Questions: - Does the hyper-immuno response show evidence of a better or worse or neither, immune system? - Is there ethnic correlation to them? - Have they gotten worse over time?
Airborne allergies to my understanding are the result of a hyperactive immuno-defensive response. I admittedly know almost know nothing about anatomy or health. I assumed it would fall under biology. My question is where does this overreaction come from? Is it genetically advantageous in the sense that it exemplifies a strong immune system? I almost never get sick, I've been sick once in six years...that's only as far as I can remember. Though I get really bad allergies. Food allergies seem to be genetically inherited...is the same true for airborne allergies? The final question seeks to find if air-quality is what the cause of allergies.
NOTE: this is NOT my area of experties, this is comming from one lecture from a nurse who had studied immunology and taught it to us to explain anaphalaxis they are the same thing, there are 2 sorts of anaphalaxis (cant think of the name for the other one). Anaphalaxis is an allergic reaction to food, bee stings pollen, basically anything EXCEPT the second group. The second group which is not an anaphalatic reaction (though it has the same symptoms) is triggered by asprin, ibprofin (and other non steriodal anti inflamitories) and the contast used in angiograms and MRI's Its easiest to explain the second first. When the body activates an inflamitory responce the plazma membrane releaces an acid (sorry cant rember the name) which then triggers 2 seprate inflamitory pathways. In this second type the parthway which NSAIDs block, insted of the reaction just ending there and then the whole proccess is shifted to the OTHER pathway causing a massive blow up in the reaction The first type (anaphalaxis itself) works when the targeted immune system recognises an allergin as a forign body and then ataches makes recognising protines. The problem comes when these atach themselves to mast cells, then when the allegin is detected the proccess goes mad and activates WAY over the top. Im sorry this explination is so symplistic, i dont have those notes in front of me. As for your question about an advantage i can only speculate but i would guess that the answer is no its counter productive because its atacking something which CANT react to that sort of assult to the point of destroying the body its ment to protect. What i mean is its acting like its a virus or bacteria and trying to biologically destroy it yet its innert and there for wont respond (and there isnt a NEED for it to respond), further more the degranulation of the mast cells ends in a cascade that is VERY harmful to the body. That is swelling, and broncialspasums, and big bucket syndrome (relitive shock)
Strictly speaking, an allergic reaction is your immune system failing to function properly, so worse in that regard. I'd have to say neither, though. Immune systems are extremely conditional systems. HIV resistance isn't of much use in an HIV- world. The nerdy races- asians and jews- tend to have more of them. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I can't think of any causal links between ethnicity and allergies, though. Correlational ones will abound, though, as allergies are related to what you get exposed to as a kid. If you're kept inside reading the Torah or playing the violin while you're a kid, you're more likely to develop allergies than your peers, regardless of race. Allergies, are however, genetically linked. It would not be preposterous to suggest that some ethnic groups would have higher rates of allergies than others. In the West, I believe, as we live a more and more sanitized and urban life, with less exposure to allergens. When we do get exposed, we have an allergenic response. Now for some biology on allergies. Harmless substances that provoke an active immune response are called allergens. These trigger secretion of immunglobulin epsilon, or IgE, which causes mast cells to release cytokines and histamines. Mast cells store these to release during an invasion, which increases vasodilation and permeability of membranes, which are the cause of inflammation. This is to increase the number of white blood cells to the location and allow them to crawl out of the blood and into tissues to attack invaders. However, allergens just cause IgE to go off and cause massive localize mast cell degranulation- the process by which mast cells release their histamines. Depending on the reaction, you can also get systemic responses, including anaphylaxis. Asthma works in a similar way, but instead is a chronic inflammation in the lungs caused by hyper-sensitivity to inhaled allergens. Why does our immune system do this? The current hypothesis is the "hygiene hypothesis"- the environments we're in are too sterile, and lowered exposure to pathogens causes our body to misinterpret otherwise harmless stuff as pathogens, which we call allergens. Since what you are exposed to at an early age sets many epigenetic factors, underexposure to pathogens may lead to hyper-sensitivity to allergens.
thanks roman, IgE was what i was trying to think ofPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Oh and one more thing, it has been theorised that sanatised living (ie not being exposed to pathogens rather than allegens) increases the rate of allergic reactions because the immune system wants to fight SOMETHING, anything. This is shown in the difference between rates of allergies and asthma in city children vs country children and children with more pets. hense my comment in another thread a while ago that children with more pets have less incidence of asthma and allergies
Yeah, I think it's something on Th cells. I bet wiki can help me out on this. Ahhhh, ok. T helper cells (Th cells) come in three types- Th 0, Th1, and Th2. Th0 is undifferentiated, while 1 & 2 are for combating viruses and promoting Bcell proliferation, respectively. In a hygienic environment, Th1 gets down regulated, due to lack of stimulation, and Th2 gets up regulated. Th2 is responsible for IgE production (Th2 also promotes class switching- changing the Ab a Bcell produces) during an immune response, so increasing the amount of Th2 will increase sensitivity, and the allergic response occurs since IgE gets released in large amounts, due to too Th2 being around.
What about allergies and age of the person? Does an allergy get worse as the person ages? Is it possible to become allergic to something as an adult, but to which you weren't allergic as a child?
Over exposure can increase sensitivity, such as is the case with bee stings or poison ivy. Your body gets better at remembering and reacting to the allergens, until you get massive systemic reactions. That's when you hope Asguard is there in time to save your ass from asphyxiating on your swelled shut windpipe. As you age, you can also develop auto-immune problems, which is basically an allergic reaction to parts of your own body. This doesn't go by the IgE route, though, which means you don't get your typical allergic symptoms. Yes. Bee stings are a good example. Repeated exposure to some antigens for some people can induce hypersensitivity. Autoimmune disorders can also develop this way. Injuries that result in normally sequestered self-particles can have immunogenic properties which the body doesn't recognize as self. This can result in things like blindness as your immune system attacks your cornea after an eye injury.
yes, its related to exposure because the IgE needs a reason to bind to the mast cells. Asprin ect allergies on the other hand (non IgE) dont need this exposure i belive, ie the first of these reactions can kill but its more likly to be the second or latter reactions for an IgE reaction which will kill
oh in relation to romans post. Dont give yourself your epipen and then think your ok and not call an ambulance. Adenilin only lasts for 20 min which is enough time to hopefully deal with the initial exposure (and if its not we can just give you another shot) but 4-6 hours latter you will have a secondry reaction which i dont belive adrenilin will be effective at treating. Thats where you need steriods and they need to be admistered in high doses and EARLY so they have time to work because they are a slow onset drug. This is exactly the same for asthma. If you have an atack of either sort and it feels bad when it starts then for christ sake call the ambulance. Treat it while you wait if you can (use ventalin\salbutamol on either condition if you dont have adrelilin to treat the allergic reaction or if you find that after the inital dose with an epi-pen you still are having trouble breathing) and for christ sake DONT TELL ME WHEN I GET THERE THAT YOU DONT WANT TO GO TO HOSPITAL!!!!!
Is there anything an aging person can do against this sort of increased sensitivity? With some things, repeated exposure is next to unavoidable. Such as dust-mites. I know from personal experience that repeated allergic reactions (in the form of skin rashes, intense mucus secretion) do seem to affect my overall health. What are 'normally sequestered self-particles' and which are not that? And which are more examples of 'injuries that result in normally sequestered self-particles'? Thanks.
I've heard of people overcoming childhood allergies by repeated exposure to micro doses. Children (and maybe adults?) with extremely bad reactions to even small amounts of peanuts can eventually be desensitized up to a gram or two in clinical trials. I have no idea beyond that, though. You should definitely consult with a physician, though. Dust mite allergies are actually caused by allergens in their fecal matter. Use ionizers, wash your bedding frequently, and try to keep the house well vacuumed. Maybe use one of those carpet cleaners that washes the carpet instead of kicking up dust everywhere. Or just get rid of carpet. Or get someone else to do cleaning/dusting for you frequently. At least, that's what I would try, to reduce exposure. During the development of your thymus, which takes place from the time you are born until puberty, immune cells are being screened in a complex process to make sure they aren't "self-reactive". This means that anything they see in the thymus, they recognize as "self"- don't attack it. If you lose your thymus at an early age, your T cells won't go through this process, so will attack much of your body because they won't have undergone the proper maturation to recognize your own body as self and not enemy. Parts of yourself that are normally sequestered, or hidden, such as certain proteins on the inside of cells or the crystallin that makes up the lens of your eye, never get seen by your immune system, so during T cell maturation, they wouldn't have been told that that was self and not to attack. If at a later time it gets exposed, you can trigger an immune response. Damage or necrosis, such as banging your thumb with a hammer, can trigger unwanted immune responses as your cells burst and particles inside them accidentally trigger the immune system. Typically, these manifest as inflammatory responses, though an inflammatory response is also part of a healthy response to tissue damage, since it increases vasodilation which increases immunologic agents at the site of damage to fight off potential pathogens, as well as nutrients gas exchange needed for repairs due to the influx of blood.
dont forget the macropharges are MENT to eat the damaged cells even if they are your own as a natural clean up mechanisium
I am talking about T cell response and subsequent activation of B cells, causing antibodies to be released. Though I guess antibodies do work in flagging damaged tissue for phagocytosis.
Is it possible that once the immune system flares up over some trigger, it will more likely react to other triggers as well (triggers that on their own wouldn't produce an intense response)?
There's a potential, yes, especially if the other triggers share a great deal of chemical similarity. See the thread in this subforum on hypervariable somatic mutations. Basically all the antibodies coming out of a Bcell line aren't identical, and if any of them happen to latch onto a non-allergenic substance in great enough numbers, then that too could become allergenic. There are likely other pathways by which your immune system could get hypersensitized that I am unaware of, though.
I noticed many people developing an allergy to rats over the three years we studied them. They developed visible rashes, itching and inflammation. I found it odd that one could develop an allergy to animals like that. I've grown up in Bombay around animals, when I was little we did not even vaccinate them as we do now. I did not develop an allergy to the rats, although I handled them almost every single day over those three years.
In general- considerably. Stress, including mundane stress over your boring life, suppresses the immune system. This is why you can get cold sores even when it's not cold out.
