Allergy Causes & Risk Factors - OmniMedicalSearch.com

Conditions & Diseases: Lung & Respiratory Diseases & Disorders

Bronchitis

Causes & Risk Factors

Problems with normal immune responses are believed to be the result of both genetic and environmental factors. Children of allergic parents are more likely to have similar allergies though the allergens may differ. [Allergies, 2006] Genetic research is leading scientists to believe that skin and tissue specific genes may be responsible for causing allergy symptoms [NIH, 2000]. Stress and anxiety are acknowledged a common cause of allergic reaction. [Lenzoff, 1997] subjected patients suspected of multiple chemical sensitivities concluded that in some sufferers allergy symptoms might be triggered by their perception of an environmental insult.

Increasing use of chemicals has resulted in introduction of new toxins into the atmosphere. The increase in number of allergy cases during the last decades is often attributed to atmospheric pollution [Bornehag et al, 2004]. Better identification of problem as allergy and not other minor condition such as cold is perhaps also responsible for increased numbers.

Allergy or Cold
A number of symptoms of common cold are also the symptoms of allergy. It is not unusual to mistake one for the other. The major difference between the cold and flu are [Allergy, 2006b]:

Both cold and allergy show the common symptoms of allergy but the cold is also accompanied by fever and pain.
Allergy begins immediately after exposure to the allergen while cold takes a day or more to develop to full strength.
Cold is a self terminating diseases and the symptoms disappear in 3 to 7 days while allergies continue till the person remains exposed to the allergen

Allergens
The body’s immune system has the capability to attack a foreign organism. If it identifies a substance such as pollen as foreign, even mistakenly, the defense mechanism comes into action and IgE is produced to fight off that particular substance. Thus, there will be separate IgE for pollen and for dust allergies. There are many allergens as any person could be allergic to a common substance, which is not an allergen to others, but the common allergens include pollen and fungus from weeds, grasses. Trees and outdoor mold, dog and cat dander, dust particles, noxious vapors and smog, foods such as fish, eggs, nuts and insect bites.

Signs & Symptoms
In addition to the usual sneezing, runny nose, rashes allergy and red or itchy eyes symptoms include atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, headache, earache, hives, coughing, sinusitis, and other discussed above.