Pollen Map

More than 50 million Americans suffer from Allergies. But, what are allergies?

An allergy is a heightened sensitivity to a foreign substance (called an allergen) which causes the body's defense system (the immune system) to overreact when defending itself. Normally, the immune system would only react if a harmful substance, such as a bacteria, attacks the body. For people with allergies, their own immune system is working too hard, and it reacts even when relatively harmless substances such as pollen are present. The severity of an allergic reaction can vary from mild discomfort to life threatening situations.

Allergens can stimulate a response from the immune system when you breathe in, touch, ingest, or ar injected with an allergen.

General Symptoms

When you have an allergic reaction you may feel a combination of the following symptoms: sneezing, wheezing, nasal congestion, coughing, itchy eyes, stomach ache, and itchy skin.

How can you learn what type of allergens affect you?

The most common method doctors use to identify specific allergies is a skin test. By scratching the skin, or making an injection just underneath it, the doctor can observe your body's reaction to various allergens. This skin test cannot classify all allergies, but does cover major categories such as common respiratory allergies, as well as allergic reactions to penicillin, food, and insect stings.

The children of people with allergies have a greater likelihood of having allergies themselves. As a result, doctors often learn about a patient's allergies based on family and personal medical records.

Lastly, doctors find clues in the recent activities patients engage in by asking a list of questions. For example, to determine whether your reaction is a result of food, airborne or chemical allergens, the doctor might ask, respectively: "did you eat anything unusual recently?", "were you working or exercising vigorously outdoors?" or "did you come into contact with anything which might have irritated your skin and eyes?" Your doctor will likely ask if you suffer from asthma, since allergies increase the risk of an asthma attack.

© 2004 Pollen.com All rights reserved.