Saturday, November 29, 2008

Information On Common Allergies and Symptoms

By Gift Mabuza

An allergy is a condition in which the body tends to react due to hypersensitivity to some substance such as food, drugs, drinks, pollution, flowers, and others. An allergen could be anything under the sun that might cause a reaction in one's body if the body disagrees with that substance and even a common thing such as sunlight and air might cause severe reactions in some if the skin is susceptible to allergies due to the same.

Some of the most common allergies are caused by food which can be very serious; probably the most notorious of these foodstuffs is nuts, especially peanuts. This allergic reaction to food extends even further with everyday products such as soy, rice and milk also causing problems but these are just the better known substances.

Food allergies can cause an allergic reaction very quickly in the victim as they affect the body's immune system, but breathing in particular is the biggest problem with a few people actually allergic to chocolate. Fish and other types of seafood can also have an adverse effect and some people put themselves at risk knowing they have a allergy but enjoy the food so much they still eat it.

Food allergies often cause reactions which are seen initially as redness, itchy areas of skin and other irritations often quite common to the family of citrus fruits. Reactions to peanuts can be life threatening and warnings are placed on almost every food product if peanuts or their oil is used in the manufacture and is the most useful of all allergies to take as reactions happen very quickly.

Although flowers are beautiful, even these can prove harmful to those individuals susceptible to their pollen, causing respiratory problems and even damage to the airways. This is another situation where allergy testing is advised because although the flowers may be removed from the room or premises it still needs to be proved that the flowers are responsible for the allergy.

Where a person has an allergic reaction to particular drugs, rashes and other skin problems can be the result but more worrying is where the reactions are internal and may not be seen for some time. As far as drugs are concerned it is normally the ingredient sulfur that causes the allergic reaction so this must be considered before and further drugs are given.

Although a reaction to nickel is not unusual to most people, a very small number of individuals even have an allergic skin reaction to silver and gold. Metal allergies can cause many skin related symptoms including hives, rashes or the skin turning a deep red in the affected area and even swelling.

Normally, avoiding metals that cause problems is enough but if you have an allergy to any substance, there is every chance it could get worse or even incorporate new substances so taking an allergy test on a regular basis is the best form of prevention.

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