• Question: where do alergies come from?

    Asked by 953utec48 to Alison, Hannah, Jonny, MarthaNari, Paul on 21 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Alison Whitaker

      Alison Whitaker answered on 21 Jun 2015:

      Allergies, as with so many things, affect us because of a genetic/environmental combination. In order to have an allergic reaction, you need to have the potential for allergy programmed in your genes. It is then triggered by environmental conditions. In some people this is easily done, and can be very serious if they cause the windpipe to inflame, and in some people (like me) allergies can be quite minor but varied, and can be triggered by cat hair to flowers to cleaning products to perfumes. Allergies are an oversensitivity of your immune response. White blood cells perceive the allergen (the cat hair or peanut) as a significant threat and go mad trying to expel the allergen. This is why we get itchy or sneezy.

      You can find out more about allergies here: https://www.allergyuk.org/what-is-causing-your-allergy/what-is-causing-your-allergy

    • Photo: Paul Brack

      Paul Brack answered on 26 Jun 2015:

      Here’s a bit more information, if you want to get into the detail: http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/allergies_immune/allergies.html

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