Do you suffer from food allergy and other types of allergies? Here are a few things you should know about them:

Allergy stages

If you didn’t know, now you know that allergy goes through a series of stages that include:

Sensitization: This one comes about when you come into contact with allergens that you are sensitive to. Due to the contact, the plasma cells in the body produce immunoglobulin E (IgE).

Ready and waiting: If you are allergic to a particular allergen, this stage will come about almost immediately you come into contact with the allergen. During this stage, the body receives the allergen and prepares for it to come in again.

Inside the body, the IgE antibodies latch onto the cells of the immune system found in the skin, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, blood, and skin.

The battle: As you might have guessed, the battle happens when the IgE antibodies try to get rid of the allergens. The IgE antibodies bind to the allergen, and this signals the mast cells and basophils to respond to the allergen that has invaded the body.

Due to the signaling, the cells spew out over 30 chemicals, which include histamine. The effects of the chemicals include: itching, redness, inflammation, swelling, and many other allergy related symptoms.

Late phase: The late phase happens in people and often comes about between four and 24 hours after the third stage. During this stage, the cells of the immune system move to the tissues that might have been affected in stage three.

Mistakes to avoid when having allergic reactions

When you are suffering from allergy, you need to avoid making mistakes that expose you to more risks. Some of the mistakes that you need to avoid include:

Treating the condition without knowing the cause: Studies show that most of the people rush to the drug store and buy the medications when they are suffering from allergic reactions. While this might give you some relief, it isn’t good as it results in complications.

To be on the safe side, when you regularly have the attacks, visit your local allergy clinic and take the necessary tests and the doctors will recommend the best medications that you should take.

Conclusion

These are some of the things you need to know about drug allergies and other forms of allergies. To keep yourself safe, avoid the allergy triggers.