Allergies

Allergies are the body’s overreaction to harmless foreign substances. Your body has an immune system that is based on telling the difference between you and everything that is not you. This is a great system for dealing with invaders such as viruses, bacteria, parasites, toxins, etc. “Hey you, I don’t recognize you. Get outta here!”

The body “gets them outta here” by producing extra mucus (runny nose) flushing out the points of entry (watery eyes, sneezing), and possibly swelling areas of entrance to get more blood in the area to eliminate the intruder (such as a swollen bee sting).

In this way, your body is a little bit like a small mountain town where everybody knows everybody. If you lived in this town and one day saw an unfamiliar man, you would know right away that he is an “outsider.” But here’s the thing–just because someone is an outsider doesn’t necessarily mean they are there to terrorize the town, right? But if you have never seen an unfamiliar face in your entire life, odds are you are going to overreact and assume the worst, especially if you feel that the safety of your town is at stake. (Have you seen the first Rambo movie? It’s a lot like that… well, sort of.)

This analogy is even better because allergies are strongest in people whose bodies are very sheltered, like our small mountain town. If your body isn’t normally exposed to pet hair, dust, and pollen, then when you are exposed to such things, your body will sound all the alarms as if this foreign material is a real threat to your body and health.

And guess what! People who are exposed to these things when their immune systems are young and figuring things out rarely develop allergies to them. Back to the town: if your small mountain town has great outdoor sporting activities, and therefore gets tourists fairly often, the townsfolk won’t freak out and put every unfamiliar face in jail for no reason!

Why are allergies so common these days? Again, people whose immune systems aren’t exposed to these allergens (friendly tourists) overreact when they are exposed to them later. Why aren’t people being exposed to pet hair, dust, and pollen as often? Well, because of our obsession with hygiene, mostly. Most parents don’t let their baby play on a dusty floor or around a shaggy dog. Children aren’t growing up on farms any more, near lots of different plants (and pollen) and many different kinds of animals. We are becoming increasingly sanitized, and we think raising children in sterilized houses is the best way to keep them healthy. It may not sound right, but letting children play outside and get a little dirty is the best way to avoid their developing allergies. Now, you can get too much of a good thing, so letting babies play in sewer isn’t what I’m suggesting here.

Can allergies be dangerous? Yes. If someone is extremely allergic to something, the body’s overreaction goes beyond watery eyes and a runny nose to more severe swelling. The skin will get swollen to the point that eyes are swollen shut and possibly the throat as well. If a person dies from an allergic reaction, it means the swelling was so intense, he or she couldn’t breathe and suffocated. This kind of reaction is seen with food allergies or allergens that are injected into the bloodstream, such as a bee sting. If you or someone you know is having an intense allergic reaction with swelling and hives, go to the emergency room. An allergy can become life-threatening faster than you might think.

Allergies are a combination of genetic and environmental factors, and they can change throughout your life. Some people develop food allergies in their 20s. Some people had food allergies as children that just went away. Your body’s reaction to these invaders can’t always be predicted.

If only we could have brunch with our immune system and assure them over their cup of coffee that it’s really not necessary to lose their cool every time they see someone they don’t know. But your immune system is just being overprotective. If you really think about it, it’s kind of sweet.