How Do Allergies Work?
February 28, 2010 by admin
Filed under Allergy Questions
What the biological mecanism behind allergy?
How many times must one be exposed to a component to develop an allergy?
On what level do allergies work, molecular or macromolecular? For example is allergy to milk, an allergy to one chemical compound, lactose for example, or is it an allergy to milk in itself?
Thanks to all answerers
You raised some very good questions and I will do my best to give the most complete and accurate answers.
What is the biological mechanism behind allergy?
allergic reactions are caused by an abnormal and hypersensitive immune response to a normally benign substance within the environment.
An allergic person’s immune system believes allergens to be damaging and so produces a special type of antibody (IgE) to attack the invading material. This leads other blood cells to release further chemicals (including histamine) which together cause the symptoms of an allergic reaction.
On what level do allergies work, molecular or macromolecular?
The answer is both but they are not the same for every person.An person may have lactose intolerance which is not an allergy to milk but rather Lactose intolerance occurs when the body cannot easily digest lactose, the kind of sugar found in milk and dairy products.
A true milk allergy involves an immune response to the IGE protein in milk.
A milk intolerance or a food intolerance is a gastrointestinal sensitivity to a protein found in a food substance and does not provoke an immune response.