What Causes Allergies?

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Imagine going to a cafeteria and ordering food. As you take a bite into your meal, you notice a strange tingling in your throat. A rash forms on your skin. Nothing seems to concern you. As you continue eating, breathing becomes increasingly difficult. Your throat has swelled up. You panic and grab your epinephrine autoinjector and inject yourself. If you were too late, your body would've gone into shock and could have even died. Instead, you return to normal and realized the food you ate contained an allergen you were sensitive to. This slight mistake could have ended your life if you did not have your epipen. This reaction is common to people who have allergies. Perhaps only a rash would occur or just a slight swelling of the throat. Allergenic reactions are on the rise. What causes allergies and why have so many people been diagnosed with allergies? The basic answer is insufficient training of the immune system. What is thought to be insufficient training? Prior to this rise in allergies and life in the 21st and 20th century, cleanliness was not the main issue towards allergies. Society did not have the hypercleanliness attitude that it does today. Children played outdoors, became dirty, and antiseptic products were not rampant in households. Life seemed more natural than it does today. Today, society appreciates the advances in technology for the household well being and the individual well being. Hand sanitizers took the place of soaps, antibiotics took the reign in place of a natural immune response. This shift towards technology and advances has put a damper on our immune system and it's capabilities of fighting antigen. The preferred training of the immune system during adolescence has shifted from the T-helper 1 response... ... middle of paper ... ...g of the immune system during adolescence. Numerous studies have been executed that both supports portions of this statement and negates sections as well. However, the studies that negate some portion generally fortifies the theory as a whole. For example, even with proper training of the immune system, tolerance was not achieved due to atopic individuals. These individuals are genetically predisposed to certain antigens thus sufficient training would not take place. Fortunately, methods for training of the immune system are under way. Immunotherapy has been implemented before that has completely rerouted the immune system of an individual from a T helper 2 response to a T helper 1 response. Allergies may be on the rise due to society's ideals of hyper-clean environments, but implementation of sufficient immune system training will deter the extremes of allergies.

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