• Question: why do some people suffer from allergic reactions (sometimes quite a lot) while others do not suffer at all?

    Asked by Tills2!!! to Kylie, Matt, Bex, RobB, Sam on 14 Jun 2016. This question was also asked by Palmtree.
    • Photo: Kylie Belchamber

      Kylie Belchamber answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      Good question!
      We get an allergic reaction when our immune system starts to fight something that is normally harmless, like pollen, or peanuts or penicillin. Your body will produce antibodies against it, which will recognise it next time (like they do for bacteria or viruses). So the first time you are exposed to say, penicillin, you won’t react to it. But the next time you get it, your antibodies recognise it as dangerous, and the immune system will attack it. It means white blood cells called granulocytes will release histamine, a protein that causes things to swell, go red, get itchy, your eyes and nose run, and you might feel really ill.

      We don’t know why some people get more allergic reactions than others. It might be that, either for a genetic reason, or another reason, one person is more likely to be allergic to things. These people normally have asthma and eczema as well (which are similar processes). There might also be a relation to the things you are exposed to in the womb, before you are born.

      Some allergic reactions can be really mild, while some can cause anaphylaxis, which is where histamine is released all over your body, and your throat will swell up causing you to stop breathing. This can be treated with adrenaline, so if you have this, always carry an epipen with you!

    • Photo: Rebecca Thompson

      Rebecca Thompson answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      Great question!

      I am someone who has quite an overactive immune system, I have asthma, eczema and hay fever, this is sometimes called the ‘atopic triad’. This happens because I produce immunoglobulin E in response to very harmless things (like pollen!). We don’t know exactly why some people develop this while others don’t, its an area lots of scientists are researching in!

    • Photo: Matt Dunn

      Matt Dunn answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      The others have explained allergies well 😀 I’d like to add that some people have been exposed to many sorts of things from an early age, such as children that go outside and get messy a lot! Some children stay inside and don’t get exposed to many things, and usually these are the ones who can develop allergies. This is why it is best to try and be active as a child, in order to raise the number of substances your body experiences, so as to better defend yourself against them.

      So sometimes playing in the dirt isn’t such a bad thing 😀

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