What is Allergy

You have an allergy when something you eat or breathe or even feel can make it seem that you have some kind of disease. The kind of allergy that is known best, and that may trouble the most people, is called hay fever. When a person with hay fever breathes in air that has the pollen of certain grasses and flowers floating in it, he will sneeze and his nose will run and he will have fevers and it will seem that he has a bad cold. But he does not have a cold. He is simply allergic to the pollen in the air. Filter the pollen out of the air he breathes and he will stop sneezing, his nose will stop running, and he will not have a fever any more. Different people are allergic to different things. Some people seem not to be allergic to anything. No one knows, yet, what causes allergies.

All that is known is that they exist. Strawberries can make one person's lips swell or his eyes puff out. A new puppy in the house may cause another person to cough or to itch. Even the fear of reciting in public might make your skin break out as if you had touched poison ivy. When a person is allergic to something, eating or touching it will probably cause his body to produce large amounts of histamine. There is a separate article about HISTAMINE in a later volume. It is a substance produced by the body, and it can make the skin itch or the nose run or the stomach feel upset. Some people are allergic to certain medicines, such as penicillin or aspirin. A skin doctor, called a dermatologist, can test to see what sort of thing you might be allergic to.

He puts a number of different patches on your skin. Each patch has a little of a different substance on it. After a few days the doctor takes the patches off, and your skin will show if you are allergic to any of those substances. There are several drags that have been developed to help people who suffer from allergies. They do not work on everyone, but the doctor will usually try one or more of them, and often one can be found to help the person who has an allergy.