The Secret To Living With Allergies Part 9: What Causes Allergic Reactions?

By Author: Colleen Finnegan
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You may understand that you have allergies and know what things prompt your allergic sensitivities, but do you know what is happening to your body to cause an allergic reaction? This edition of the Allergy Control Products series on "The Secret to Living with Allergies" covers the basics of allergies, allergen exposure, allergic reactions, allergic threshold and allergen load. With this allergy information in mind, you may find it easier to control your allergies and improve your health.

Step 1: What are Seasonal vs. Perennial (or Indoor) Allergies?

Allergic individuals have reactions to substances called allergens, and your body's reaction can vary. Inhalant allergies can affect the nose (allergic rhinitis), the eyes (allergic conjunctivitis) and the chest (asthma). Allergic rhinitis can occur on a seasonal basis or year round. Seasonal allergies are triggered by pollens, trees, molds, and grasses or other sources. You may hear about hayfever, which is a typical seasonal allergic rhinitis condition. Perennial allergies (or "indoor allergies") involve allergic responses to indoor allergen sources ...
... such as dust mite allergens, cat dander or indoor molds. There can be a single allergen source that causes your allergic symptoms, such as a reaction to cat dander, or the problem may stem from a combination of multiple sources (dust mites and pet dander, for example).

Step 2: Understanding Allergen Load and Allergic Threshold

Allergic responses to indoor allergens may not always be as dramatic as reactions stemming from seasonal allergies. An indoor allergy sufferer may experience a variety of symptoms from chronic nasal congestion, runny nose or sneezing to a more severe condition such as asthma. Exposure to all allergens, from seasonal to indoor sources, factors into the severity of your reaction. Ongoing indoor allergy exposure, which results in chronic allergy symptoms, can worsen reactions when exposed to seasonal allergens. As you are exposed to additional allergen sources, your allergen load increases and triggers higher allergic responses.

Your "allergic threshold" relates to your level of allergic sensitivity to any allergen source. Your "allergen load" is the total exposure at a given time to the allergens to which you are sensitive. Think of your allergic threshold as a glass, which can overflow with too much liquid. A small glass (low threshold) can be easily filled and overflow while a larger glass (high threshold) can tolerate a greater amount of liquids. In this analogy, allergens such as pollens, molds, dust mite allergens or pet dander are the liquids, and there may be one or many types of these liquids that cause the overflow. Reducing the number and amount of the liquids can stop the overflow. Similarly, reducing your allergen load by decreasing the amount and variety of allergens that you encounter will prevent an overflow or the resulting reaction. In order to obtain allergy relief, it's important to take steps designed to stop the overflow of allergy exposure in order to decrease your allergic reactions.

Step 3: The IgE Antibody: Understanding What Causes Allergic Reactions to Occur

For an allergy sufferer, an allergic response begins with exposure to an allergen. Allergy symptoms may not begin immediately, as the time in which an individual becomes increasingly sensitive to an allergen source will vary. The period of sensitization can vary greatly, from a few weeks to decades. Many people do not become sensitized until after years of exposure. Allergies may seem to come "out of the blue," but the truth is that your sensitivity may have been growing for some time until ultimately, exposure causes allergy symptoms.

Your body is equipped with a type of cell called a mast cell. Mast cells are present in the nose and airways. As the body becomes sensitized over time to a specific type of allergen (such as cat dander), it produces antibodies such as an IgE antibody. Immunoglobulin E antibodies, or IgE antibodies, are specific to particular allergens. For allergy sufferers, these IgE antibodies accumulate with exposure to allergens and attach to the mast cells.

Typically, antibodies are considered as the body's defense mechanism when fighting against infection. However, for allergy sufferers, the immune response occurs when exposed to an allergen that many people can tolerate without difficulty. For an allergy sufferer, the IgE antibodies recognize the allergen when exposure occurs and are produced against these allergens. Each time exposure occurs to these allergens, the allergen particle connects with the IgE antibodies causing an allergic reaction. The mast cell releases chemical mediators, such as histamine and leukotrienes, causing the familiar symptoms of sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes and/or tightness of the airways.

Step 4: Keep Allergy Exposure Down to Minimize Allergic Reactions

Once IgE antibodies accumulate, the result is an allergic sensitivity to an allergen source. The degree of sensitivity and resulting reaction vary. A highly sensitive allergy sufferer will react and have symptoms with every exposure. People with lower sensitivity require higher exposure to trigger symptoms. Again, this sensitivity relates to an individual's allergic threshold. Keeping exposure to allergens that easily exceed your allergic threshold is important for minimizing allergic reactions. Equally important is keeping your allergen load low, which requires minimizing your total exposure to allergen sources in order to prevent the 'overflow' and avoid triggering symptoms.
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