Scientifically, give some reasons why it is NOT possible to be Allergic to WATER/H20?

Trying to prove a point. My friend says there's this girl named Heidi, who could go into shock if exposed to rain, sweat, (and other's) blood, saliva, and tears, and can only wash 30 seconds each week. Yet these same people are perfectly fine with milk, coca-cola, and juice. I told my friend that you are 75% water, and she says I'm just trying to be clever and gives me the name of the condition, called Aquarius uticila. There are water molecules exhaled from your every breath, in the air, so how can that be possible? Apparently Heidi was born with it, others just randomly develop it, like one girl who became 'allergic' after taking penicillin.

Edit the girl called Heidi runs air conditioners all day long to avoid sweating, and refuses to touch her friend if he's recently been sweating. Again, it all sounds like a hoax to me. In the same articles, many say how water is evil and that they are allergic too and they will never drink it ever again. But isn't that what's pumped into you in hospitals when you're about to die of dehydration? Yet apparently a girl is in constant agony? And can drink Mountain Dew, and Lemonade?


Funny thing is how the articles say 'worringly, the body is 80% water, which means he/she is allergic to themselves' as if you have a potent poison inside of you at all times..heh..yet water molecules are CONSTANTLY colliding with your skin, AND entering your throat as you breathe!

Edit: friend told me a true story of her friend.. she was allergic to water and when it rained her layer of skin on her fingers peeled off..

 

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Was it acid rain ?

 

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It's a dermal allergy, which is why the girl can have lots of water internally... just nothing on her skin.

 

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Still water molecules are in the air colliding with your skin constantly.. and everything you touch is technically wet as those water molecules in the atmosphere form a thin layer of water on surfaces. Same goes to when you yawn, you inhale the molecules too.

 

Well, it's a real condition, so convincing this person they really are not allergic is not such a nice thing to do. One article I read says researchers think it might be additives in the water like chlorine. It is a rare but real non-histaminic reaction to water on the skin.

Note: on the skin! Swallowing a drink is not the same.

The real name is Aquagenic Urticaria.

 

There are some skin allergies that can be triggered by the ambient - heat, sunlight, and cold are the ones that come to mind. She probably can find a simple antidote such as a corticosteroid to address it.

Most of what you describe sounds like phobia or anxiety disorder, which may be aggravating the symptoms.

Sounds like a trip to the doctor could save her a lot of grief.

 

They don't consider it psychological. A lot of people have this allergic like problem for some period in their lives to some degree. They don't recommend corticosteroids, perhaps because it is not a regular histaminic reaction. Doctors will recommend low contact with water.

 

Ok, check out Aquagenic pruritis

 

Here's the understanding I've gained in the first two years of studying medicine... take once, on an empty stomach. See your doctor if confusion persists.


"Allergy" is a bit of a loose term. Medically, it most often means one of the four types of hypersensitivity reactions, all of which are caused by molecules (antigens) that combine with immune system components, either antibodies or cell receptors.

Type I hypersensitivity reactions trigger histamine release from mast cells, which in the skin results in itching and urticaria (hives).

But there are other skin reactions that also trigger mast cells with the same end result. The simplest example is the wheal that rises after a sharp blow, such as a whip.
Some of these reactions might also be called allergies in general conversation.
Dermographia (skin writing is a striking example.
Others include reactions to heat, cold, exercise, vibration, and even water - aquagenic urticaria.

Note that the primary trigger for these reaction is not a molecular interaction, so they are not the same as the standard hypersensitivity reactions.

I don't know if anyone knows the mechanism by which water on the skin leads to mast cell histamine release. Maybe it's a temperature thing? Could be pH related? Osmolarity? Some combination of those?

 

It's obviously not enough to set off a reaction for the girl.

I feel like I am repeating myself. The girl has a dermal allergy.

 

Right there I'd be asking myself if there was any truth to that statement. If I told you that I'm allergic to air, would you believe that also. Sometimes people are gullible enough to believe anything they are told without any verification at all. Where is a link to provide us with the facts about this so called allergic reaction? :shrug:

 

Aquagenic urticaria

 

Where is the link in the OP? That's what I was asking about not afterwords. If someone were to make a claim to me like the OP did, I'd be trying to find out if it was true or not and to see if there were any types of ways to treat it. The OP didn't provide us with a link , that's all I was asking about.

 

Cosmic, he's seeking information. That's why he's posting here - to ask whether it's legit or not. And he only has 7 posts, so he can't post a link anyway.

 

Well I've seen a program on TV about it. There are differences between water touching a surface of the body, the differences are minimal. Our electrons are repellent on the outside of our body, we have a sort of force field. Maybe these people have some sort of opposite charge?

 

Consequently, the girl that the OP is talking about is named Heidi Falconer. She is now a 23 year old adult.

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/...gy-girl-reaches-21st-birthday-97319-20493577/

 

Yes, I asked this question over on Yahoo! Answers, only to be bombarded with Trolls who then immediately deleted my question. (You can't really get a proper answer there, hence why I am asking here.)

 

I've read that they think it might be related to additives, like chlorine, in the water, but they are not sure. So perhaps distilled water might be OK. But then, you'd think this would be easy enough to test.

 

Hi Pete. In laic terms I grant "allergic" is very loosely applied, but is it not true that the medical profession requires presence of protein molecules to classify something as an allergen? A dermatologist informed me of this little factoid several years back when I presented with "ideopathic" allergic responses.

(Histamine overproduction, hives and all that wonderful stuff - no specific cause to be found even after extensive sensitivity testing...)

If this is true, than it is impossible to be allergic to H2O by definition, right?