theories regarding allergy - cancer link are mixed. Many say it is due to hyper-sensitive immune response. But the correlation ...
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How is tolerance to an allergen developed?

My question is mainly about how allergy shots work. I did some basic research before posting here, however I could not find an explanation of what occurs at a cellular level. Is it the persistance ...
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Why is the penicillin/ceftriaxone hypersensitivity test only done once?

I have had a severe bacterial infection. I was prescribed ceftriaxone, and when the time came for injecting it the nurse asked me whether I have an allergy to ceftriaxone. I answered that it's my ...
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Oral allergy syndrom, continuation of continuous consumption of allergen

Wikipedia states on its page that In addition, patients are advised to avoid the triggering foods, particularly nuts. And same thing goes for webmd.com The basic rule: If a food makes you ...
David Mulder's user avatar
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Do sweat pores change diameter?

In Cholinergic Urticaria, some people believe that the itching which is generally more in winters might be because that the diameter of sweat pores is less due to less activity(less sweat production) ...
azam's user avatar
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Proteins in Milk, Oat , Eggs and Soy

I have read that there are proteins in oat which are similar to those in soy, milk and eggs. I know nothing about biochemistry, and I'm struggling to decipher the info i find.. the closest Ive got to ...
Jeni Kelly's user avatar
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4k views

Is it possible to train allergic resistance by exposing yourself to allergens?

My hypothesis is that one can decrease the allergic reactions over time by continuously exposing yourself to slowly increasing doses of allergens. Is there any scientific evidence pointing this right ...
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What makes substances allergenic?

Is it possible to tell or rule out (potentially a priori) whether any given substance or compound is likely and how likely to cause allergies with high confidence, without the need to conduct ...
Arc's user avatar
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Are we more/less resistant to infectious diseases during an allergic reaction?

To my understanding, an allergic response is a non-adaptive response of the immune system to some molecule. The molecule in question is therefore "thought by the immune system" to be infectious ...
Remi.b's user avatar
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Food allergen-related skin reactions and intestinal inflammation?

Are there any connections between food allergen-related skin reactions causing intestinal (or more broadly, gastrointestinal) generalized inflammation? If such a link exists, is it related to any of ...
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1 answer
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When does exposure to an allergen increase / decrease allergy?

In immunotherapy a person is regularly exposed to an allergen to decrease the allergy. Yet apparently "repeated intranasal challenges ... induces robust allergic airway inflammation, " [0] So when ...
experi_mental's user avatar
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What is the beneficial function of IgE antibody?

Dont tell me the "function" of IgE is to cause allergy ! In whatever texts I have seen it is written that IgE is important to cause allergies but what is the beneficial function of IgE ? Why was it ...
biogirl's user avatar
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Is nutrient absorption different in Hypersensitive I patients?

I am thinking how the nutrient absorption differs between between patients with allergies (Hypersensitivity I) and those not. The current guideline about number of eggs in diet is one daily ...
Léo Léopold Hertz 준영's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
436 views

Allergic rhinitis vaccine

Note : Any answer to this question will not be (and should not be) taken as medical advice. One of my friends has allergic rhinitis and has been prescribed an oral vaccine. He is allergic to 3 ...
biogirl's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
697 views

How does injecting low doses of allergens cure allergies?

Allergy shots (aka. allergen immunotherapy) help people adapt to allergens by injecting a gradually increasing doses of one or more allergens. Does this procedure tell the body that this allergen is ...
dayuloli's user avatar
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Meat and mushroom allergies, why are they so rare?

There are a lot of food allergies, but for some reason not to meat (mammalian meat or poultry) or mushrooms. I've googled a bit, and now I know that one can actually have a meat or mushroom allergy, ...
ftt's user avatar
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13 votes
2 answers
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What is the smallest molecule that can present as an antigen to the immune system in the context of allergies?

People often claim, in a colloquial sense, that they are "allergic to everything". Is it possible to have a full-fledged IgE mediated allergic response to very small molecules? I was always under ...
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What causes peanut allergies?

Surveys show that 0.6 percent of the US population has an allergic reaction to peanuts. This prevalent allergy has even prompted some to ban peanuts from schools altogether. I am completely ...
LanceLafontaine's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
137 views

What Makes A Pet Hypoallergenic

I know you can purchase dog and cat breeds that are hypoallergenic so those who are prone to pet allergies will have reduced allergies or none at all. These breeds are specifically bred for that trait,...
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